Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-12-07

almost as one man. Before the au-
dience was dismissed several young
men arose and signed cards which
were given them, signifying their de-
sire to unite with some church.
All 10 Now Ready.
One of the largest congregations
ever assembled in the Presbyterian
church, which by the way has the
largest auditorium In Yorkville, heard
DR.. Blacks powerful sermon Sunday
the parable Of the king who having
prepared a bridal feast for his son
invited certain guests who made ex-
cuses. The text was And he sent
forth his servant at supper time to
say to them that were hidden, Come,
for all things are now ready"
This parable, said DR.. Black. Is an
invitation to all from the Son of God.
All things are now ready for your re-
ception. In the parable the hidden
guests were OF four Classes-those
who treated the messenger with con-
tempt, those who made light of the
invitation, those who beat the mes
sengers and those who killed them.
There are also other classes viz-those
who 60 without the proper wedding
garments, while the largest class are
those who make excuses.
All these classes are among men
and women today, declared the evan
gelist, as is shown by the manner in
which religion and Jesus's proffer Of
salvation Is received. There are those
who treat Gods word with contempt,
those who make light Of it, those who
persecute the servants Of God and
those who kill them, those who would
deceive and those who make excuses
Those who were hidden to the we'd
ding feast made faulty excuses even
as we do in declining to accept the
words of God, he said. We are occupied
with the things Of the world, we are
selfish and Indifferent, devoted to the
carnal things, the animal instincts
and passions How fond we are Of
the world and it's pleasure, even we
Christians, so much so that we forget
to do and won't do personal work for
God even as you church members,
wouldn't do last night.
"I wonder how many women there
are here" queried the preacher who
give the same study to the winning
Of souls for Christ as they do to
social frivolities. You know how to
give an account Of some social
function to the Charlotte Observer
or The Yorkville Enquirer or some
other paper, but last night you could
saved men and women sitting here.
II worldly things have such an effect
on us, you needn't be surprised at
their hardening the sinners heart. y
1T Is my candid opinion" continu-
ed DR.. Black, that love Of worldly
amusements Is going to keep more
people out of heaven than all the
murders and robberies that have ever
been committed. Our love Of worldly
things keep US from opening our
mouths and working for Jesus. 1t
looks like we would rather let peo-
pie 60 to the devil than violate some
conventionality rather than do some
thing different from what we have
been accustomed to doing.
Can anybody here make good
excuse for not accepting Christian
ity?" asked the preacher. Some Of
you know a great deal about social
matters. Some Of you are critics, no
doubt. You doubtless criticise my
methods. ask you how many meet
ings have you ever conducted? You
say you don't associate yourselves
with the churches because hypocrites
are members. Maybe so. What is
hypocrite? Simply person who
doesn't take an active interest In
church work in the hope Of achiev-
ing spiritual good but to fool other
people. Plenty Of those In the church
often do wrong. Maybe there Is some
hypocrite in the church who Is keep
ing you out. But 1 tell you, you had
better be sure you, yourself are not
the hypocrite.
But why should the fact that hy-
pocrites are in the church keep you
out?" contended the speaker. Hypo-
critics eat and drink and sleep and
walk. Are you going to quit doing
those things because hypocrites do
them? II there are hypocrites in the
church they are going to hell. But
you are preparing to keep them ever
lasting company by not accepting
Jesus and his church"
The marriage supper Of the lamb
Of God is drawing near, said DR..
Black in conclusion. You are treat
ing his invitation with silent con-
tempt. Actions speak louder than
words. Now is the time to accept
His inyitation-now-to
When the sermon was ended and
a song was announced, Mr.. Black in
accordance with his custom, invited
the church members to stand and re-
quested the ministers present and
church members to go about the au-
dience and speak a word to those
out Of Christ, provided they were
willing to hear such word. The min
listers complied, several little boys and
girls approached other boys and girls
and three or four ladies arose from
their seats to do what they could in
the way of personal work but the
other 700 or more church members who
were standing had no word for the
numerous persons sitting.