The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-10-27

| Ministers are overworked more than any
other class of men, in my opinion. and it is
absurd for You to suppose that this % world IDS is
well as we have it in the pull
oit. and if men lose their souls the blood
Of their souls will no more be found on my
skirts than on yours. We want the mem
bsrship aroused. Oh for two or three hundred
consecrated men and women in every church.
In most Of the churches all the work Is
done hv fifty people, or by forty, or by thirty,
or by twenty. or by ten, or by five, or by one
person: so that in many of the prayer meet.
ings the church it is almost impossible If
| the minister be absent to keep up the ser
! vices, when there ought to be SO much pent
up energy breaking forth in the service Of
| God that the absence IF the minister would
hardly be noticed. We want the men who
are doing nothing for God to enlist. We
want not only the ministry, but the laity
with new baptism Of the Holy Gho:t. and
then it will be work of but very few years
! to take this whole world for God. Before
! the sod shall press yoar evelidS and mine, we
will decide un Ter God whether our children
shall come up under vicious influences, or
whether they shall come up amid righteous
and Christian surroundings.
Again learn from this subject that we
sometimes do we'll to take advantage OF the
worlds sharpening Instruments. These
Israelites we're reduced to file, and so they
went over to the garrison Of the Phillstlnes
to get their axes, and their goads, and their
ploughs sharpened The Bible distinctly
states tin the text which 1 read at the be-
ginning of the s,rvice-that they had no
| other Instruments now with which to do
| this work, and the Israelites did right when
| they went over to the Philistines to use their
grindstones. My friends, is it not right for
US to employ the worlds grindstones! II
there be art, if there be logic, If there be
business fa:ulty on the other side, let us 90
Iact is, we fight with too dull weapons and
We work with too dull implements. We
| hack and we maui when we ought to make
| keen stroke Let US 60 over among sharp
business men and among sharp literary mon
md find out what their tact is, and then
transfer it to the cause Of Christ II they
have science aud art it will do us good to rub
| against it.
In other words, let us employ the worlds
| yrindstones We will listen to their music
ind we will watch their acumen and we Will
| use their grindstones; and we will borrow
their philosophical apparatus to make our
experiments and we will borrow their print
ing presses to publish our Bibles, and we
will borrow their rail-trains to carry our
| Christian literature, and we Will borrow
their ships to transport our missionaries.
That was what made Paul such master in
learning lea W he - could get from Doctor
| Gamaliel, but afterw1rd, standing Oh
Mars Hill, and in crowded thoroughfare,
quoted their poetry aud grasped their logic
and welded their eloaueace and employed
t1eir mythology until Dlonysius the Areopa.
gite learned in the schools of Athens and
Heliopolis. went down under his tremendous
powers. That was what gave Thomas Chal-
mers his power in his day. He conquered
the world astronomy and compelled it to ring
out the wisdom and greatness Of the Lord
until for the second time, the morning stars
sang together and all the sons of God shouted
for Joy. That was what gave to Jonathan
Edwards his influence in his day. He con-
auered the worlds metaphysics and forced it
into the service Of God until not only the old
meeting house at Northampton, Massachu-
setts, but all Christendom felt thrilled by his
Christian power. Well, now, my friends, we
all have tools Of Christian usefulness Do
not let them lose their edges. We want no
rusty blades in this fight. We want no
coulter that cannot rip up the glebe. We
want no axe that cannot fell the trees. We
want no goad that cannot start the lazy
team. Let us get the very best grindstoneS
we can find, though they be in possession Of
the Philistines, compelling them to turn the
crank while we bear down with all our might
on the swift revolving wheel until all our
energies and faculties shall be brought up to
bright, keen, sharp, glittering edge.
Again. my subject teaches us on what
small allowance 'Philistine iniquity puts
man. Yes; theSs Philistines shut up the
mines and then they took the spears and the
swords then they took the blacksmiths, then
they took the griDdstones and they took
everything but file Oh, that Is the way
with robbery an | it ends with robbery. 1t
despoils this faculty and that faculty and
keeps on until the whole nature is gone.
Was the man eloquent before, it generally
thickens his tongue. Was he finein personal
appearance, it marks his visage. Was he
aftiuent it sends the sheriff to sell him out.
Was he influential, it destroys his popularity.
Was he placid and genial and loving, it makes
him splentic and cross, and so utterly is he
changed that you can see he is sarcastic and
rasping, and that the Philistines have left
him nothing but O file.
Oh, the way Of the transgressor is hard"
His cup is bitter. His night is dark. His
pangs are deep. His end is terrific: Philis:
tine ini3uity says to that man: "Now, sur
render to me and l will give you all you
want-music for the dance, swift steeds for
the race, imperial couch to slumber on, and
you shall be refreshed with the rarest fruits
in baskets of golden flagree." He lies. The
music turns out to be a groan. The fruits
burst the rind with rank poison. The flagrce
is made up of twisted reptiles The couch is
q grave. Small allowance of rest; small al
lowance Of peace; small allowance of coni-
fort. Cold, hard, rough-nothing but a
plauded man of his day.
':The Scripture was his jest book, whence he
drew
Bon 7nots to gall the Christian and the Jew.
An infidel when well, but what when sick?
Oh, then q text would touch him to the
quick"
Seized with hemorrhage Of the lungs in
Paris, where hs had gone to be crowned as
the idol of all France, he sends messenger
to get priest that he may be reconciled to
the Church before he dies. great terror
about him so dismal that the nurse declared
that she would not for all the wealth of Eu-
rope see another inEdel die. Philis-
tine mi 1u;ty had promisAN him all
the worlds garlands, but in the last hour
of his life, when he needed solacing, sent
tearing across his conscience and his nerves
a file, q file. So it was with Lord Byron.
His uncleanness in England only surpassed
by his uncleanness in Venice, then going on
to end his brilliant misery at Missolonghi,
fretting at his nurse Fletcher, fretting at
himself, frettiDg at the world, fretting at
God; and He who gave the world Childe
Harold and Sardanapalus and The Pris-
oner of Chilion and The Siege of Corinth,
reduced to nothing but file. Oh, sin has
great facility for making promises, but it
A Christian life IS the only cheerful life,
while life Of wicked surrender is remorse,
ruin and death. It's painted glee is sepulchral
ghastiness In the brightest days Of the
Mexican empire, Montezuma said he felt
gnawing at his heart something like a canker.
Sin, like a monster wild beast of the forest,
sometimes licks all over its victim in order
that the victim may be more easily swallowed,
but generally sin rasps and gals and tears