The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-05-19

nearly so large as it should have been,
gathered last night to hear the excellent
sermon which was preached by Bishop Gal
loyay He held the attention Of his hear
ers very closely.
lie explained in the beginning just what
the twentieth century movement of the
church was, and said that it was desired
to enter the century splendidly equipped
both in spirit and in educational facilities
1--WE must be alive and pressing forward"
said he, "for we cannot live on our past
history, a proud one though 1t Is.
His theme for discussion was the life of
the prophet jeremiah. There Is no more
interesting study than that of the life OF
those men who have led the great crises
In the life of the church." he then spoke
of the various characters of the prophets
he had Called varying in their natures to
suit the demands of the crisis to be met
Jeremiah
"There Is no nobier figure among the
older prophets than Jeremiah. He excelled
them all in the gentler spirits of his ma
ture, and his heart was almost broken
when his people rejected his message. He
preached Cor forty stormy years. with only
an occasional glimpse of clear sky before
he saw any fruits whatever of his labor.
Forty years of ceaseless toll without q re-
suit. 1 know of no parallel In history of
such infinite trust and faith In Gods word
and promise than this.
II confess that could not have done it.
You and L want to see results and feel that
our iabors are helping at least few poor
souls to life.
"Have you ever noticed that the Lord
always goes into a pious home to get the
man he wants to lead in some great crisis?
jeremiah, Sampson, John the Baptist, and
others-were called before they were born.
Their moral natures needed to be most
strongly developed for the great trials
through which they were to pass. This
Is the only apostolic succession of which
l know.
Jeremiah shrunk from the task, when
he was notified at the age of 10 that he was
to be the Lords prophet in the great work
that was to be wrought He felt that he
was not equal to the work. And right here
I want to say, brethren, that the best sign
of fitness in man is his sense of unfitness
for the work before him. Only that man
is ready for high service in the church who
really feels that he is too small for the
place, and that 1t is a work for ADLER heads
than his.
'It is then that one works up from out
of the debris. Prayer, anyhow, belongs to
the lowly and praise to the exalted. You
have heard 1t said that the first road to
heaven is down hill, and that faith is born
in the regions of despair. The highest of
Bishop Galloway then told the story of
how Jeremiah has been encouraged in his
ministry, apparently so Ruthless by COM
forting visions.
Destructive Quality of Gospel
''The effects of the gospel" he continued.
'are destructive and constructive For
instance, all our ideals and old opinions
must be torn down and rooted out before
we are ready for building the true Christ
ian character. So it is in the mission fields.
We think that because we hear of so few
converts comparatively in our mission
lands that the whole institution of missions
is failure. But I tell you that the Cos
pei is just now getting in~its destructive
work. The traditions and superstitions of
thousands of years are being torn down
and cast aside, and in their places are Just
beginning to be erected the true Christian
characters"
He told the story of a converted planter
whom he had known in Brazil. This
wealthy old man had BECOME converted
through the preaching of enc of the mis-
sionaries, and was erecting a church ,
Galloway was there laying its corner
stone, and wishing to see If his protesta-
tions of Christianity were really sincere
he walked on through the planta ton and
finally came upon distillery, which the
planter had had knocked to pieces with
of operating the distillery and instead of
selling it to somebody with a more elastic
conscience, he had had 1t totally DESTROYED.
1--WE can afford to trust in God. If Jere-
miah with all of his burden still remained
steadfast, then surely we have no cause
to complain. Go back into the fields where
you have been working and there preach
1 to the people your messages, inspiration
for which you received at the meeting this
afternoon, and your work will have it's full
effect long before the opening of-the twen-
tieth century"
Today's Exef cises
( This morning at o'clock DR.. West, of
Decatur, will talk concerning the work to
be done during the closing months of the
Nineteenth century. At 10 o'clock Bishop
Hendrix will preach. and at II o'clock j. D.
Hammond, secretary of the board of edu-
cation of the church, will talk concerning
the educational work. At 8 o'clock In the
afternoon the quarterly and district con-
ferences. as they affect the great move
ment, will be discussed. At o'clock at
night Bishop Galloway will preach again.