The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-10-02
cerebral DEVELOPMENT. PhrencioqicalIy.

Point. We shall see him vet brigadier.
general William is fond of sketching.
especially OF sketching ships. and he knows
| as much about a vessel as an old sailor
Make him shipbuiIier The vessel that he
builds will successfully wrestle with the
Caribbean whirlwind. Aleck is not very
well. He has never had very good diges-
ton Since that last malarial attack his
spleen is enlarged He has morbid way
of looking at things; He will sit for
hours looking at one figure in the carpet.
tie. so affectionate. so heavenly. and he
cries easily. Make him minister. Now.
my friends. that is a great mistake If
you want to consecrate one of your sons
to the gospel ministry. take the ors widest
awake, the brawnest. the most brilliant,
the most irresistible. the most potent. A
tremendous work opens before Drofes-
sion whose one object is to lift the ma
tions toward God and prepare them for
heaven.
Oh. nv brethren in the Christian minis
try. we must somehow get our shoulder
under the burden of the people on the
Lords dav and give them good stout
| lift. and we ran do it. We have it all our
own way. 1t is a great pity. if. with the
| floor clear and no interruption. we can
| not during the course of an hour get our
| hymn and our prayer or our sermon I'M
| der such momentum as we can. by the
helm of God. lift the peonle, body. mind
and soul clear out of their sins, tempta-
| tons and troubles.
I think that ministerial laziness often
empties the church of auditors. Hearers
| who are intelligent through reading news
| papers and bv active association in busi-
| mess circles will not on the Sabbath sit
| and listen to platitudes. Hearers will not
| come to sermons which have in them no
| important facts, no information. no stir
| ring power. no admiration, no fire: The
| new will not listen TO the pulpit unless at
| least on the subject that day under dis
cussior the pulnit knows more. than the
pew Ministerial laziness has cleared out
around from parior to narlor under the
| name of pastoral visitation and 20 CAD
| ding about through the village or the city
on errands of complete rothlngness and
wrap their brains around cigar and
smoke them un and then on Saturday at
| ternoon nut a few crude thoughts together
| and on SUNDAY morniro wonder that the
| theme of Christ and Him crucified does
| rot bring a large audience. and on Mon
dav sit down and write ieremiads for the
| religious newspapers about the decadence
| of church attendance.
People will not go 70 church merely as
matter of duty. There vii! not next
| Sabbath he a Thousand people in anv city
who will get up in the morning and saw:
s'The Bible SAYS I must 90 to church. 1t
| is nv duty to 90 tn church: therefore !
will 90 tn church." The vast multitude of
| people who po to church 90 to church be-.
cause thew like it. and the multitude OF
peopic who stav away from church stay
away because they do not like it. l am
| NOT speaking about the wav the. world
| ought to he: am speaking about the way
| the world is. Taking things are they are,
we must make the centripetal force OF the
| church mightier than the centrifugal. we
must make our churches magnets to draw
| the people thereunto. so that man Will
| feel uneasy il he does not 60 to church,
saving: ct wish had gone this morning.
| T wonder If T can't dress vet and get there
| in time. It is II o'clock now they are
singing. 1t is half-past II; row they are
preaching. 7 wonder when the folks Will
he home to tell us what was said, what has
| been going on"
When the impression is confirmed that
our churches. nv architecture. nv music.
hv sociality and by sermon, shall re made
the most attractive places on earth; then
we will want twice as many churches as
we have now. twice az large. and then
they will not half accommodate the peo'
pie.
Therefore. nv brother Christian worker,
| if YOU and T find two illustrations for a
religious subject. and the one is a Bible
| illustration and the other is outside the
| Bible, I will take the latter because 1
want to be like my Master. Looking
across to a hill Christ saw the city OF
| Jerusalem.
Talking to the people about the con-
snicuity of Christian example. He SAID:
t'The world is looking at you; be careful;
| A city that is set on hill cannot be ND.
of Gods children a bird flew past. He
said. "Behold the ravens" Then. look
ing down into the valley, all covered at
| that season with flowers, He said, Con
slider the lilies"
Oh. nv brother Christian workers,
what is the Use OF our going away on IN
some obscure mart Of history or on the
| other side OF the earth TO get an illustra-
tion when the earth and the heavens are
| full Of illustrations?
Oh. Christian workers. we have got to
| freshen IN. What is the use of our going
| hack in the Christian classics to find an
Illustration of the victorious Christian
deathhed when my personal friend. Al
| fred Goodman. few wears ago went away
| in as imperial grandeur as did Edward
| Payson?
Is it any less an illustration to me and
TO Won because met him a few weeks be-
| fore in front Of Trim ty Church. Broad
way, and I said: Goodman. YOU look as
| if YOU were working too hard" Where
| in all the classics is there such story as
that of Goodman. when in his last moment
he cried. "I am sweeping through the
gates washed in the blood Of the Lamb:
Oh, fellow Christian workers. what IS
| the use of our being stale and obsolete
and ancient when all around us are these
ance. Gods mercy and Gods wisdom?
| We have got to freshen up in our sermons,
| freshen uD in our songs. freshen up in our
zeal freshen up IN our conservation. and
! if we do it. my brethren and sisters. we
| will no more have to coax people to
come to church than if You throw
corn on the ground you have to coax
pigeons to come and eat it. no more than
YOU would have tn coax tired horse to
| eat the oats you throw in his manger.
| Yes, we must fceshen up in our Sunday
schools and in our prayer meetings and in
our pulpits.
1t is high time that the church of God
stopped writing apologies for the church.
Let the men who are on the outside. who
despise religion. write the apologies. If
any people do not want the church. they
need not have it. 1t is free country. If
any man does not want the gospel. he
! need not have it. 1t is a free country.
| But you 90 ont, oh. peon.e Of God. and
give the gospel to the millions of America
who do want it.
1t is high time we stop skirmishng and
bring on a general engagement. / want
to live to see the Armageddon, all the ar
mics of heaven and hell in battle array,
for know our Conqueror on the white
| ~. T kI,oa 81, ne