The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-26
STRONG APPEAL BY
 REV. THORNTON Urges tho Great Necessity of
 Prayer PARAPHRASES HIS TEXT Gives Five Reasons For St. Paui's Anxiety Concerning HIs People. Series of Meetings Through
 out Week.
PARAPHRASfs HIS TEXT

Bessemer. July 25.-(Special. )-The Rev. M K Thornton this morning began his series of meetings to be continued through the week. The Rev. Thornton's sermon this morning was a powerful appeal to the members of his church to pray. His text was Romans 1O1, My hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is that thev might be saved" The Rev. Thornton paraphrased the text to read: My hearts desire for Bessemer is that it might be saved" He spoke partly as follows:
 How many of LIS here today could stand before Almighty God and ask that question of ourselves? In the busy whirl of business life we are in great danger of i losing our souls, and the close communion with God that is necessary to the good Christian. While here in the house of God today and for the coming services beseech you to divest your minds of busf- ness and turn it wholly to God. Why was the Apostle Paul so anxious about his people? To my mind there are l five reasons:
 
 people engage in which there is abso- lutely no selfshness. The first impulse of any one on being converted is to prevail | upon some one to give their heart to God It has been so in my experience, and in many others of which know. There is | absolutely no selfishness in religion. whiIa | In any line which a man or woman may take up there is sure to be. whether if be social. business or professional, there IS at least an element of selhshness in if.
 2 What salvation meant to Paul You will remember it worked a complete trans- | formation in Paul's life. He went out A | persecutor and returned one of the most ardent disciples of the Lord. The acouir- | ing of faith in the Lord by the Jewish people meant to Paul complete trans formation.
 8. The peace which comes with perfect faith. That sweet peace which one has when trusting implicitly in the goodness of the Lord.
 A. The meaning of eternity Faith heaven, disbelief-hell In my early days l did not believe in soaring men into re- Iig1on. Later and since my marriage I nave changed my theology much I be- lleVe that the most potent factor in bring Ing men to God Is the thought that one of their children should be doomed to spend eternity in hell through their neg lect of their Lord What an awful thought.
 "5. The meaning of sin. Sin is the only cause of unhappiness that exists today. It is the cause of drunkenness. of gam bling, of wrecked homes and of all the multitude of tragedies that come before the observer. Eliminate sin and you would do away with unhappiness.
 These are the reasons why the Apostle Paul was so solicitous concerning Israel, and 1t is some of the reasons why you should be anxious about Bessemer What are we going to do about 1t? The answer is Point out men to Christ. Who is to save the world? Everybody Why, my beloved. hear men saving and believing that the work will be done by the preach CTS. say unto you that every one has his place in the mighty plan of salvation. Even unto the smallest among you has his work to do and is doing It. believe that the larger part of the work will be done from the pulpit. because God trains men for His service"
 The Rev. Thornton here introduced numerous passages from the Bible to prove his point. Do personal work Pray. Many of our members are incapable of do- ing personal work If they were to talk to sinner about being converted they would not know what to say. But they can pray. The power of prayer is Him liable. It can accomplish all things Many incidents from my own life prove the al- most miraculous power of prayer"
 Here were introduced many interesting "reminiscences from the Rev. Thornton's own life. He also told an interesting story of Gen R. E. Lee. Right after the end of the civil war, when General Lee was resting at the Sulphur Springs. the then noted divine, Dr. Broaddus, was to preach in the Baptist church General Lee went out to the church and took his stand outside the door. He hailed every passerby and invited him into the church, although he himself was not a Baptist When the last song had been sung. Gen. eral Lee came in on his tiptoes and quiet ly took his seat. Tn my opinion this is the greatest act of his career. I give it to you an example of personal work
 The Rev. Thornton closed with a pow erful appeal to the large congregation to pray for success in the meeting to be held
 The services will continue through the week, the programme being as follows:
 Monday morning Our Ignorance of Gods Presence John 13:S
 Monday evening, Gods Presence As- sured to us," Exodus s3:14.
 Tuesday morning, Faith In God" Mark 11:23.
 Tuesday evening, Limits of Faith" Matthew S:13.
 Wednesday morning, Prayer; Teach ings On," Luke 1iI
 Wednesday evening. Prayer Methods of Answer" Nehemiah PA.
 Thursday morning Gods Oversight" Second Chronicles 16:9
 Thursday evening. What We Owe to Our Children" Exodus 2.9
 Friday morning, Reasons for Weakness in Iur Religious Work Isaih 9:1.
 Friday evening, What Our Children Owe Us," Luke 2:61.
 Saturday morning, An open meeting.