The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-08-09

and death and he'll and on their way 10 a
magnificent heaven, they act As though
they were trudging on toward an eyer.ast-
ing Botany Bay. Religion does not seem
10 agree with them. IL seems TO catch m
the windplpe and become a tight straugu-
lation instead OF an exhilaratlon. All the
infidel books that have been written, from
Noltaire down To Herbert SnenUer have
not done 50 much damage 20 our Chris
tianity as luguhrious Christians,
VINO wants religion woven out of the
shadows of the nightg Why 20 growing
on your way 20 celestial enthronement'
Come out OF that cave and sit down in the
warm hight of the sun of Righteousness.
| Away with your odes TO melancholy and
Hervey's" "Meditat,ons Among the Tcmhs'"
have TO say also that we need TO put
more spice and cnhvenment IN our rehg-
ious teaching. whether Il be IN the prayer
meeting or in the Sunday school or IN the
church We ministers need more fresh
cir and sunshine IN our lungs and our
heart and our head. DO YOU wonder that
the world is SO far from being converted
when YOU find So little v,vscity IN the pu,-
pit and IN the pew We want, like the
Lord. 10 pant IN our sermons and exhor-
tations mpre lilies OF the field. We want
fewer rhetorical Celebrations and fewer
sesquipedallan words, and when we talk
about shadows we 90 not want TO say
adumhration. and when we mean queer.
ness we do not want to talk about ldiosyn.
crasies. or If stitch in the back We do
not want to talk about lumbago. but, in
the plain yernacular of the great masses.
preach that gospel which proposes To
make all men happy, honest. victorious aud
| free. In other words, we want more cin-
namon and less gristle. Let this lie so in
all the different departments OF work to
which the Lord calls us.
let us be PLAIN. Let US be earnest. Let
ls, .t.aal l..,.. tally
to the people IN vernacular they can u1-
derstand. they viii be very glad To come
| aud receive the truth we present. Would
| To God that Queen Balkis would drive her
| spice laden dromedaries into all our SER
mons and prayer meeting cXhortations,
More than that, we want more life and
| spice IN our Christian work The poor do
not want so much to be groaned over as
sung TO. With the bread and medicines
| and garments YOU give them let there be
| an accompaniment of smiles aud brisk en-.
couragoment. DO not stand and talk to
| them about the wrotchedncss of their
| abode and the hunger of their looks aud
| the hardness of their lot. All, they know
| 10 better than you can tell them Show
| them the bright side of the thing. IL there
| be any bright side. Tel them GOOD timca
| will come: tell them tha. for the children
| OF God there IL immortal rescue. Wake
| them up out OF their stoldity by an IN.
spring laugh. and while YOU send in help,
| like the Queen of SheSa, also send in
| the spices. There are two ways Of meeting
| the poor. One is to come into their house
with a nose clcyated in disgust. AK much
| as 10 say: II don't see how you live here
in this neiehborhood. IL actually makes
me sick. There is that bundle. Tale 1t.
| YOU poor. miserable wretch, and make
| the most Of II.
] promise high spiritual blessing u
any one who will sing in church and who
VIII sung 50 heartily that The people all
around cannot help but sing Wake uI,
| all the churches from Bangor To San
| Francisco and across Christendoml IL
| Is not a matter of preference. n IN a mat
ter of religious duty. Oh, Tor fifty times
more volume of sound than has yet rolled
| up from our churches, German chorals
| IN German cathodras surpass us. and yet
Germany has received nothing at the hands
| Il Cod compared with America. And ought
| the acclaim IN Germany be louder than
tlat Of America Soft. long drawn out
n.ugic IL appropriate for the drawing
| room and appropriate for the concert.
| but st. JOHN gives an idea of the sonorous
| and resonant congregational singing APP
| propriatc for churches when in listening
TO the temple service of heaven he says.
| II heard "A great voice, as the voice of a
| great multitude and as the voice OF many
| waters and az the voice OF mighty thun.
derings. Hallelujah, for the Lord God
| omnipotent regneth"
Join with me in a crusade. giving me not
only your hearts, but the mighty uplifting
| OF your voices, and | believe we can.
through Christs grace, sing 5000 souls
| into the kingdom OF Christ. An argument
| they can laugh at, sermon they may talk
| down, but a 5000 voiced utterance of praise
to God is resistible. Wonld that Queen
| Balkin would drive all her spice laden
1 ,ut oh Nst.
ther was any such spice as the Queen OF
Sheba gave King Solomon"
| Row, l want to impress you with the
| fact that religion ~ sweetness and per-
| fume and spikenard and saffron and Gin.
namon and cassia and franklncense and all
sweet spices together Oh you say, II
| nave not looked at II as such ] thought
II was a nuisance. IL had for me a re-
pusion. ! held my breath s though IT
| were a malodor. ! have been appalled, Mt
| lts advance. ! have said, II | have any re-
| ligon at all, 1 want TO have just as little
| OF u as Is possible 10 get through with
| %, what a mistake you have made, my
| brOther The religion OF Christ ~ a pres
ent and everlasting redolence. IL couD'
toracts all trouble. just put IL on the
stand beside the pillow OF sickness. IL
catcnes IN the curtains end perfumes the
| sitting air. II sweetens the cup Of bitter
medicine and throws a glow on the gloom
| oi the turned lattice. IL IN balm for the
| aching side and soft baDdage for the
| temple stung with pain. IL lifted Samuel
| Rutherford into reyelry OF spiritual de
| light while he was IN physical agonies IL
| helped Richard Baxter until, IN the midst
| OF such a complication OF diseases as per.
| haps no other man ever suffered, he wrote
The Saints Everlasting Rest" And II
| poured light upon John Bunyan's dungeon.
| the light Of the shining gate OF the shin
| tnu Tff N A Iu al ~ IN
and for neuralgia and for low spirits and
| for consumption. II ~ the catholcon Tor
| all disorders. Yes, it viii neal all your
| sorrOws
Why did you look 20 sad this morning
| when you came i'm Alas, for the lonell-
| ness aud the hcartbreak and the load that
| IL never lifted from your SOUL Some OF
| you 20 about feeling like hacaulay when
| he wrote, If 1 had another month Of
| such days as | have been spending, L
would be impatient 10 get down into my
| little narrow crib IN the ground, like a
weary factory child" And there have
| been times IN your life when you wished
| you could get out OF this life. You have
said, oh, how sweet 90 my lips would be
the dust OF the valley" and wished you
| could pull over you IN your last slumber
| the cOyerlct OF green gran and daisies.
/ see all around about me wdowbood
| and orphanage and child.essnes., sadness,
tisappointrnent, pcrplexity. IL ! could
| ask all those m any audience who have
| felt no sorrow and been bufeted by no
disappointment-if | could ask all such
- risc how many would risey Not one.
A widowed mother, with her little child,
| went West hoping ~ get better wages
| tferc. and she was taken ssck and died.
| The oyersecr of the poor got her oody and
| ,at u ~ boz and put 1t in a wagon and
| started down the street toward the GENE.
ter q. full trot. The little child, the only
| child, ran after u through the streets,
bareheadcd, crying Bring ne back my