St. Landry democrat., 1885-10-10

To-day that by no other mode-c6fCalnty
not by ordinary modes-could that temple
so easily, so thoroughly, have been taken.
Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters
in Jesus Christ, what the Church most
wants to learn, this day, is that any plan
z is right, is lawful, is BEST which helps to
overthrow the temple of sin and capture
this world for God. We are very apt to
stick to the old modes Of attack. We put
on the old-style coat of mail. We come
up with the sharp, keen, glittering steel
spear of argument, expecting in that way
to. take the castle; but they have a thou
sand spears:where we have ten. And SO
the castle of sin stands. oh, my friends
we will never capture this world for God
by any keen .saber of sarcasm, by any
glittering lances of rhetoric, by any sap
ping and mining of profound disquisition,
by any gunpowdery explosions OF indig"
nation, by sharp shootings of wit, by how"
itzers of mental strength, made to swing
shell five miles, by cavalry horses gor-
geously caparisoned paving the air. In
vain all the attempts on the part of these
ecclesiastical foot soldiers, light horsemen
and grenadiers.
My friends, propose this morning
different style of tactics. Let each one
go to the forest of Gods promise and in
vITation and hew down branch, and put
it on his shoulder, and let US all come
around these obstinate iniquities, and
tnen, with this pile, ktndled by the fires
of a holy zeal and the flames of a con-
secrated life, we will burn them out.
What steel can not do, fire may. And T.
4his morning, announce myself in favor
any plan of religious attack that sue
ceeds-any plan of religious attack, how
ever radical, however odd, however I'M
popular, however hostile to ali the conveu-
tionalities of Church and State. If one
style of prayer does not do the work, let
us try another style. If the church music
of to-day does not get the victory, then
let US make the assault with a backwoods
chorus. If a prayer meeting at 1880 in
the evening does not succeed, let us have
one as early in the morning as when the
angel found wrestling Jacob too much for
him. If sermon with the three author
lied heads does not do the work, then let
LET US have a sermon with twenty heads,
or no head at all. We want more heart in
our song, more heart in our aims giving,
mora heart in our prayers, more heart in
our preaching. Oh for less Of Abimelech's
sword and more of Abfmelech's
confiagrationi / have often heard
There is fountain filled with blood,
sung artistically by four birds perched on
their Sunday roost in the gallery, until /
thought of Jenny Lind and Nilsson, and
Sontag, and all the other warblers; but
fhnrn ma 80
eye, nor one master emotion to my
heart. But one night went down to the
African Methodist nesting -house in
Philadelphia, and at the close of the
service black woman in the midst of the
audience began to sing that hymn, and
all the audience joined in, and we were
foated some three or four miles nearer
Heaven than have ever been since. l
saw with my own eyes "that fountain
flied with blood"-red, agonizing, sacri-
fetal, redemptive, and heard the Grim
son splash of the wave as we all went
down under it,
For sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
Oh, nv friends, the gospel is not syl-
logism; it is not chemistry; it is not po-
Iemics, or the science of squabble. 1t is
blood-red fact; it is warm hearted invita-
ton: it is leaping, bounding, flying good
news; it is efiorescent with all light; it is
rubescent with all glow; it is arborescent
with all sweet shade. have seen the sun
rise on Mount Washington and from the
Tip+top House, but there was no beauty
in that compared with the day spring ON
high when Christ gives light to soul, I
have heard Parepa sing, but there was no
music in that compared with the voice of
Christ when he said: 'sThy sins are, for
given; go in peace" Good news! Let
every one cut down branch of this tree
IF lie and wave it. Let him throw it
Town and kindle it. Lat all the way from
Mount Zalmon to Shechem be filled with
5he tossing joy
Still further, | learn from this subject
,he power Of example. If Abimelech had |
TAT down on tbs grass and told his men to
20 and get the boughs, and go out to the
battle, they would never have gone at all, |
II if they had, it would have been without
my spirit Of effective result; but when
Abimelech goes with his own axe and |
news down a branch, and with Abime-
ech's arm puts it on Abimelech's shoulde. |
md marches on, then my text says, all
he people did the same. How natural
hat was. What made Garibaldi and
StonewalI Jackson the most magnetic I
of this century? They
slways rode ahead. Oh, The overcoming
power of example! Here is father on the
wrong road: all his boys so on the wrong
Dad. Here is a father who enIists for
christ; his children enlist. saw in some
4 the picture galleries Of Europe that be-
ore many of the great works of the mas
ers-the old masters-there would be
ometimes four or five artists taking con-
es of the pictures. These copies they
we're going to carry with them, perhaps to
istant lands, and have thought thaa