Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-09-23
CalnaGe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talnasc, d. ID.

preacher finds smile of the entrance
into the church of large accession
OF converts. The text is Isaiah TX, 8,
''Who are these that fly as a cloud and
as the doves TO their windowsT'
An axiom is n self evident fact. ct
is" the photographers say, "a PROPOSE
ton whose truth is SO obvious at first
sight that no process of reasoning or
demonstration can make il palmer"
II is golden truism coined in the
mint house of maxims" with the rails
ell features of the Goddess of Truth
stamped upon its side, even as the
English shilling bears the profile of
King Edward. an American silver dol
lar the outstretched wings of an eagle.
as the Roman penny once bore the SUI
prescription and image of Caesar and
Greclan coin the features of Alexan-
der the Great 1t is an aphorism, an
apothegm. 1t is as Hippocrates once
said, "A succinct saying comprehend
ing a complete statement" 1t is one
OF the many terse sentences of Benja-
min Franklin which are found i'm Poor
Richards Almanac. No sooner do we
read II than we say, THAT is true"
From the moment OF reading no
amount OF illustration or argument can
change us from our original conclu-
sion. 1t is strong armed charioteer,
swiftly guiding before our eyes the
chariot OF conviction" 1t Is truth in
n nutshell 1t is a universe OF analyses
condensed in an epigram.
The truth of SIN axiom can be put to
practical test Sometimes, however,
men do not take the trouble TO test il.
but give credence to statements ap-
parently contradicting il, instead of
applying the test OF experience. Some
years ago the French savants were
asked to explain how IL was that a
pail of water containing n dead fish
weighed more than one of the same
size containing n live fish. Disserta-
ton after dissertation was written
upon the subject At last one COM
mon sensed scientist. whose brain had
not been educated to the verge Of i'm
becility, saw that the question was
misleading one. "a dead fish and
living fish ought to weigh the same"
said lie. This truth Is automatic"
He put a live fish into n pail of water
and weighed IL. He killed the fish and
put the dead body back into the same
water and weighed 1t again. The
water containing the dead fish and
that containing the live fish OF course
weighed the same. All the ingenuity
expended I'm writing the dissertations
had been wasted. The writers had
been trying TO find reasons for Il phe-
nomenon that did not exist.
Church's Power Not Waning.
hundreds OF men are simply doing
the same thing I'm trying TO find the
reasons for the phenomenon stated 10y
shallow observers, that the church OF
Jesus Christ is losing its power over
men. Long lists OF reasons for this
waning influence are cited, whereas
the writer's have only TO open their
eyes TO discover that the church of
Jesus Christ Is not losing its power
over men. The church of God was
never so powerful as 1t is today More
strong men and strong women are
bowling before its affairs than ever
before. More are the church's teach
fngs respected by statesmen and in
the homes and daily lives OF our citi-
zens than ever before. | have not
time to 60 into argument to prove this
assertion. l would not today do so
If 1 had the time. Why? Because II
is n self evident fact that the church
OF the Lord Jesus Christ is the most
vital and essential influence in the
world today. 1t is SELF evident state
ment. All intelligent people who have
looked boldly and impartially ut the
facts are ready 10 concede that the
assertion Is true
But though the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ is growing more and
more powerful day by day, yet we
believe that still greater triumphs are
before IL in the future. The victories
already won are small compared with
those which are yet TO be won, when
nations shall be born In day. Josiah
strong recently wrote n book entitled
The Next Great Awakening" am
not going TO find my theme In the lat
est book OF the famous author OF "Our
Country" l am going to look through
the inspired spectacles OF n prophet
who lived nearly 5000 years ago.
isaiah took the picture OF the doves
nying To their home cotes In great
clouds as the symbol of the church of
the future gathering In its members.
So / shall try TO show that the com
Ing awakening OF the church, is not
only going to be worldwide evangcl-
1suc movement, but also that the
conquest OF the world for Christ may
be near-yes, very near-at hand.
Gospel Trfumphs.
In the first place, let me say That
such q movement as this, foreseen by
the prophet and prehgured under the
symbol or flight OF doves, is in ac-
cord with the record of history. Again
and again there have been revivals
which have brought into the church
vast numbers Mt one time Since the
day OF Pentecost, when 5000 were con-
verted under the preaching of the apos-
tie Peter, there have been such great
movements. How many were won to
the truth by the teaching of Luther?
What vast multitudes were gathered
under the preaching OF n Wesley. n
Whitefeld. a-Finney and Moody and
OF a Torrey and a Chapman, Munhall
ana Harrison Of the present day. We
know that Peter the Hermit, clad, like
John the Baptist I'm Unframed skins.
walked through Europe, lifting high I'm
his hands the crucifix, until thousands
and tens OF thousands of devotees were
ready, In 1O06. to follow this enthusl-
astic ascetic to Palestine as the ad-
vance guard of the crusaders. We
know that thousands upon thousands
or Cromarty miners used TO hang uDon
the words OF John Wesley in the early
mornings at 5 O'clock, before their
days work began. We know that no
building was large enough TO hold the
crowds who wanted to hear Moody.
Great halls had to be erected in Bos-
ton and New York and Chicago to hold
the huge audiences The PHILADELPHIA
depot on account of its great size had
to be used in place of a church. Thou |
sands upon thousands found Christ in |
the revivals of the seventeenth century
under the preaching of the Puritans. |
Thousands fnon fhouoonTs 49,, /