The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-02-28

in reading his eighth volume. Read his
sermons on Gods strange choice" and
Christ Is Glorious" and you will ap-
preciate the correctness Of our dictum.
And yet hyper criticism VIII have II |
that there is nothing unusual in either |
the matter, arrangement or manner Of |
Spurgeon. No man cam read one Of
Surgeons fervid, electrical sermons to |
his own congregation without stirring
him nightly; no one can read one 10
a friend without filling the eye and
moving the soul. Try il, il You are
skeptical. In spite OF sluggish blood
and an unsympathetic nature, your
emotions viii be aroused and your
voice will tremble with the swell and
power of a bugle. We will at another
time say something Of his manner OF
preaching and effects, for We regard
Sturgeon as one Of the pulpit bate
! ries Of the teeming nineteenth centu-
ry, a man of vast productiveness, of
marked pra~cticalness and of attractive
eloquence. Travellers Of several denom-
nations from our country in visiting
London have heard him and written
Of him in praise and appreciation. We
recall that in the early history of the
N. c. Presbyterian-we do not recall
the year, but probably before 1S60-an
Episcopal divine heard Spurgeon in his
London Tabernacle and sent a very in
teresting letter TO that paper. An
Episcopal minister writing to a Pres
byterian organ about a gifted Baptist!
|
Christianity is a very real thing. 1t
supplants all religions and puts living
and service and principle and charac-
ter upon a wholly different basis. We
have a profound conviction Of the great
truths of Christianity-the pure and
undefled'' religion that Jesus Christ
brought to the world and that his dis
ciples expounded and taught-his
prophets and apostles. In these secu-
: lar columns through the years, as best
we could under the limitations of space
and the environments, We have sought
e to write the truth as We understood ii
and to teach the great necessity OF
holy living that there nay be holy
dying. We have been sometimes en-.
. couraged by words Of cheer from some
l pious woman or some devout man
5 One farmer told a friend that he heard
I preaching but once a month, but tina
' he got in the Semi-Weekly Messenger
good religious reading hat helped hin
much on the Sundays he was at home
:. He wanted us to live long that we
might continue to try to do good. Chris
. and Him Crucified is the one mighty
r theme for the world-the great centra
= truth of the ages-the ina revelation
of God to man.. The atonement by
Christ is the hope of the lost. 1t should
be preached all the time by the faith
full, spiritual ministers in all it's full
L ness and sufieiency. The leading, fun.
y damental, most precious doctrines Of
the Bible should be constantly enforced
8 and elaborated We would not give Z
decayed anu for a pulpit harangue
+ upon anything pertaining to earth save
the Cross of Jesus and the sanetiied
life. It is simply a necessity-abs6lute
I imperative, irrevocable-that every
Christian duty should be faithfully
/. performed, and that the entire chain
: tof Christian virtues shoul be observed
, and worn. Without this life is a prac-
tical failure, and there is no real en-
joyment in religion and no bright, un-
Swallowed hope Of Heaven. Human
life is of all things the most insecure
and uncertain. Death and future
judgment are the most certain. Our
acts, our desires, our motives, our SER
vice, our neglect, our unfaithfulness
are all registered above.