Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-10-21

| look pale II Is the infnity of interruptions
and Deliberations to which they are subjected.
of committees that want an address or q lcct-
ure. A man called on me to give him lect-
ure by which he might pay The expenses Of his
wedding trip. II there. were fifty hours In
each day OF the year, and worked forty of
| them, could not do the work OF this one par
| ish; and i am not behind most cergymen in
| disposition TO toll. Numerically too small. II
| 10 no more the work of the pulpit to convert
| and save the world than 1t 10 the work OF the
| pew. II men 60 to ruin there viii be as much
| blood on your skirts as on mine. Let us quit
| this grand farce of trying to save the world by
| few clergymen, and let all hands lay hold Of
the work. Give us In all our churches two on
| three aroused and qualified men and women
| to help. In most churches to-day five or ten
| men are compelled to do all the work. A vast
majority Of churches are at their Wits end
| how to carry on a prayer meeting II the
minister Is not there, when there ought to be
enough pent up energy and religious force to
make meeting go on with such power that
| the minister would never be missed. The
| church stands working the pumps Of few
ministerial cisterps until the buckets are dry
and choked, while there are thousands OF
| fountains from which might be dipped up the
waters OF eternal life.
ALL THE LAYMEN's HELP NEEDED
Before you and have the sod pressing our
| eyelids we will, under God, decide whether
our children shall grow up amid the accursed
surroundings of vice and shame, or come to
| an inheritance of righteousness. Long, loud,
bitter will be the curse that scorches our grave
II, holding within the church to-day enough
men and women, we act the coward or drone
wish could put enough moral explosives
under the conventionalitics and majestic stu
pdities Of the day to blow them to atoms and
| that then, with fifty thousand men and women
from all the churches, knowing nothing but
| Christ aud desire to bring all the world to
Him, We might move upon the enemy's works.
For little while heaven would not have
| trumpets enough to celebrate the victory.
Thfrd-Again, learn from this subject that
| we sometimes do well to take advantage of
the worlds sharpening instruments These
| Israelites were reduced to a file, and so they
went over TO the garrison Of the Philstnes to
get their axes, and their goads, and their
plows sharpencd. The Bible distinctly states
1.-THE text which read at the beginning Of
the seryice-that they had no other instrli-
ments now with which to do this work, and
| the lsraelites 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 grindstonesl If there be art, If there
be logic, ii there be business faculty on the
other side let US go over and employ 1t for
| Christs sake. The fact is, we fight with too
dull weapons and we work with two dull inn
plements. We hack and we maui when we
| ought to make a keen sroker. Let us go over
| among sharp business men, and among sharp
| literary men, and find out what their tact is,
aud then transfer it to the cause of Christ IL
they have science and art 1t will do us good to
rub against 1t.
USING THE WORLDS GRINDsToNE.
In other words, let us employ the worlds
| grindstone. We will listen to their music, and
| we will watch their acumen, and we will use
| their grndst ones, and will borrow their philo-
! sophical apparatus to make our experiments,
and we will borrow their printing 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 a master IN his day. He not only got all
the learning he could get Of DR.. Gamiliel, but
afterward, standing on Mars hill and in crowd.
| ed thoroughfare, quoted their poetry and
grasped their logic, and welded their elo-
quence, and employed their mythology, until
| Dioaysius, the Areopagte. learned In the
schools OF Athens and Heliopolis, went down
under his tremendous powers. That was what
| gave Thomas Chalmers his power in his day.
| He conquered the worlds astronomy and COM
! PEELED 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 shout ed for JOY. That was what gave to
Jonathan Edwards his influence In his day.
He conquered the worlds metaphysics, and
| forced it into the service of God, until not
only the old meeting house of Northampton,
| Mass, but all Christendom felt thrilled by
| his Christian power.
ONLY THE VERY BEST WANTED.
