Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-06-08

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results might be. Suppose were
poor farmer elected TO the state legis.
lature. Suppose the lobbyists wanted
to purchase the right of way fora rail
road franchise and offered me a 5000
bride Would / take it, | do not say |
would. but thank God Satan has new.
er been able TO tempt me with the
chance. Suppose / were a Chicago 20
lice captain on d small salary. living
every day in fear that my official head
would be decapitated. Suppose that by
shutting my eyes upon few houses of
evil resort | could have an income of
$4,000 a year. Would | take it? | dc
not say that / would, but thank God
1 have never been placed in such a po-
sition of temptation where l had the
chance. Suppose l wanted to become a
of our modern medical schools in which
are crowded among many students the
infidel. the blasphemous and the lewd.
If should take such a medical course
would l come out as pure morally as
did after l had lived for three years in
Christian seminary? My young
friend, if God calls you to be lawyer
or doctor or legislator or police captain
or merchant go ahead and be what he
intends you to be. He will give you
strength TO resist any temptations that
may come in your way if you will only
ask him. But if he calls you to be a
Christian minister and you deliberately
turn deaf ear to that call tremble in
reference to your future. l tremble for
your spiritual life when you have to
face the temptations that beset the av
erage man in the outside world. l
tremble when you shall not have the
guarding, guiding, protecting influence
| of praying men about you. such as sur
rounds the average life of the Christian
| minister.
An Appeal to Young Men.
1 have preached this sermon, show
| ing the joys. the spiritual safeguards
and the infinite usefulness of the Cos
pei ministry, for two distinct reasons:
| The first, there never was a greater
l
| young men to enter the gospel pulpit.
| A few years ago the capitalist, the
| statesman, the merchant prince and
leading lawyers considered it an honor
to sit in the aldermanic chairs of our
great cities. Now, for the most part,
these positions are despised by the in
tellectual and financial leaders and are
filled with professional politicians and
men who are weaklings and often dis
honest. Once there was a time when
the greatest honor that could come to
a family was the honor of a son dedi-
eating his life to the gospel ministry.
Now the current of popular opinion
is running counter to this line of noble
service. Our strong young men, in
stead of entering the pulpit. are giving
their lives to law, to merchandise. to
railroads, to electrical sciences. Who
are to fill the future pulpits of Amer
lea? Give us men!" cry our theolog-
ical professors Their classes are grow
ing smaller year by year. ''Give us
men, cry the churches. 1--WE cannot
get the right kind of men for our pull
pits" "Give us men, cry the synodical
missionaries. 1.-THE harvest is ripe but
the laborers are too few" 1t is al
nonsense for some of our religious
writers to declare that the reason eul
theological students are becoming less
and less in number year by year is be
cause we are now getting quality in
stead of quantity. The reason oul
seminaries are becoming depleted is
because the young men who ought K
enter the ministry refuse to come
Men! Men! We want men! We nee(
men for the gospel pulpits, to save thu
sinful world.
The second reason for preaching Thu
sermon is that 1 would appeal to thos'
young men to enter the gospel ministry
who many years ago heard the cal
and who have stif1ed it by an indiffer
ent, hayward life. When my uncle, TIL
devoted missionary, Rev. John Tai
, mage of Annoy, China, was a boy o
twelve he read the life of David Brain
, erd. After closing the book he went t
my grandmother and said. Mother,
, am going to be a missionary" Tim
passed on, and he entered college. H
{ lost his high ideal and led an lndlHef
, emit life. IIe never mentioned the wor'
1 minister from that day until towar
? the end of his college career. Then tn
) old pledge came back. Then and Their
t on the night before his graduation
= from Rutgers college, he gave himsel
: up anew to his glorious life promise
I Young men, you who have heard thi
? call to the Christian ministry year
e ago, will you not hear the call now
0 Will you not be brave enough. nobl
: enough, Christian enough, to do wha
: Christ bids you do? The church need
: you Christ calls you. Come, offer you
r life and consecrate it at the altar {
d Christian ministry.
n copyright, 1905 by Louis Klopsch.l