The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-07-09

Endeavor society at Cincinnati, his ser.
mon shows him to be in sympathy with
the great movement; text, Amos tx, 13.
Behold the days come, saith the Lord,
that the plowman shall overtake the
reaper"
Unable because of other important du.
ties to accept the invitation to take part
in the great convention Of Christian En-
deayorers at Cincinnati, begun last week,
/ preach a sermon of congratulation fol-
all the members Of that magnificent asso-
citation, whether now gathered in vast as
semblage or busy in their places OF use
~fulness, transatlantic and c~satlantic, and
as it is now harvest time in the fields and
sickles are flashing in the gathering Of a
great crop, ! find mighty suggestiveness
in my text.
1t is a picture Of a tropical cline, with
a season so prosperous that the harvest
reaches clear over to the planting time,
and the swarthy ~husbandman, busy cut
ting the grain, almost feels the breath Of
the horses on his shoulders, the horses
hitched to the plOw, preparing for a new
crop. Behold the days come, saith the
Lord, that the plowman shall overtake
the reaper" When is that? That is
now. That is q day. when hardly have
you done reaping one harvest of religious
result than the plowman is getting ready
for another.
In phraseology chargedNwith all venom
and abuse and caricaturs Aknow that in
fdels and ~agnostics have declared that
Christianity has collapsed; that the Bible
is an obsolete book: that the Christian
church is on the retreat. l shall answer
that wholesale charge today.
Between 100000 and 100000 En-
deavorers sworn before high heaven that
they will do all they can to take America
for God, Europe for God, Asia and Al
RIGA for God-are not the signs most
cheering? Or, to return to the agricU!-
tural figure of my text, more han a nil
lion reapers are Overtaken by more than
q million plowmen. Besides this, there
are more people who believe in the Bible
than at any time in the worlds existence
An Arab guide was leading q French in
fdei across the desert, and ever and anon
the Arab guide would get down in the
sand and pray to the Lord. 1t Disguised
the French infdel. and after awhile, as
the Arab got up from one Of his prayers.
the inidel said, How do you know there
is any God?" And the Arab guide said
How do | know that a man and q camel
passed by our tent last night2 l know il
by the footprint in the sand. And you
want to know how 1 know whether there
is any God? Look at the sunset. Is that
the footstep of a MANI" And by the
same process you and l have come to un,
derstand that this book is the footstep of
God
Growth of Chrfstinnity.
But now let US see whether the book
is a last years almanac. Let US see
whether the church of God is a Bull Run
retreat, muskets, canteens I'M haver.
sacks strewing all the way. The great
English historian Sharon Turner, a man
of vast learning and great accuracy, not
a clergyman, but an attorney as we'll as q
historian, gives this overwhelming stats
tic in regard to Christianity and in regard
to the number of Christians in the differ
ent centuries: In the first century 100000
Christians, in the second century 2.000,.
600 Christians, in the third century
100000 Christians, in the fourth cen
fury 100000 Christians, in the fifth
century 100000 Christians. In the
sixth century 100000 Christians. il
the seventh century 24,O00.0O0 Chris
tians, in the eighth century 100000
Christians. in the ninth century 10000.
600 Christians, in the tenth century so.
100000 Christians, in the eleventh cen
fury 70.00O.0OO Christians. in the twelfth
century 100000 Christians. in the thir
teenth century 100000 Christians. il
the fourteenth century 100000 Chris
tians, in the fifteenth century 100, 000. 00(
Christians, in the sixteenth century 12J.
100000 Christians. in the seventeenth
century 1880 600 Christians. in tn,
eighteenth century 200. 1000. 1000 Chris
tians-a decadence. as you observe. in only
one century, and more than made up il
the following centuries, while il is III,
usual computation that there were 1T III,
close Of the nineteenth century 4I0.0O0.
0OU Christians. making US TOD believe tha
before this century is closed the miilpn
MUM will have started its boom and LITE,
its hosanna.
Poor Christianity What a pity it ha
no friends. How lonesome il must be
Who will take il out of the poorhouse
Poor Christianity, Four hundred mil
! lions in one century. In a few weeks o
: ta.s year 100000 copies of the New
Testament distributed. Why. the cart
is like an old castle with 2O gates and
park OF artillery ready to thunder dow
every gate. See how hpathendnIn is be
ing surrounded and hOreycomb-d and al
NdNhCo ~ lAA- hh NOh41CA ~ eoSPSi' "A
the beginning of the nineteenth centur
$50 missionaries; at the close Of that Ger
fury $4,000 missionaries and native helI
ers and e~vangelists. At the beginning o
the nineteenth century there were onl
$4,000 converts. Now there are owe
100000 converts from heathendom.
You all know that an important wor
Of an army Is to plant the batteries. ]
nay take many days to plant the batter
es. and they may 90 all the work in te
minutes. These gospel batteries are bs
ng planted all along the seacoasts and i
ii nations. 1t may take a good Will
plant them, and they may do a
leir work in one day. They will. M
ons are to be born in a day. Bu
st come back to Christendom aad re,
'nize the fact that during the last te
lars as many people have %connecte
emselves with evangelical churches
0nected themselves with the churche
I 1.-THE first so years of last century. S
(istianity is falling back. and the B
they say. is becoming an obsolet
biz. | go into a court. and wherever