Orange County observer., 1903-08-06


plicity Of Christ, and it had to face the
frown and scofhngs of those who do always
resist the spirit of what is real and uncom-
promising. The harvest was white and had
long been uninterrupted. The work was
born under the sky. baptized by the tears
tens of thousands under the dome of God!
:. It went with Christ after the lost sheep.
and swept the very dust for the lost jewels
1t did not reach down from an attitude Of
stiff condescension and patronage, but
reached out from the universal level of
human sympathy and childlike love. And
1T proved by its errand and result that he
who wants the souls Of men enough to 90
after them in Christ's way can have them.
This is the method of the evangel for
which the world is aching and starving
This is the idea of service upon which
alone rests the power Of Christ, Friend Of
Sinners. and of whom always the common
people hear gladly when He is truly told
The indifference and the contempt of men
at large for the church is at any given time
the reflection of the Indifference and con-
tempt Of the church for men at large. The
sign Of the apostle is the sign of the sickle.
And the other power was over and
through the intensity with which they
bore it, the clearness and directness of the
| message itself. It uttered the two funda-
with an accent of imperativeness that
smote the frivolity and inhuman superb
ciality of the age. Again it Transferred
| the possibilities of the lowliest man. It
said what many only thought and dared
what many only wished. It's business was
to convince England that every. man had a
soul and that life was an immortal stair
way, up or down! It taught of living
! God and the powers of all endless life Tt
| reviewed that standing article of the Ref
| ormation, Justification by faith" It car
| rled the truth afeld and again it lifted the
| cotters roof till it touched the stars It
| trod the bottom of human longing, and
while it arraigned sin i'll fearful terms, it
brought the news Of hope and joy. No
| wonder that gusto came with the rain upon
the barren land. No wonder that turbid
emotion accompanied the flood of feeling
Many things always are rent when Satan
is cast out. Always such upheavals carry
| stubble upon their currents - such tides
swing loose unanchored spirits. But par
| ody is a counting proof of power, and the
forces of eternity were shaking people to-
its centre. Much was unwelcome when all
was unready.
What r. real prophets have not met opposi-
synagogues" of the establishment They
faced frowning world They knew all
indignities. Mobs led by squires and clergy
men dragged them through horse ponds and
howled against their lives. Nothing was
| too foul to fling at them with hand and
tongue. Not man of all the bishops save
Samuel Butler took their part. But despis-
ing hardships aud dangers, they grew, and
upon the church that disowned them they
put an indellible mark Being DETAINED,
they entreated, and they lived to see opin-
| ion change.
What a diocese waited this apostolic man
John Wesley He touched two hemis-
pheres. Nay, all the ends of the earth,
and his hand is stretched out still. In 1856
Methodism began in America. Wesley at
his death declared, "The best of all, God
wbe n ncsnd m the gn n i e Sf
1913. Now in Great Britain there are 7O0,-
600 communicates, in Canada 300. 900, in the
| United States 6,O00. 900, who recur to that
new Pentecost. At length in 1876 Dean
Stanley unveiled in Westminster Abbey a
tablet with the shining profiles Of John
did state church-which in their day
sknew not the time of it's visitation"-at
test the reflex influence Of its prophets and
own work so grandly done!
In John Wesley tremendous toll and a
rare gift for organization and order and
the loftiest spiritual enthusiasm and a SIM
pie purpose to do one thing were united in
the proportion of genius. Great he was by
any test. Time is a stern criterion and by
that estimate Wesley survives as Paul does
and Luther and Loyola. He is of the few
who make eras. He had large sense and
for half century. No moment was
wasted With a giant energy he preached
500 times year for fifty years. And yet
with this passion for work he had pure
and calm mind. Self-denying, refined,
sweet tempered, consideratee, he had the
seventy years. he said, Il have not lost a
nights sleep" II save all I can and give
ali get" '"Make all you can by industry,
save all you can by economy, give all you
can by iberality.' Thus he was rich to-
ward God. Peculiarities he had; let small
souls soul count M them H. strfes hese but
tween @ I'VE Wesley ley and and Witt Withheld, since both
preached the evangel of holy and imme-
diate decision. Thank God for that good
home at Epworth and for that Susannah'a d
sons!
Let us all see that religion is not in ru-
bric and rite, but in devoted hearts and
lives, unsophisticated by the bribes of GUS
tom, undaunted by the oppositions Of hoI-
low tradition, instant to serve. tireless to
effect results, believing God! For one may
have all the apparatus Of regularity and die
a starveling. Power is granted only to
those who will pay its whole price! Love
ter Wesley's Cali the world is my parish ~
The methodical in Gods service are the
conquerors.
Oh, let me say to you Wesley's great
text. "Seek We the Lord while He may be
found; call ye upon Him while He is near!"
Emulate such man! And considering
the issue of totally surrendered life, imi-
tate its faith. It is success. 1t is triumph
It is attainable. Let me! quote Wesley
hymn:
1sGive to the winds IL: sears-
Hone and be undismayed;
/ God hears thy sighs and counts thy iearszs
L God shall lift up thy head
The Making of a Man.
| All life is variegated It means happi-