肉腳 THE LIFE-STORY OW simple and brief are the outlines of a human life. And yet only eternity can fill out those outlines, and make visible the unseen mysteries which we call character and influence. ADONIRAM JUDSON GORDON Was born April 19, 1836. Was converted to God in 1852, and was bap tized the same year. Was in New London, from 1853 to 1857; in Brown University, from 1857 to 1860; in Newton Theological Seminary, from 1860 to 1863. Ordained at Jamaica Plain, June, 1863. Removed to Boston, December, 1869. Departed this life, February 2, 1895. This life thus reaches over a period lacking little of three-score years, and may be roughly divided into three parts, each embracing about twenty years the first twenty, his growth to manhood; the second twenty, his development as a Bible student and preacher of the word; and the third period being especially memorable for his maturity as a Spirit-filled teacher and leader. The character and life of Dr. Gordon are so rich, both in incident and suggestion, so full of lessons in living for generations to come, that it is proposed to prepare a fuller biography hereafter. But, by way of introducing this marvelous personality to readers who were acquainted with the man only through his writings or public utterances, it may be well to give a brief sketch, as in profile, of his leading characteristics, and especially such as may help to elucidate the experiences connected with the dream, here recorded. Dr. Gordon will long be remembered as a prince among the preachers and teachers of the modern pulpit. With preachers, as with musicians, there are different and distinct classes, and it is easy to find to which he belongs. Some study to express the word and mind of God; they are exegetes. Others study their own states and express their own spiritual moods and experiences; they are autobiographers. Others deal in divine conceptions, but invest them with the interest of their own experimental history; |