Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-02-05


iron, and out of the hills thou shalt dig
BRASS" and yet hundreds and thou
sands of dollars worth of this metal
was kept under the hills. Well, that is
the difficulty with the church of God
at this day. Its talent is not develop
ed. IL one-half Of its energy could be
brought out, 1t might take the public
iniQuities of the day by the throat and
make them bite the dust. If human
eloquence were consecrated to the Lord
Jesus Christ, 1t would in few years
persuade this whole earth to surrender
to God. There is enough undeveloped
energy In this city to bring all the
United States to Christ, enough of un-
developed Christian energy In the Unit
ed States to bring the whole world to
Christ, but 1t is buried under strata of
Indifference and under whole noun
tains of sloth. Now. is It not time for
plunge and for this buried metal to be
brought out and put into the furnaces
and turned into howltzers and carbines
for the Lords host2
The vast majority Of Christians in
this day are useless. The most of the
Lords battalion belong to the reserve
corps. The most Of the crew are asleep
in the hammocks. The most Of the
metal is under the hills. Oh, is It not
time for the church Of God to rouse up
and understand that we want all the
energies, all the talent and all the
wealth enlisted for Christ's sake? 1
like the nickname that the English SOL
diers gave to Blucher the commander.
They called him "Old Forwards" We
have had enough retreats In the church
Of Christ; let us have n glorious ad-
vance. And say to you as the gen.
eral said when his troops were alright
ed-rising up in his stirrups, his hair
flying in the wind. he lifted up his
voice until 10000 troops heard him cry
ing out "Eorward. the whole linew
We want all the lnymen enlisted. Min
isters are numerically too small. They
do the best they can. They are the
most overworked class on earth. Many
of them die Of dyspepsia because they
cannot get the right kind Of food to
eat or, getting the right kind, are so
worried that they take it down In
chunks They die from consumption
coming from early and late exposure.
If n novelist or n historian publishes
one book year, he is considered in
dustrious. But every faithful pastor
must originate enough thought for
three or four volumes year. Minis
ters receive enough calls in year
from men who have maps and medi-
cines and lightning rods and pictures
to sell to exhaust their vitality. They
are bored with agents Of all sorts.
They are set In drafts Mt funerals and
poisoned by the unventilated rooms Of
invalids and waited upon by commit
tees who want addresses made until
life becomes burden to bear. 1t Is
not hard study that makes ministers
look pale. 1t Is the infinity Of inter-
ruptions and botherations to which
they are subjected, Numerically too
small! 1t is no more the work Of the
pulpit to convert and save the world
than It is the work Of the pew. If men
go to ruin, there will be as much blood
on your skirts as on mine.
A Grand Farce.
Let us quit this grand farce of trying
to save the world by few clergymen,
and let all hands lay hold of the work.
Give us In all our churches two or
three aroused and qualified men and
women to help. In most churches to-
day five or ten men are compelled to
do all the work. A vast majority of
churches are at their wits end how
to carry on prayer meeting IL the
minister is not there, when there ought
TO be enough pent up energy and re-
ligious force to make meeting go OH
with such power that the minister
would never be missed. The church
stands working the pumps of few
ministerial clsterns until the buckets
are dry and choled. while there are
thousands OF fountains from which
might be dipped up the waters OF eter-
nal life. Before you and ! have the
sod pressing our eyelids we will under
God decide whether our children shall
grow up amid the accursed surround
ings Of vice and shame or come to an
inheritance Of righteousness. Long.
loud, bitter. will be the curse that
scorches our grave II, holding within
the church today enough men and wo-
men to save the city, we act the cow
ard OF the drone. wish | could put
enough moral explosives under the
conventionallties and majestic stupidi-
ties Of the day to blow them to atoms
and that then, with 10000 men and
women from all the. churches know
Ing nothing but Christ and desire to
bring all the world to him, we might
move upon the cnemy's works. For
IL little while heaven would not have
trumpets enough to celebrate the vic.
tories.
Again, I learn from this subject that
we sometimes do well to take advnu.
tage of the worlds grlndstones. These
Iscaelites were reduced to file, and
so they went over to the garrison OF
the PhIlistipes TO get their axes and
their goaGs and their plows sharpened
Tie Bible distinctly states 1.-THE text
which l read at the beginning OF the
service--that they had no other instru
ments now with which TO do this work
and the Israelltes did right when they
went over to the Phillstines to use
their grindstoncs. My friends. is II
not right for us 10 employ the world'e
grindstones? II there be art, IL there
be logic, II there be business faculty OIL
the other side let us 90 over and em.