Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-07-12
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WASHINGTON. July 7.-Although Or.
Talmage was hindered from attending
the great annual meeting of the Chris
tan Endeavor society az Cincinnati.
his sermon shows him TO be in sym
pathy with the great movement: text.
Amos *. -. behold the days come.
saith the Lord. that the plowman shall
overtake the reaper"
Unable because of other important
duties to accept the Invitation TO take
part IN the great convention of Chris
tan Endeavorers at Cincinnati. begun
last week. I preach sermon OF con
graduation for all the members OF that
magnificent association. whether now
gathered in vast aSsemblage or busy in
their places of usefulness. transatlantic
and cisatlanIc. And. as it is now bar
vest time in the fields ana sicilleS are
flashing in the gathering Of Il great
crop. | find mighty suggestivenesS in
my text.
1t is q picture OF a tropical cline.
with SeaSoa So prosperous tina; the
harvest reaches clear over TO the plant
Ing time ana the swarthy husbandman.
busy cutting tie grain. almost feels the
breath OF the horses on his shoulders.
the horses hitched to the plow prepar-
ing for a new crop. Behold the days
come. saith the Lord. that the plowman
shall oyertake the reaper" When is
that? That is now. That is this day
when hardly have you done reaping
one harvest of religious result than the
plowman is getting ready for another
In phraseology charged with all ven
ON aud abuse and caricature 1 know
that infidcls and aguostics have de
clared that Christianity has collapsed:
that the Bible is an obsolete book; that
the Christian church is on the retreat
/ 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 Africa for God-are not the signs
most cheering? Or to return to the
agricultural figure of my text. more
than a million reaperS are overtaken
by more than a million plowmeu. BE.
sides this. there are more people. who
believe in the Bible than at any time
In the worlds existence.
Growth of CbristiRnity.
But now let us see whether the hook
is last years almanac. Let US see
whether The church of God is a Bull
Run retreat. muskets. cantcens and
haversacks strewing all the way. The
great English historian Sharon Turner.
man or vast learning and great ac-
curacy. not clergyman. but an attor-
ney rs wei. as historian. gives this
overwhelming statistic i'm regard TO
Christianity and In regard TO the mum.
Der OF Christians In the different cen.
turtles: In the first century $4,000
Christians. In the second century 1000.
600 Christians. in the third century
5.OO0oOO Christians. in the fourth cen.
fury 10.00o.O00 Christians. in the fifth
century l5.000000 Christians. In the
sixth century 30O0o.O0o Christians. In
the seventh century $4,000. 600 Chris.
tians. I'm the eighth century 10000. 900
Christians. in the ninth century 10000.
600 Christians. i'm the tenth century 90
ooD0OO Christians. In the eleventh cen.
tury 10000. ZOO Christians. in the twelfth
century S0.O00,0O0 Christians, ia the
thirteenth century T5.O00.OO0 Chris.
tians. in the fourteenth century $4,000.
OOU Christians In the fifteenth century
lOO.OO0.o00 Christians. In the sixteenth
century l2500oC0o Christians. in the
seventeenth century $4,000. 900 Chris.
tians. In the eighteenth century 20o.-
100000 Christians decadence. rs YOU
observe. In only one century and more
than made up In the, following centu.
ries. while IL is the usual computation
that there were NJ the close OF the nine.
teenth century 47o0o0.oOO Christians.
making us 20 believe that before this
century is closed the millennium will
have started It's boom aud lifted lis
hosanna
Poor Christianity. What a pity II
has no friends. How lonesome Il must
be! Who will take IL out OF the poor
house? Poor Christianltyi -Four hun.
sred millions In one century. liz a few
weeks or this year 100000 copies OF
the New Testament distributed Why.
the earth Is like an old castle with 20
gates and park OF artillery ready 10
thunder down every gate. See how
heathendom is being surrounded and
honeycomhed and attacked by this all
conquering gospel. At the beginning
OF the nineteenth century $50 mission.
ares; at the close OF that century 81
orO missionaries and native helpers
and evangelists. At the beginning OF
the nineteenth century there were only
10000 converts; now there are over
4 OD0 00Q
So Christianity is falling back ami
the Bible. they say. is becoming an OBJ
solete book. go into a court. and
wherever ! end n judges bench or a
Clerks desk end Il Bible Upon what
book could there be uttered the so.em.
nifty OF an oathi What book is am 10
be put In the trunk OF the young man
as he leaves for city life: The Bible.
What shall find in nine out OF every
ten homes In this city? The Bible. In
nine ort of every ten homes IN Chris
tendom: The Bible. Voliare wrote
the prophecy that the Bible in the nine
teenth cenIury would become extinct.
The century Is gone, and | have to tell
YOU that ,iie room in which Voliaire
wrote that prophecy not long ago was
crowded i.om 1oor to ceiling with BIZ
bles from Switzerland.
suppose the congress of the United
States should pass a law that there
should be no more Bibles printed in
America and no Bibles read. If there
are 6o,0O0,000 grown people in the
United States. there would be 60,O00..
900 people in an army 10 put down such
a law and defend their right 10 read
the Bible. But suppose the congress
OF the United States should make a law
against the reading or the publication
of any other book-how many people
would so out i'm such crusade? Could
you get 60,000,G00 people TO GO ont and
risk their lives in the defense OF Shake
epcare's tragedies or Gladstone's tracts
or Macaulay's History of England?"
You know that there are thousand
men who would die in the defense OF
fbfo hooE " hara fhoro e not ,,,or.> tI,o,,