Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-02-09


this day are useless The most OF the
Lords battalion belong 10 the reserve
corps. The most OF the crew are asleep
i'm the hammocks- The most of the
metal is under the hills. Oh. Is Il not
time for the church of God TO rouse ND
and understand that we want al tho
energies. all the talent and all the
wealth enlisted for Christ's sake? I
Ike the nickname that the English sol
diers gave to Biucher. the commander.
They called him "Old Forwards" We
have had enough retreats In the church
OF Christ; let us have a glorious al
vance. And | say TO you rs the gen.
eral said when his troops were alright
ed-rising up in his strrups, his hair
flying i'm the wind. he lifted I'D his
voice until 10000 troops heard him cry
ing out. Forward. the whole liner
We want all the laymen enlisted Min
listers 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 IL down II
chunks. They die from consumption
coming from early and hate exposure.
III a noveliS; or n historian publishes
one book year, nc is considered in
dustrious. But every faithful paste.
must originate enough thought for
three or four volumes n year Minis
tiers receive enough calls In year
from men who have maps aud 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 at funerals and
poisoned by the unventilated rooms Of
invalids and waited upon by commit
tees who want addresses made until
life becomes a burden to bear Ii Is
not hard study that makes minister's
look pale. Ii is the infnity OF inter
ruptions and deliberations to which
they are subjected NumericSlly too
small. II is no more the work OF the
pulpit to convert and save the world
than ii is the work of the pew If men
go 10 ruin. there will be as much blood
on your skirts as on mine.
Grand Farce.
Let us quit this grand farce of trying
to save the world by n few clprCvmpn.
and let all hands lay hold of the work
Give us In all our churches two or
three aroused and qualified men and
women 10 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 if the
minister is not there. when there ought
TO he enough pcnt up energy and re-
ligious force to make n meeting 20 OF
with such power that the minister
would never he missed. The church
stands working the pumps of few
ministerial cisterns until the buckets
are dry and choked. while there are
thousands of fountains from which
might lie dipped up the waters OF cter.
nal life. Before you and | have the
sod pressing our cyelids 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 IL. holding within
the church today enough men and wo
hNh W saw We the COW
ard or the dronc | wish I could pn,
enough moral explosives under the
conventionalitics and majestic stupidi.
ties OF the day to blow them 10 atoms
and that them with $4,000 mon and
women from all the churches know.
ing nothing but Christ and desire 20
bring all the world 20 him, we might
move upon the enemys works. For
a little while heaven would not have
trumpets enough 90 celebrate the vic
tories.
Again. learn from this subject that
we sometimes do we'll 10 take advau.
tage OF tho worlds grindstoues. These
lsraelites were reduced 10 n file. and
so they went over 10 the garrison of
the Philistincs 10 get their axes and
their goads and their plows sharpencti
The Bible distinctly states 1.-THE text
which | read NJ the beginning OF the
servlcc-that they had no other instru.
ments now with which 10 do this work,
and the Israplltes did right when they
went over TO the Philistines TO use
their grndstoncs. My friends, is 1,
not right for las 10 employ the worlds
grindstones? IL there be art, IL there
be logic. if there be business faculty on
the other side, let us 20 over and en-
ploy IL for Christ's sake. The fact IA
we fight with too dull implements.
We hack and we maui when we ought
to make clean stroke. Let us 90
over among sharp business men and
among sharp literary men and find on;
what their tact Is and then transfer II
to the cause of Christ. III they have
science and art, II will do us good 10
rub against II.
sharpen the swords.
In other words, let us employ the
worlds grindstones. We will listen Ia
their music. and we Will watch their
acumen, and we Will use their grind
stones. and Will borrow their philo-
sophical apparatus TO make our cx-
periments. and we will borrow their
printing presses 10 publish our Bibles.
and we viii borrow their rail trains To
carry our Christian literature, and we
VIII borrow their ships TO transport our
missionaries. That was what made
Paul such master In mis- day. He
not only got all the learning he could
get OF DR.. Gamaliel. but arterward.
standing on Mars hill and In crowded
thoroughfare. quoted their poetry. and
grasped their logic. and welded their
eloquence. and employed their mytholo-
gy until Dionysius. the Areopagite,
learned In the schools OF Athens and
Heiiopolis. went down under his ire
mendous powers.
That was what gave Thomas Chal-
lf T. A.
Quered the worlds astronomy and COM
PEELED 1t to ring out the wisdom and
greatness OF the Lord until, for the
second time, the morning stars sang
together and all the sons OF God shout