The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1901-12-12
The Revival Meetings.

The gospel which Mr.. Ostrom
breaches is the most rational, the
most practical, and the most perfectly
in accord with "Natural Laws" of
any ever presented by an evangelist
to Plymouth audiences.
Every point of the sermon he at
tempts to establish, he proves by a
complete and logical demonstration.
The reasonable gospelhe breaches, his
wonderful personality and intense
spirit, combined with his untiring eff
forts, has convinced his audience of
the greatness and truth of christianity,
and has caused many to express a de-
sire to be follower of Christ.
Tuesday evening, Rev. Ostrom gave a
most powerful address, using as his
text the parable of the sower,-Mark
4, 14-2O. The sermon was devoted
principally to the verse, "And the
cares of this world, and the deceitful-
ness OF riches, and the lists of other
things entering in, choke the word and
it bec0meth unfruitful.
In the development of this text,
Rev. OStrOm mentioned many cares
of the world and worldly pleasures,
showing how each chOked the work,
making it unfruitful. Perhaps the
chief Of these cares is "trOuble cit
may consist of the death of a parent
or friend, or it may be financial losses
or SANDER. Trouble either hardens or
sOftenS mans nature. 1t is like a.
turnstile; if turned by the wrong side
it leads into the ditch, but if by tie
right side it turns into the pleasant
meadow. Many who have been Christ
ians date their loss of faith in God
from the death of some precious one.
The evangelist compared the harden
ing of a mothers heart through the
death of child, to the gardener, who,
knocking at his masters door one
morning, said that a rose bush full of
buds ready to blossom that morning,
had been robbed of it's buds by thief
in the night, and that if he might
only catch the thief he would repay
him for this injury. The master tried
in vain to quiet him, until leading the
servant into the room he showed him
the beautiful blossom in a vase on tie
table. The master said: cit is mine,
/ had the right to claim it,
Scarcely poet has lived but has
been imprisoned, blind or in greatest
poverty. Not a reformer has insti-
tuted reforms but who has endured
torment or persecution. If a man en-
dureS this trouble without diminishing
his faith in God, it makes his nature
sweeter, bis character sturdier, his
soul gentler. Mr.. OStrom'S second
point was, that man is often choked
through his social nature. When he
is with genial hearty comrades he does
as they do; if they drink, he drinks.
He drifts with the current in order to
keep the good will of his fellows and
not be seemingly discourteous to their
wishes. 'But compromise one iota of
your principles, and your social nature
makes you dupe. 1t is great thing
when a man realizes he must be true
to God" Again, man is often duped
through business transactions but this
is the poorest excuse CT all. The
evangelist said that this is the age of
amusemeLts. A teachers meeting
can scarcely be held on any night Of
the week but what some teacher can
not be present on account of the the
alter, the dance or a card party. Here
again man is falling through his So
social nature. While the followers of
the devil are'organizing and equipping
themselves for battling against good,
church members are discussing trivial
theological points and complaining
because they are asked to attend more
than one service on the Sabbath. This
abundance of amusements leads to
light and frivolous ideas of life. Sui