Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-01-15

Following is the text Of the formal
prepared sermon delivered by Mr.
sunday in Philadelphia, last Sunday
afternoon, and again at night. and
was heard by $4,000 persons at the
two services. There were many de-
viations from the written sermon, de-
livered in his picturesque and char
acterisrically forceful language There
were more than LOO persons who
cit the saw dust trail," when Mr..
Sunday extended invitations to con-
verts to give him their hands as
pledge to Christian living:
.The hour is come. 1t Is very evi-
dent to me that Jesus knew that the
Father would understand what he
meant when he said, The hour Is
come He did not say 1 have met
with a difficulty down here In my
mediatorial work, something he had
no thought about, or expected would
ever occur, but. the hour Is come for
which all hours in the history Of the
world center. That hour meant more
for you and me and all generations Of
the world than all the hours in the
history Of the world. Jesus did not
mean a period of so minutes. 1t was
many days after he had uttered these
words before the incident to which he
referred to in my text took place
his crucifixion. The Lord knew Of
our great struggle with the powers Of
darkness and God had given his
promise that the seed Of the woman
should crush the head of the serpent,
and the world had been looking for
ward for many thousands of years
to that very hour.
Imagine what would have been the
feeling Of the people Of Jerusalem If
Jesus had failed, as it had been
prophesied he would, to arise after
three days. I think they would have
draped their pulpits in mourning and
nailed a black cross over the door Of
hope If the three days came and went
away and Jesus was still in the tomb.
But at the end Of the third day, as he
said he would. he arose from the
grave and walked forth from the
grave a supreme conqueror from the
dark domain of death, and he lives
forever with the saints and reigns, and
l am not worshiping a dead Jew in
the tomb of Joseph of Aramathea, but
a living, reigning Christ, who sits at
the right hand of God, from whence he
S,,le 1A 1,xytr, ha
dead. The hour is come.
"A man who sins places limitations
upon himself. He places intellectual
limitations upon himself, physical lin
itations upon himself, and If he lives
in sin he is a fool, and a man who
champions the cause Of the devil does
not deserve the name Of man and
forfeits all rights in my opinion to
respect and decency. and I don't care
a continental who he is.
THE cross Of Christ was the con-
Meeting link between the Old and the
New Testament.
II don't intend to confine my re-
marks to the historical facts, beneficial
dS IL "Oulu pS, Oul "ouiO W
draw a few lessons. First. the hour
is come to realize that the church is
not the end. The church Is the means
to the end, and. if you think when
you come into the church that that
is the end, God have mercy on you
and the church if you are in it. You
are not in the church to keep a little
space II inches square warm, but that
church is in the community and you
are in that church to make this COM
munity better community and over
throw the sin that is in it. And If
you do not, the church is a fiat fail
ure.
1.-The hour is come; come for some
of speech on the part Of the preacher.
If you have anything to antagonize,
out with it; specify sins and sinners.
You can always count on a decent
public to right wrong, and any pub
lie that won't right wrong. is good
one to get out Of.
Preaching Made Plain.
Charles Finney went to Europe to
preach, and in London a famous free
thinker went to hear him. The free
thinkers wife noticed a great change
in him; he was more kind. more af-
fectionate. more affable, less abusive,
and she said: 1 know what is the
matter with you: you have been to
hear that man from America preach
And he said. Wife, that is an insult;