Ellsworth American., 1875-11-25
Moody and Sankey.

l. =. GRANT.
Moody and Sankey.
The most powerful effort of Moody at the
Brooklyn rink. ard the scenes attendant,
last Monday evening, are thus reported in
New York paper
Amer very brief preliminary services.
Nr. Moody preached from tn. words. II
pray thee have me excused" which were
used in the fourteenth chapter of Luke. by
the three men invited TO the feast one Of
the three men had bought piece OF iand
and needs mast 20 and look at IL; another
had purchased five yoke of oxen. and must
prove them; and third said that b. had ,aa-
eu wife. and could not come. Oh those
three men told lies, real l-s-lies so weak
that you laugh at them. But | have an
iuNiiaiiou Tor you. Tor every one Of you, TO
supper, to a royal marriage supper Il
isn't an invitation TO funeral or To a SER
mon. or 10 stupid meeting, but to a row
al feast. And this house j. full OF excuses
There l. not n person hctc who has not ac-
ceptcd the Invitation. who hasn't an excuse
ready on his tongues end. | can't sort
out the excuses. There are too many.
hut you can put them all In one bundle
aud call them lies. for lies they are. They
are no better than those that the three men
offered TO the master of the feast. The
world may have advanced In the last two
thousand years. but the excuses OF "a .dav
are no better than they were then. One OF
you. perhaps that young man over there.
says that he can not come because he can
not believe the Bible. lie saws that il 4,
dark and mysterious, and that lac can't uu-
derstaud IL. Has he ever re9d II? | don't
believe he has. Why, suppose | send my
little boy, four years old. to school. aud
when he comes home at night I ask him If
he has learned To read and TO write and to
spell. and whether he knows all about
arithmetic and geography and history. He
tell, me, OF course. that lac has learned or-
ly A. Il, and {. What" | exclaim, "a
whole day at school, and your education
not finished YETI You need not 60 to that
school any more" The world saws that
Moody j. mad TO do such a thing. but s, ii
any wilder or more foolish than TO com.
plain that the Bible is dark aud my sterious
~hen you have never read 1t;
NEVER MIND THE HrrocRrrEs.
Another man tells me that he can easily
enough believe the Bible, but that he can
not consoieniiously Join the cburci, because
he knows some OF her members are hypo-
crits. That man will never give that ex-
cpse to God on the judgement day. He
will begin TO see then that the question l.
a personal one between him and God. IL
Is no excuse for you 10 say that You are
afraid 10 associate. with hypocrites. Why.
there one hundred OF them outside oil the
church for every one that there ia Inside,
and in the next world all the hypocrites,
whether church members or not will be
arrayed on one side against the Lord.
Another young man says he il not afraid
OF the hypocrites. and that he believes the
Ribl, from. harE N hark. hnr h. . ,h.r
it il too hard TO be christian; that Christ's
yoke ia too heavy. 90 down 10 the prison
and ask the wretched convict whether Sa-
tan's yoke Is easy. Ak the young man
Just sentenced - tw'r'y wears whether
Satan's burdens are li.ht. ASK the gamb-
Ter, the drunkard. and the harlot, whether
they tind hell's paths pleasant and the dew
lis reign easy. aud they answer with "A
wall. "Oh, 80 hard. So hardy" And then
ask these servants of God. continued Mr.
Moody, turning to the platform flied with
clergyman, whether they find Gods SER
vice hard. Do you ministers OF the gos-
pei: and a hearty NO" came from them
all.
Have you any other excuses? continued
the preacher. Does some poor sin-marked
man fear that God will not receive him
and does he make that his excuse: Why
God has invited him, Tie expects him
lie has a seat for him! There was an En-
glishman who had an only son aud the boy
grew up headstrong aud wiliul quarrel
ling with his father day after day. At last
the father in passion ordered him TO
leave the house, and the sou. as he went
away, said that he would not return until
he was asked to come. And that will
never be while live" replied the angry
father; and the distance between the two
widened.Gmd the father seemed to have
forgot,e that he ever had son.
ONE OF MooDrs MOST ELOQUENT EFFORTS.
But the mother OF that boy never forgot.
Oh. what will not mothers love coHauer?
IL i. not chilled by disease, bv deformity.
by sin. by death. 1t is always warm, al
ways living. For however atrocious a
crime son may be arraigned. the mother
is by his side in the court room. The test
iDony that convicts him cuts her harder
and deep.r than IL does him. She weeps
| as she listens 10 his sentence, and clings TO
him as he is led back TO his cell. She Wis
its him day after day. she cares for him,
she will not listen 10 blame against. him.
and she is proud OF him. She will not go
To see him executed, but she will arrange
the clothes that will make him neater and
handsomer to the morbid spectators, and
before his body is cold. she will throw her
self upon it and cover 1t with kisses. She
will take it away and bury it in a quiet
churchyard, and will plant flowers upon
the grave, and she will never tire of visit
ing that grave and watering the flowers
with her tears.
And this English mother yearned for her
son, and prayed that he and his father
might be recOneiled She fell sick. and
when she knew that she had only DAYS to
live. she begged her husband to send for
her boy. There was long hard gle
in the proud mans breast before he needed
his dying wife's wish. and when the prodi-
gal boy returned home and burst into the
sick room. the mother gave a little shrek
OF JOY. but the father, without a glance of
welcome or recognition, moved away from
the bedside. Ii was not manly. but it was
human. And the mott er pleaded with her
boy and with her husband that they might
be reconciled with each other. and when
the last sad hour came, she lay with one
hand clasped IN her husbands and one in
her boys, trying with her poor dying
strength to drag the two stubborn men to-
gether. She died In that way, with love
for both on her lips, and the husband
looked upon his dead wife. the son upon
his dead mother, and then they looked up
on each other. Their eyes met There
were no first advances then. Tne son fell
into his fathers arms. and the arms clasped
tightly the slight, trembling form.
THE RESULT.
That. my hearers, is a true story; but 10 |
is not fair illustration of Gods relation |
to his children, for he never hated them; |
he has never been proud. or stubborn. or |
harsh, but always merciful. and with a |
warm welcome for returning wanderers"
As the preacher closed, he exte, ded his !
right arm to eDjoin silence that was un. |
broken by rustic. Then In q moment a
low, soft music rose from the organ, and |
the ain9oF aanR tondarlv: