Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1901-09-21


they are, we must make the centripetal
force Of the church mightier than the
centrifugal. We must make our church
es magnets TO draw the people there
unto, so that man will feel uneasy II
he does not go to church, saying: II
wish l had gone this morning. won.
der II can't dress yet and get there in
time. 1t is ii O'Clock; now they are
singing. 1t is half past IL; now they
are preaching. l wonder when the
folks will be home to tell us what was
said, what has been going on" When
the impression Is confirmed that our
churches. by architecture, by music,
by sociality and by sermon, shall be
made the most attractive places on
earth, then we will want twice as
many churches as we have now, twice
as large, and then they will not half
accommodate the people.
/ say to the young men who are en-
tering the ministry, we must put on
more force, more energy, and into our
religious services more vivacity II we
want the people to come. You look in
to church court of any denomination
OF Christians. First you will find the
men Of large common sense and ear
nest look. The education of their
minds, the piety Of their hearts, the
holiness of their lives qualify them for
their work. Then you will find in ev-
cry church court of every denomina-
tion group Of men who utterly amaze
you with the fact that such semi-lmbe-
/ cillty can get any pulpits to preach in!
Those are the men who give forlorn
statistics about church decadence.
Frogs never croak In running water;
always In stagnant. But / say to all
Christian workers, to all Sunday school
teachers, to all evangelists, to all min
listers OF the gospel, If we want our
Sunday schools and our prayer meet
ings and our churches to gather the
people we must freshen up. The sim
pie fact is the people are tired Of the
humdrum of religionlsts.
You say that all Sunday school teach
ers and all evangelists and all minis
ters must bring their illustrations from
the Bible. Christ did not when he
preached. The most Of the Bible was
written before Christ's time, but where
did he get his Illustrations? He drew
them from the lilies, from the ravens,
from salt, from a candle, from BUSH
ell, from long faced hypocrites, from
gnats, from moths, from large gates
and small gates, from a camel, from
the needles eye, from yeast In the
dough Of bread, from mustard seed,
from a fishing net, from debtors and |
creditors. That Is the reason multi |
tudes followed Christ. His illustra- |
tions were so easy and so understand |
able. Therefore, my brother Christian |
worker, If you and find two illustra-
tlons for q religious subject, and the |
one Is a Bible illustration and the 9TH
er is outside the Bible, will take the
latter because I want to be like my
Master. Looking across to hill, Christ
saw the city of Jerusalem. Talking to
the people about the conSpicuity sof
Christian. example, he said: The world
that is set Oh uIIr -Oos-s-, ~----.A.s- ss.a.-l
While he was speaking Of the divine
care of Gods children a bird few
past. He said, Behold the ravens"
Then, looking down into the valley, all
covered Mt that season with flowers, he
said, Consider the lilies" oh, my
brother Christian workers, what Is the
use Of our going away off In some oh
scure part Of history or on the other
side of the earth to get an Illustration
when the earth and the heavens are
full of illustrations?
Modern Christianity.
Why should we go away to get an IL
lustration Of the vicarious suffering OF
Jesus Christ when at Bloomfield, n. j.,
two little children were walking on the |
rail track and train was coming. but |
they were on a bridge Of trestlework,
and the little girl took her brother anf
let him down through the trestlework
as gently as she could toward the wa
ter, very carefully and lovingly and
cautiously, so that he might not be
hurt In the fall and might be picked up |
by those who were standing near by! |
While doing that the train struck her,
and hardly enough Of her body was |
left to gather into funeral casket.
What was that7 Vicarious suffering; |
like Christ; pang for others; woe for |
others; suffering for others; death for |
Others. What Is the use Of our going |
away off to find an illustration In past
ages when In Michigan mail carrier |
on horseback, riding on, pursued by |
those flames which had swept over
hundred miles, saw an old man by the
roadside, dismounted, helped the old |
man OH the horse, saying, Now whip |
up and get awayT The old man got |
away, but the mail carrier perished. |
Just like Christ dismounting from the |
glories of heaven to put US on the way |
Of deliyerance, then falling back into |
the flames of sacrifice for others. Pang |
for others; woe for others; death for |
others; vicarious suffering. What is
the use or our going away on in an
cient history to find an illustration OF
the fact that 1t is dangerous to defy
God when In the Adirondacks L saw |
fash of lightning and bolt so vivid l
said, "That struck something very |
near7' A few hours afterward we
found that two farmers that Monday |
morning had been seated under tree,
the one boasting how that the day be-
fore, on the Lords day, he had got his
hay in and so cheated the Lord out or
that part of the time anyhow and both |
of them laughing over the achievement
by which they had wronged the Lord |
of his holy day, when the lightning |
struck one dead instantly and the 9TH
er had been two weeks In bed when we
left the Adirondacks and has become
an invalid, suppose, for life. He did
not make as much out Of the Lord as
no thouSht he did Was II any less an |