The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-11-03

here, two children walking on a rail-
road track saw the train coming, and
they were ON bridge of trestle work
and the little girl took her brother and
let him down toward the water gently,
as low as possible before she dropped
him where he could be picked up by
some one near by, while she, with not
time enough to get off, was struck by
the train, and hardly enough of her
body was left to gather into the casket?
Vicarious sacrifice less than week old
less than fifteen miles away Four or
five weeks ago a mail-carrier in Michi-
gan on horseback, saw the flames of that
terrible fire which swept over a hun
dred miles pursuing him, seeing an aged
man by the wayside, gets off his horse,
puts the old man on his flying steed,
while he Che mail-carrier) perishes
VicariOuS suffering, making one think
of Christ, who descended from heavenly
glOTies and puts us on the way of deliv-
erance, while he dropped into the
flames of earth and was sacrificed.
What is the use of my going away off to
find illustration of the fact that it is
dangerous to deny God, when last Au-
gust, in the AdirOndacks | saw flash of
lightning so vivid l said ''that must
have struck something near by"
and few hOnrs after we
farmers were sitting under a tree, and
one farmer bOasted that he had got the
hay in on Sunday and made so much out
of the Lord anyhow, when a moment af-
ter, the one was struck dead with light
ming, and the other disabled so that he
had been in bed three or four weeks
when we left the -AdirOndacks, so that
he did not make as much out of the
Lord as he thought he had. Is it any
the less vivid or appropriate illustration
because met the minister on the way
from the funeral, and he told the man
had turned completely black under the
effect of the lightning? You saw: 'Tt
just happened that the blasphemOus
man was struck with lightning. Oh,
yes! 1t just happened so! 1t most al
ways just happened so. What is the use
of going away off to other ages to illus
trate deathbed victories, when my per-
sOnal friend Alfred CoOkman, at New.
ark, few years ago made as imperial
departure as did Edward Payson. 1t is
less effective illustration, because it is
recent. met him only 81 few days be-
fore his death in front of Trinity church,
New York, and said to him: Goodman,
you look as if you were working too
hard" What is the use of searching the
Christian classics for illustrations of
moral triumph in the last hour, when
all Wales two years ago when
L was there, was full of the
story of Frances Ridley Ha-
yeralPs dying experiences! Catch
ing violent cold from standing on the
wet ground one day preaching TEMPER
ance to crowd of boys and men she
fell sick, and when told she was danger
ously I'LL said: Il thought so, but if | am
going, IL Is too good to be true" "Do
you really think" she said to the doctors,
that l am going?" Yes "To-day?"
Probably" Then she said: "Beauti-
full, splendid, to- be so near the gate of
heaven" After a spasm of pain she
nestled down into the pillows and said:
There, its all over now! Blessed restp
Then she began to sing. She struck one
high, glad note of praise to Christ. Only
one word: He" and then all was still.
l suppose she finished the song in heay-
en-. All surrounded by such things there
is no excuse for our being dull and an
cient and obsolete. repeat, if we want
our churches well attended, we have only
to freshen up our illustrations, freshen
up in our prayers, freshen up in our
songs, freshen up in our sermons, fresh
EN- up i'll our Information, freShen up in
our zeal, freshen up in our conservation.
Do this and we will have no more need
to coax people to come to church than
you would have to coax the fowls to eat
the corn with which you strew the
ground, or coax the tired farm horse
to come to the oats poured into his man
ger.
Let us all freshen up. That will
make full prayer-meetings and full
Sunday-schOOls and full churches. If
Christ was again on earth do you sup
pose ne would dwell on dry didactics?
No; He would tell you how England
ought to treat Ireland, and how Ameri-
can politics ought to be purified, and
who ought to be Mayor of Brooklyn, and
would draw His illustrations from the
year 1881 and from the State of New
York. People interesting on other sub
jects are dull on, religion. just one
thing remains to be done. and that is
for the living churches of America to be
up and take the cities, apolOgizing for
nothing, scOlding about nothing, fear
less of the cheap and easy charge of
SenSatiOnaliSm (fOr the Church that
does not get on always charges the
Church that does with sensationalism).
Go right on and gather in the people by
hundreds and thousands, and have
them soundly, grandly, gloriOusly, tri-
converted to God in the old
fashioned stSle of conversion which has
a half dozen hallelujahs in it. Let the
NhuAN oOOP bhC dill. IL
any people do not believe in the Bible
they need not have it. GO ahead and
gather in the five hundred thousand
people of Brooklyn and the forty mil
lions of people of the United States
who would like to have the gospel. We
have had skirmishing long enough. 1t
is time that we bring on a general en-
gagement. We are too easily di-
yerted. When Moses started
to conquer the EthiOpians
he was expected to take the roundabout
way and march along the river bank. as
Oth9r armies had done, because the
most direct route was infested by
snakes, and no army and no man had
ever dared to cross that serpent-infested
region. But Moses had his men catch
great multitude of ibises (the ibis was a
bird celebrated for destroying serpents),
and these ibises were put in baskets and
crates, and carried at the head of the
army till it came to the region of the
snakes, and then let loose, and the way
was cleared for the troops of Moses,
and so, coming unexpectedly upon the
EthiOpians, they were scattered in wild
confusion. So let the Church move on,
not in roundabout way, but by
advance, confident that
there will be winged influences to clear
the way. Hosts of the living God,
march Onl March on!