The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1901-07-13
HARVEST TIME HERE
A Sermon of congratulatiOn for
Christian Endeavorers.
DR.. TalmRRe Finds a Mighty SuEges-
tiv eneSs In His TeXt-The Growth
and Perfection of Chris
tinnity.

Washington. July :.
Although Or. Talmage was hindered
from attending ;hc great annual meet
ing of the Christian Endeayor society
at Cincinnati. his sermon shows him to
be in sympathy with the great move
ment; text, Amos 9:l3: 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
nan Endeavorers at Cincinnati, begun
last week, ] preach a sermon of con-
graduation forall the members of that
magnificent association, whether now
gathered in vast assem6.age or busy in
yheir places of usefulness, ~trausatlan-
tic and cisatlantie, and asst is now har-
vest time il the fields and sickles are
flashing in the gathering Of a great
crop, l find mighty suggestiveness in
my text.
1t is a picture of a tropical cline.
with a season so prosperous that The
harvest reaches clear over 10 the plant
ing time, and the swarthy husband
man, busy cutting the grain. almost
+eels the breath of The horses ON his
shoulders. the horses hitched TO the
pillow, preparing for a new crop. BE
hold the days come. saith the Lord,
that the plowman shall overtake the
reaper When is that? That is now.
That is this day, when hardly have YOU
done reaping one harvest of religious
sesult than the pillow ma1 is getting
ready for another.
In phraseology charged with all ven
om and abuse and caricaturv | know
that infdels and agnos'ics have de-
e.ared that Christianity has collapsed;
hat the Bible is an obsolete book; that
che Christian church is on the retreat.
l shall answer that wholesale charge
ro-day.
Between 100000 and 4,OO0. 900 En-
s~;esvorers sworn before high Heaven
that they will do all they can 10 take
America for God, Europe FOR Goo, 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 oyertaken
by more than a million plowmen. Be
sides this. there are more people who
believe in the Bible than at any time
in the worlds existence. An Arab
guide was leading a French infdel
across the desert, and ever and anon
1he Arab guide would get down in the
sand and pray "a the Lord. Ii disgust
I'd the French ihiGel, and after awhile,
as the Arab got up from one of his
prayers, the inhdel said: How do
YOU know there is any God?" And the
Arab guide said: How do know that
a man and a camel passed by our tent
last night? KNOW it by the footprint
in the sand. Aud you want to know
how l know whether there is any God?
Look at the sunset. i that the foot
step of a man?" And by the same
process you and 1 have come to under
stand that this book is the footEtep
OF COD.
But now let us see whether the book
is a last years almanac. Let us see
whether the church of God is a Bull
Eunt retreat. muskets, ~canteens and
~haversacks strewing all the way. The
great English historian Sharon Tur-
ner. a man Of vast learning and great
accuracy, not a Clergyman, but an at
torney as well as a historian, gives this
overwhelming statistic in regard to
Christianity and in regard TO the num-
her of Christians in the different GEN.
turtles: Ia the first century 500. 900
Christians. in the second century 2,OOO.-
900 Christians, in the third century
100000 Christians. in the fourth CEN
iury 100000 Christians. in the fifth
century $4,000. 900 Christians, in the
siN;h century 10000, 900 Christians, in
the seventh century $1,000, 900 Chris.
tians. in the eighth century 10000. 900
Christians. in the ninth century 40. O0O.-
600 Christians, in the tenth century 5O,-
100000 Christians. in the eleventh cen
tnry 1000, 600 Christian in the twelfth
century 10000, 900 Christians, in the
: thirteenth century 75,0OO.O0O Chris
iians, in the fourteenth century % ,OO0.-
900 Christians, in the fifteenth century
LOO, 900, 200 Christians, in the sixteenth
Century 12j,000, 900 Christians. in the
seventeenth century $4,000 900 Chris
fians. in the eighteenth century 20O.-
000, 900 Christians decadence, as you
observe, In only one century and more
than made up in the following cen
turtles, while il is the usual computa-
ton that there were at the close Of the
nineteenth century 470,00O,O 900 Chris
tians, making us to believe that before
this century is closed the millennium
will have started It's boom and lifted
its hosanna.
Poor Christianity! What a pity il
has no friendl How lonesome 1t must
bel Who will take It out Of the poor
house2 Poor Christianity Four hun
cred millions in one century. In a few
weeks Of this year $500, 900 copies OF
the New Testament distributed. Why,