Well, now. nv friends, we all have tools of
| Christian power. Do not let them lose their
| edges. We want no rusty blades in this fight
| We want no coulter that can not rip up the
globe. We want no axe that can not fell the
| trees. We want no goad that can not start
the lazy team. Let us get the veay best grind
stones we can find though they be in posses
sion 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 a bright, Keen sharp, glittering edge
Fourth-Again: my subject teaches us on
| what q small allowance Philistine iniquity puts
| a man. Yes, these Philistines shut up the
mines, and then they took the spears and the
swords; then they took the blacksmiths, then
| they took the grindstOnes, and they took ev-
erything but file. o, that is the way sin
works; it grabs everytaingl 1t begins with
| robbery and ends with robbery. 1t deSpoils
this faculty and that faculty and keeps on un-
til the whole nature is gone, Was the man
| eloquent before, it generally thickens his
tongue. Was he fine in personal appearance,
| it mars his visage. Was he aflluent, it sends
the sheriff to sell him out. Was he influen-
tiar it destroyes his popularity. Was he placid
and genial aud loving, it makes him scientific
and cross; and so utterly is he changed that
YOU can see he is sarcastic and rasping, and
that the Philistines have left him.
PHILIsTINE PROMISES ALL NAUGHT.
o, ''thc way of the transgressor Is hardn'
| His cup is bitter. His night is dark. His
pangs are deep. His end IS terrific. Philistine
iniquity says to that man: NOW, surrender to
me- and will give you all you want-music
for the dance, swift steeds for the race, impe-
rial couch to slumber on, and you shall be re-
freshed with the rarest fruits in baskets OF
filagree." He lies. The music turns out to
be groan. The fruits burst the rind with
rank poison. The fiiagree is made up of twist
ed reptiles The couch is grave. Small al
lowance of rest small allowance of peace,
small allowance of comfort. Cold, hard,
rough-nothing but file. So it was with Vol
tare the most applauded man of his day:
The Scripture was his Jest book, whence Ire drew
Bon m0s to gan Sns c brt WseS and ne jew
D, then text would touch him 20 the quick!
Seized with hemorrhage of the lungs in
Paris, where he had gone to be crowned as
the idol of all France, he sends messenger
to get q priest that he may be reconciled to
the church before he dies. A great terror
falls upon him. He makes the place oil round
about him so dismal that the nurse declared
that she would not for all the wealth OF Eu-
rope see another infidel die. Philistine
iniquity had promised him all the worlds gar
lands, but in the last hour of his life, when
he needed solacing, sent tearing across his
conscience and his nerves file. So II
was with Lord Byron, his uncleanliness in
England only surpassed by his uncleanliness
misery at Mssolonghi, frettng at his nurse
Fletcher, fretting at himself, fretting at the
, world, fretting at God; and he who gave the
world 'Childe Harold" and "Sardanapalus'
and 1.-THE Prisoner of Chillon'' and ''Tht
| Siege Of Cornth" reduced to nothing but Q
file. o, sin has a great facility for making
promises, but it has just as great facility for
4 breaking them!
THE ONLY REALLY CHEERFUL LIFE.
1 A Christian life is the only cheerful life
: while life of wicked surrender is remorse
t ruin and death. Its painted glen is sepulchra
Y | ghastliness. In the brightest days of thu
I Mexican empire Montezuma said he felt
y gnawing at his heart something like a canker
C Sin, like monster wild beast of the forest
e sometimes ticks all over its victim In orde
c that the victim may be more easily swallowed
d but generally sin rasps and gals, and tears
o and upbraids and files. Is it not So Herod
/ Is it not so, Hildebrands Is it not SO, Robe
Il splerel Aye; aye! 1t is so, it is So 9TH
d way Of the wicked he turueth upside down.
z History tells up that when Rome was founded
d there were twelve yutures flying through tn
e air; but when transgrcsSor dies the sky
n black with whole hocks of them. Vultures
o vultures vulturesl When ] see sin robbn
1t so many of my hearers, and see them goin
a | Hnyrn do hyy1 aN nd Inv II rnns