The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1900-02-03

derstands on tue lip OF soioist, but mighty
harmonies that roll from the outside door
to ehancel and from floor to groined rafter
as though Handel had come out OF the
| eighteenth century into the twenty-lrst
| and had his foot on the organ pedal, and
! Thomas Hastings had come out Of tho enrly
part OF the nineteenth century into the
twenty-arst and were leading the voices.
Music that moves the earth and makes
| heaven 1istenl
! But say to our twenty. first century es-
cort: II cannot understand this. Have
| these worshipers no sorrows, or have they
forgotten their sorrows?" Our escort re-
| spends: "Sorrowsl Why, they had SORROWS
more than you could count, but by d.
| vine illumination that tho eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries never enjoyed they
] understand the uses OF sorrow and are COM
| forted with supernatural coincidence
such as previous centuries never export
enced."
ask again of the interpreter, "Has
death been baDished from the world?"
only when the physical machinery is worn
| out, and they realize it Is time to go and
| that they are certainly and without doubt
going into q world where they will be In
| ilnitely better of and are to live IN a man.
sion that awaits their immediate oc-
cupancy." But how was all this effected2"
ask our escort. Answer: "By food OF
teenth century never saw revival Of reli-
gion to be compared with what occurred
! In the latter part OF the twentieth and the
early part Of the twenty-lrst century.
The prophecy has been fulfilled that ia
nation shall be born In a day'-that Is, ten
or twenty or forty million people converted
in twenty.four hours. In our church his
tory we read OF the great awakening Of
1857, when five hundred thousand souls
were saved. But that was only a drop Of
the coming showers that since then took
into the kingdom OF God everything be-
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific, be-
tween the Pyrenees and the Hfmaiayas."
The evils that good people were in the
nineteenth century trying to destroy have
been overcome by celestial forces. What
human weaponry failed to accomplish has
been done by omnipotent thunderbolts.
As you and SEQ In this terrestrial visit
alton Of the coming centuries that the
church has under God accomplished so
much, we ask our escort, the spirit OF the
twenty.flrst century, to show US the differ
emit kinds OF churches. So We are taken In
aud out OF the churches OF different denom-
nations, and we find that they are just as
different In the twenty first century rs they
were different In the nineteenth when We
worshiped in them. There IS unity In them
we enter the Baptist Church, and 1t is bap-
| tismal day, and we see the candid ates for
membership immersed. And we 90 into q
Presbyterian Church aud see group OF
parents around the baptismal font holding
up their children for the christening. And
we enter the Episcopal Church and hear
the solemn roll OF her liturgies. and her
ministers are gowned and supplied. And
we enter the Lutheran Church, and we
hear in the sermon preached the doctrines
| of the greatest of German reformer5. And
We 60 into the Methodist Church just In
| time to sit down at O love feast and give
audible "Amen" when the service stirs US.
At least fifty kinds OF churches In the
| twenty-frst century, as there were I50 dit
| ferent kinds Of churches In the nineteenth
| century.
80 spirit OF the twenty-frst century, will
| you not show US something OF the CONNER.
| cial life OF your timer" He answers, "To.
| morrow I win show you alI.h And on the
| morrow he takes us through the great
| marts Of TRADE and shows us the bargain
makers aud the shelves on which the goods
| lay and the tierces and hogsheads In which
| they are contained. ] notice that the
fabrics are Of better quality than anything
| over saw in our nineteenth century, for
the factories are more skiliful. and the
wheels that turn and the looms that clack
| and the engines that rumble are driven by
| force that were not century ago dlscov-
cred.
The prices Of the fabrics indicate rea-
sonable profit, and the firm In the count
| ing room and the clerks at the counter
! and the draymen at the doorway and the
errand boy on his rounds and the mes
| senger who brings the mail and the men
who open the store In the morning as
| we'll as those who close 1t at night all
! look as II they were satisfied and well
treated. No swallowing up OF small
| houses OF merchandise by great houses,
| no ruInous undersoilirg until those in
hop ~ han
| the prices lifted, no unnecessary assign
| ment to defraud creditors. no over
| drawing of accounts, no abscondfngs, no
sharp practice, no snap judgments, but
| the manufacturer right in his dealings
with the wholesaler, and the wholesaler
with the retailer, and the retailer with
the customer. No purchasing of goods that
the counter; all right before the counter.
No repetition Of what Solomon describes
when he writes, ut Is naught, 1t Is naught,
| saith the buyer. but when lie Is gone his
| way then he boastetb." 80 spirit Of tho
twenty-Ars century, how glad am that
you showed US these stores and factories
and places OF bargain and salel 1t was not
| always 30 in the nineteenth century, when
| we were earthly residents. Many ofthose
| merchants who are good at cipherlng out
other rules In arithmetic never could cipher
| out that sum In the rule Of loss and gain.
what shall 1t profit man II he gain the
whole world and lost hts soul?"
"But," say to our escort, the Spirit Of
the twenty-arst century, and you and I
say to each other, eve must go homo now,
back again to heaven. We have staid long
enough on this terrestrial visitation to see
that all the best things foretold In the
Scriptures and which we read during our
earthly residence have come to pass, and
| all the Davidic, Solomonic and Paulinian
| and Johannean prophecies have been full.
filled, and that the earth, instead OF be.
| ing CHASTITY failure, is the mightiet sue
cess in the universe. A star redeemed. A
| planet rescued A world savedl It started
| with q garden, and 1t Is going to close
| with q garden. What a happiness that we
could have seen this old world after 1t was
| righted and before 1t burned, for its in.
| ternal fires have nearly burned out to the
crust, according to the geologist. max.
| ing 1t easy for the theologian to be.
| lieve In the confagration that the
Bible predicts. One element taken
| from the water and that will burn,
and another element taken from the air
| and that will burn, and surrounding plan
cts will watch this old ship OF a world on
| fire and wonder IL all its passengers got
safely of. Before that planetary catas-
| trophe, HE US back to heaven. Farewell,
spirit Of the twenty first century, Thanks
! for your guidancel We can stay no longer
away from doxologies that never end, In
| temples never closed, In Il day that has no
| shutdown. We must report to the immor-
tails around the throne tue TRANSFORMED