The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-11-29

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but loving Christ, spreading out his
arms Of sympathy to press the whole
world to his loving heart.
But remark again that the religious
discourse Of the future will have to be
short. Condensation is demanded by
the age in which we live. No more
need Of long intcoductions and long ap,
,lica,ions AID so many divisions to a
discourse that it NAV be said to be hy
dra headed. in other days men got all
their iuformatioo from the pulpit.
There were fcw books, and there were
no newspapers, and there was litt!'
travel from place to place, aud pe"pl"
would si, aud listen Two and a half
hours TO re}i.ivus discourse, anc
sevcnte-nthl!' Wou!d find them frs>h
ard clipper In those Gays there vas
enargh lime for man TO take az h0u!
u wsrm himself M to the subject &no
an hour 10 cool cf Bat VII was a
necessity then Is p su2orfaity now.
Congregations are fplI Of know lrdg'
from books. from newspapers, tson
ra,,d and coutiruous ELECTROMAGNETIC,
ian ard long ci>Qui>!tions Of wha'
,aey krow already VII rot be a5ided
ifa rel sionS teacher cannot compres-
wh.t he wishes to So, TO the people II
the space Of Is minuses. better adjontn
ito some other day.
Tie ,rc,.ole Is We preach audience
into = ChciS;isn frame. sud tFen W.
,r,ach them our of it. We forg"t Eha
every aud:.or has SO r'uch capacity o
atten,ior. ard when thai is exhau>'e'
he is restless. That accident on th'
l.cug Is.and railroad Years ago carl
lrcrn he fact hat tie b'aS SGs We're ou
Of order. and whca they wanted TO SO,
the train trey could not STOP. and here
the casually was terrific. La all rehs1
discourse we wanr locomotive powe.
and propu' sion. We want at the san"
tiuly steul brakes 10 let down q: the
right Instant. Il is dismal him.
after hrarer has comp. ehended tn
whole subject, to hear a man say.
''Now TO recapi,plate, ard A few
words by way Of application. auo
.,Ouce more, and Finally, anc
"Npw TO conclude
Paul preached until midnight, ano
Eutychus got sound asleep and fell ou
Of a window and broke his neck. Som
would say, Good for him. | woulo
rather be sympathetic, ike Paul, anc
resuscitate him. That accident is cftep
quoted now in religious circles as a
warning against Somnoience in church.
IL is Just as much a warning to minis
ters against prolixi,y. Eu,ychus wa,
wrong in his somnoleuce, but PaI
made mistake shen he kept on 'uuut
midnight. He ought 10 have stopped
at IL O'Clock. and there would hav'
been no accident. If Paul might have
gone on to too great length, let all
those Of US who are COW preaching the
gospel remember that there is a limit
to religious discourse, or ought to be:
and that in our tine we have no apos
tolic rover q miracles. Napoleon Ii
an address of seven minutes thrilled his
army and thrilled Europe. Christs
srrmon on the mount. the model SER
moo, was less than IS minutes long al
ordinary mode of delivery. 1t IS not
electricity scattered all over the SKY
that strikes, but electricity gathered
into thunderbo!t and hurled, and 1t is
not religious truth sea tered over and
spread out over vast reach Of time,
but religious truth projected IN com-
pact form that flashes light upon the
soul aad rives its indifference.
When the religious discourse of the
future arrives in this land and in the
Christian church. the discourse which
is to arouse the world aud startle the
nations and usher in the kingdom, it
will be a brief discourse. Hear it, ali
theological students, all ye just enter
ing upon religious work, all ye men and
women who in Sabbath schools and
other departments are toilipg for Christ
aud he salvation of immortalS-bTevi-
y, b-evity.
But | remark also that the religious
discourse Cf the future Of which l
speak will be a popular discourse.
There are those in these times who
speak Of a popular sermon as though
there must be something wrong about
it. As these critics are dull themselves
the world gets the impression that a
sermon is good in proportion as 1t is
stupid. Christ was The most popular
preacher the wo',d ever saw and, con
sidering tha .mall humber Of the
world pc, u.ation, had the largest au-
dience ever gathered. Hs never had
preached anywhere without making a
great sensation. People rushed out in
the wilderness to hear him reckleas Of
their physical necessitics. So great
was their anxiety 10 hear Christ that,
taking 70 food with them, they would
have starved had not Christ per-
.:.ed miracle and fed them. Why
did SO many people take the truth at
Christ's hands? Because they all uu.
ders,ood it. He illustrated his sub
ject by a hen and her chickens, by
5ashel measure, by haudful Of salt,
b., bird S fight aud by a lily's aroma
Al the people knew what he meant,
aud they focked to him. And when
the religious discourse Of the future
appears it will not be Princetoniap, not
Rocbesterian, lot Andoverian, not
MiddIe,ouian, but O.ivetic-pl~io,
practical unique, earnest, comprehen.
sive of all the woes, wants, sins and
sorrows OF an auditory.
But when that exhortatioa or els
course does come there will be thous-
and cleaning srini ers to charge ou 1t