Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1901-10-26

doors of expectancy; texts, Genesis
VI, is, Come" Revelations xii, Ia.
"Come."
Imperial, tender and all persuative is
i the word Come" Six hundred and sew
! enty eight times is it found in the Scrip
lures. 1t stands at the front gaze of the
Bible as in my first text, inviting ante
diluvians into Noah's ark. and it stands
at the other gate of the Bible as in my
second text, inviting the postdiluvians of
all later ages into the ark of n Saviour $
mercy. Come" is only a word of four
letters, but it is the queen of words, ana
nearly the entire nation of English vo-
cabulary bows 10 its scepter. 1t is an
ocean into which empties ten thousand
rivers of meaning. Other words drive,
but this beckons All moods of feeling
hath that word Come Sometimes i
| weeps and sometimes it laughs. Some
times it prays, sometimes it tempts, and
sometimes it destroys. 1t sounds from
the door of the church and from the
seraglioS of sin, from the gates of heaven
| and the gates of hell. 1t is continent ami
aecrescent of all power. 1t is the heiresS
of most of the past and the almoner OF
most of the future. Come. You may
pronounce it so that all the heavens will
be heard in its cadences or pronounce ii
so that all the woes of time and eternity
| shall reverherate in It's one syllable 1t is
on the lips of saint and protligate. 1t Is
the mightiest of all solicitants either for
good or bad.
To-day l weigh anchor and haul in the
planks an set sail on that great word,
although l am sure l will not be able to
reach the farther shore. will let down
the fathoming line into this sea and try
to measure its depths, and, though | tie
together all the cables and cordage
have on board, | will not be able TO touch
bottom. All the power of the Christian
religion is in that word, Come" The
dictatorial and commendatory in religion
are of no avail. The imperative mood
is not the appropriate mood when We
would have people savingly impressed.
They may be coaxed, but they cannot be
driven. Our hearts are like our homes
at a friendly knock the door will be open
ed, but an attempt to force open our door
would land the assailant in prison. Our
theological seminaries, which keep young
men three years in their curriculum be-
fore launching them into the ministry,
| will do well II in so short a time they
can teach the candidates for the holy
office how to say with right emphasis
and intonation and power that one word
| Gomez That man who has such elf
cheney in Christian work and that woman
who has such power to persuade people
to quit the wrong and begin the right
went through a series of losses, bereave-
ments, prosecutions, and the trials Of
twenty or thirty years before they could
make it triumph of grace every time
they uttered the word Come"
Slain by the Word Come"
You must remember that in many cases
our Come" has a mightier Come" 10
conquer before it has any effect at all.
Just give me the accurate census, the
statistics of how many are down in
fraud, in drunkenness. in gambling. in
| impurity or in vice of any sort, and
will give you the accurate census or sta
tistics of how many have been slain by
the word Come" Come and click
| wine glasses with me at this ivory bar"
Come and see what we can win at this
gaming table" Come, enter with me
this doubtful speculation Come with
me and read those infidel tracts on Chris
tianity." Come with me to q place Of
bad amusement" Come with me in a
gay bout through the underground life
of the city" If in this city there are
twenty thousand who are down in moral
character, then twenty thousand fell IN
| der the power Of the word Come"
was reading of a wife whose husband
had been overthrow by strong drink,
and she went to the saloon where he was
ruined, and she said, Give me back my
husband" And the bartender, pointing
| to a maudlin and battered man browsing
| In the corner Of the barroom, said:
There he is. Jim, wake up; here's your
wife come for you" And the woman
said: DO you call that my husband?
| What have you been doing with him !?
! Is that the manly brow, is that the clear
| eye, is that the noble heart, that | mar
ried? What vile drug have yon given
him that has turned him into fendI
| Take your tiger claws off Of him. UncOil
those serpent folds Of evil habit that are
crushing him. Give mo back my husband,
the one with whom / stood at the altar
ten years ago. Give him back to me-.
Victim was he, as many millions Of 9th
ers have been, Of the word Gomez
Now we want ell the world over to
harness this word for good as others have
harnessed II for evil, and It will draw the
FIVE continents and the seas between
| them-yea, 1t will draw the whole earth
back 10 God from whom it has wandered
It Is that wooing and persuasive word
that will lead men to give up their sins
Was skepticism ever brought into love OF
the truth by an ebullition Of hot words
against infdelityf Was ever the bias
phemer stopped in his oaths by denuncia-
ton Of blasphemy? Was ever the drunk
ard weaned from his cups by the tenn
perance lecturers minicry OF staggering
step and hiccongh? No. 1t was Come
with me to church to-day and hear our
singing" "Come and let me introduce
ron to Christian man whom you will
be sure to admire;" 'Come with me Into
associations that are cheerful and good
and inspiring "come with me into JOY
such as you never before experienced"
Made Right with God.
With that word which has done so