The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-11-24


discourse of the future there will be
living illustrations taken out from |
everyday life of vicarious suifering-tl-
Illustrations that will bring to mind the
ghastlier sacrifice of Him who in the
high places of the field, on the cross,
fought our battles and endured our
struggle and died our death.
a German sculptor made an image Of
Christ, and he asked his little child, two
years old, who it was, and she said:
THAT must be some very great man"
The sculptor was displeased with the
criticism, so he got another block of
marble and chiseled away on it two or
three years, and then he brought in his
| little child, four or five years of age.
and said to her: "Who do you think
that ISL" She said: THAT must be the
One who took little children in His arms
and blessed them" Then the sculptor
was satisfied. Oh, my friends, what the
world wants is not "A cold Christ, not an
intellectual Christ not a severely mag
isterial Christ, but loving Christ,
spreading out His arms of sympathy to
press the whole world to His loving
heart!
But remark also that the religious
discourse Of the future of which speak
will be popular discourse. There are
those in these times who speak of pop
ular sermon as though there must be
something wrong about IT, As these
critics are dull themselves, the world
gets the impression that sermon is
good in proportion as it is stupid. Christ
was the most popular preacher the
world ever saw and, considering the
small number of the worlds popula-
ton, had the largest audiences ever
gathered. He never preached anywhere
without making great sensation. Peo-
pie rushed out in the wilderness to hear
him reckless of their physical necessi-
ties. So great was their anxiety to
hear Christ that, taking no food with
them, they would have tainted and
starved had not Christ performed a
miracle and fed them. Why did so
many people take the truth at Christ's
hands? Because they all understood
it. lie illustrated his subject by hen
and her chickens, by a bushel measure,
by handful of salt, by n birds fight
and by lily's aroma. All the people
knew what he meant, and they focked
to Him. And when the religious dis
course of the future appears it will not
be Princetonian, not Rochesterian, not
Andoverian, not Mddletonian, but Oil
vetic-plain, practical, unique, earnest,
comprehensive of all the woes, wants,
sins and sorrows of an auditory.
But when the exhortation or dis
course does come there Will be thou
sand cleaning scimeters to charge on
il. There are in so many theological
seminaries professors telling young
men how TO preach. themselves not
knowing how, and | am told that if a
young man in some of our theological
semnaries says anything quaint or
thrilling or unique faculty and students
fly at him and set Linn right and
! straighten him out and smooth him
down and chop him off uBtil he says ev.
erytLing just as everybody else says il
Oh, when the future religious discourse
of the Christian church arrives all the
churches of Christ in our great cities
will be thronged! The world wants
spiritual help. All who have buried
Al'll N'tN NhlN 'bllllbi Il All hlINN
themselves to he mortal and to be i'm
mortal. and they want to hear about
the great future. tell you my friends
} If the people of our great cities who
have had trouble only thought they
could get practical and sympatheti,
help in the Christian church, Their,
would not be a street in Washington OF
New York or any other city whcl
t would be passable on the Sabbath day
70 if there were n church on it, for all tn,
, people would press to that asylum o
mercy, that great house of comfort ant
/ consolation.
\ mother with a dead babe In hel
l arms came to the god silva and asked
! to have her child restored to life. Tn,
u. god silva said to her: "Nou go and ge
a handful of mustard seed from houst
in which there has been no sorrow
% and in which there has been no death
! and | will restore your child TO life
= So the mother went out, auCRshe wen
a from house to house and from home L
= home looking for place where Their,
] had been no sorrow and where Their,
b had been no death, but she found none
e She went back to the god silva anc
= said "My mission is a failure. Yol
S see, l haven't brought the mustard
seed. | can't find a place where Their,
T. has been no sorrow and no death.
e "Oh!" said the god silva. understand
$ your sorrows are no worse than tn,
e sorrows of others. We all have GU
9 griefs, and all have our heartbreaks.
+ Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
S Weep, and you weep alone;
, For the sad old earth must barrow It
y mirth
+ But has trouble enough Of it's own.
n We hear a great deal of discussion
S now all over the land about why people
= do not go to church. Some say il is be
e cause Christianity is dying out aud be
Il cause people do not believe in the trutl
S of Gods Word, and all that, The rea
/ son is because our sermons and eN