Milford chronicle., 1906-08-03

are planning what they will do at the
store the next day, or how they WIN
nurcbase their fall goods, or how they
can undersell their rivals. Further
moro do know that, whenever mer-
| chant or business man tries TO carry
his business into the church pew, tna.
moment even the most brilliant anu
| consecrated of sermons will far upon
sars rs dead as did the words OF Paui |
when he was pleading with Eutychus
~ Troas who fell out of the window
and broke his neck on the last night
before Paul sailed away on his famous
missionary tour.
The Fifteen Minute Sermon.
n We merchants and manufacturers
and professional men. is there no lesson
for Won to learn in this TrOas tragedy
Won have often said, IF these ministers
were only brilliant speakers and wouiu
nreach interesting sermons we Woulu
come to church and stay awake anu
listen to their discourses." Is tn"t ~
Was not Eutychus listening TO ulIi-
liant discourse? Was he not is'enlhs
IN the most brilliant pulpit orator 'he
world has ever seen? All, no. Eul!-
chus did not fall asleep because he was
listening to a stupid preacher. l DeleNe
he fell asleep for the same reason ui''
so many business men become urO"ss
when they try to sandwich serinon
in between the ledgers of their Temporal
business. While the sermon is gong Oh
some of them upon the fly leaf OF
HYMN book or upon the churcil ie'llist let
! are irving to estimate how much pIons
thev can make upon some real es'oee
deal or how much they can cut uoMn
,. tbeir employees' wages without having
! Them quit for good or 60 out on pro
longed strike.
"Rut" some merchant says TO me,
, .the reason get tired in church Is mo-
because our ministers do not taiA
sense but because they preach SO
everlastingly long. Now, II Faui N'u ~,
loply quit at reasonable time III al
nrohobility Eutychus would never nave
= fallen asleep" You say: Il agree WIN
= Emperor William of Germany. ne
! never allows any of his court chap-
Iains TO preach over fifteen minutes,
fifteen minute sermon Is gOou
= length. A half hour sermon Is an
L ohominotion. A three-quarter of al
r hour sermon is a horror. An hOut
sermon is an inferno. And yet soHi'
of our ministers go on and on anC
+hev never seem to know when Il
,r stoD." Oh. yes, my friends, KNOW
~ that line of protest But the more yo'
. talk the more 1 am impressed WIN 'n'
"a fact that the reason sermons are ions
4 to YOU is because you do not pra!
n enough beforehand to prepare your
Y selves to receive the messages OF 6o'
70 which are delivered to you week o!
II week from the pulpit.
b. Long Preachers.
n You say the modern ministers preac
is TOO long. Open the leaves OF you
III church history and find the Geographic
Is of our great preachers. l defy you
to find any Of them who made grea
in IMPRESSION for Jesus Christ unless the
ID were long preachers. And. furthei
be moro Won cannot show me any churc
today in America which is noted as
OF deeply spiritual church unless the SER
Sc ices of that church are long services
IN Not only do the audiences OF tht
lg church sit through long services, bt
MT even after the benediction is given u
I'D members are loath to leave. They Ill
n ger in groups in the aisles and abo'
ey fhe doorways, and at last you mn
IN those church members talking on II
OF street corners as though they coul
not tear themselves apart
Ee Was this not John Wesiey's ar
II George Whltefeld's experience as we
Is as PauPs? "Oh," but you say,
&c would be willing to listen for thr'
'ie hours if I could hear Wesley preach
eu Would you, my brother? Eutyehus Il
ISL asleep under Paul. You would fa
'or asleep under Wesley unless you had
change of heart. The reason the sc
mons of our modern ministers are st
ne mid and long to some of you is becau
,' ,N Won do not pray enough beforehal
ilS and surrender your whole heart
on Jesus Christ The trouble with
a.. churches is not due entirely TO po
l,,S7 nreaching. It is also, due to your hes
',r ing. Too many. like Eutychus' wh
~ they come to church, sit upon the WI
IN dow sill of Troas and keep their ey
49, upon their bazaars across the sire
Ibo while they let their ears catch a fe
ao+ & stray words which ring from the Ii
: of a modern Timothy.
me But this sleeping Eutychus is I
the symbol also Of the theological iber
ith ist. His actions bring to mind I
i'm lives of those who do not care to WI
ust church they are going, as long as tn
too are listening to some new minisi
nv and delving into the mysteries of sol
md creed. Thus these modern Eutychus
Ter, saw. 'I must study all the novel cree
his and sit at the feet Of all the nj
lis teachers. BECAUSE I cannot tell but
Of a few years one of these new cree
oon may become the accepted creeu Oh