The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1889-01-25

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enough flowers now for the coffin lid, because
they had all been taken for the bridal hour.
The dead minister of Christ Is brought TO
another village He had gone out from
them less than week before In his
strength now no comes homo lifeless The
whole church bewailed him The solemn
procession moved around to look upon the
still face that once had beamed with mes
sages Of salvation. Little children were
lifted up to look at him And some Of those
whom he had comforted In days OF sorrow,
when they passed that silent form, made the
place dreadful with their weeping. Another
village emptied of its fowers-some Of them
put In the shape Of q cross to symbolic his
hope, others put in the shape Of crown to
symbolic his triumph A hundred lights
blown out in one strong gust from the open
door Of a sepulcher. Ziklag In ashesl
preach this sermon today because want
to rally you, as David rallied his men, for the
recovery of tho loved and tho lost l want
not only to win heaven, but want all this
congregation to go along with me. ! feel
that somehow have responsibility in your
arriving at that great city. / have on other
Sabbaths used other Inducements | mean
today, for tho sake Of variety, hoping to
reach your heart, to try another kind OF in
ducement. Do you really want to join the
companionship Of your loved ones who have
comet Are you as anxious to join them as
David and his men were to join their fami-
LEST Then am here, In the name Of God, to
say that you may and to tell you how.
remark, in the first place, if you want to
join your loved ones In glory, you must
travel the same way they went. No sooner
had the half dead Egyptian been resuscitated
than he pointed the way the captors and the
captives had gone, and David and his men
followed after. So our Christian friends
have gone into another country, and If we
want to reach their companionship we must
take the same road. They repented; we must
repent. They prayed; we must pray. They
trusted in Christ; we must trust in Christ
They lived a religious life; we must live a
religious life They were in some things like
ourselves. know, now that they are gone,
there is a halo around their names, but
they had their faults. They said and did
things they ought never to have said
or done. They were sometimes rebellious,
sometimes cast down They were far from
being perfect. So l suppose that when we
have gone some things in us that are now
only tolerable may be almost resplend-
emit But, as they were like us In deficiencies,
We ought to be like them in taking supernal
Christ to make up for the deficits Had it
not been for Jesus, they would have all per-
ished; but Christ confronted them and said
II am the way" and they took 1t.
THE CAPTIvE's PATH UNPLEASANT
have also to say to you that the path that
these captives trod was troubled path, and
that David and his men had to go over the
were being taken off they said: "Oh, we are
so tired; we are so sick; we are SO hungry"
But the men who had charge Of them said
"Stop this crying. Go onp David and his
men also found it hard way. They had to
travel it. Our friends have gone into glory,
and it is through much tribulation that we
are to enter into the kingdom. How our
loved ones used to have to struggled how
their old hearts achedl how sometimes they
had tussle for breadl In our childhood we
wondered why there were so many wrinkles
on their faces We did not know that what
were called GROWS feet" on their faces were
the marks Of the black raven Of trouble. Did
you never hear the old people, seated by the
evening stand, talk over their early trials,
their hardships, the accidents, the burials,
the disappointments, the empty -four barrel
when there were so many hungry ones to
feed, the sickness almost unto death, where the
next dose of morphine decided between
CHASTITY bereavement and an unbroken home
circles Oh, yes! it was trouble that whitened
their hair. It was trouble that shook the
cup in their hands. 1t was trouble that
washed the luster from their eyes with the
rain of tears until they needed spectacles. 1t
was trouble that made the cane q necessity
for their journey. Do you never remember
seeing your old mother sitting, on some rainy
day, looking out of the window, her elbow
on the window sill her hand to her brow
looking out, not seeing the falling shower at
all you well knew she was looking into the
distant past, until the apron came up to her
eyes, because the memory was too much for
herr
Oft the big, unbidden tear,
Stealing down the furrowed cheek,
Told In eloquence sincere,
Tales Of woe they could not speak.
But this scene Of weeping DER,
Past this scene Of toll and pain,
They shall feel distress no more,
Never, never weep again.
''Who are these under the altarf" the
question was asked; and the response Games
'These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and
made them white In the blood Of the lamb. I"
Our friends went by q path OF tears into
glory. Be not surprised II we have to travel
the same pathway.
remark, again, If we want to win the So
ciety of our friends in heaven, we will not
only have 20 travel a path of faith and path
Of tribulatior but we will also have to posi-
lively battle for their companionship. David
and his men never wanted sharp swords and
invunerable shields and thick breastplates SO
much as they wanted them on tho day when
they came down upon the Amaleldtes. If
they had lost that battle, they never would
have got their families back I suppose that
one glance at their loved ones in captivity
hurled them into the battle with tenfold
courage and energy. They said: 1--WE must
win it. Everything depends upon it. Let
each one take a man on point of spear or
sword We must win it." And have to
tell you that between us and coming into the
companionship Of our loved ones who
are departed there Is an Austerlitz,
there Is a Gettysburg, there is Water
loo. War with the world, war with
the flesh, war with the devil. We have
either to conquer our troubles, or our troubles
will conquer us. David will either slay the
Amalekites, or the Amalekites will slay
David. And yet is not the fort to be taken
worth all the pain, all the peril, all the be-
siegement2 Lookl who are they on the bright
hills Of heaven yonder2 There they are, those
who sat at your own table, the chair now
vacant. There they are, those whom you
rocked In infancy in the cradle, or hushed to
sleep in your arms. There they are, those in
whose life your life was bound up. There
they are, their brow more radiant than ever
before you saw it, their lips waiting
for the kiss Of heavenly greeting, their
cheeks roseate with the health Of eternal
summer, their hands reckoning you up the
steep, their feet bounding with the mirth of
heaven The pallor of their last sickness gone
out of their face-never more to be sick, never
more to cough, never more to limp, never
more to be old, never more to weep. They
are watching from those heights to see if,
through Christ, you can take that fort, and
whether you will rush in upon them-victors
They know that upon this battle depends
whether you will ever join their society. up
Strike harderl Charge more bravelyl Re
member that every inch you gain puts you so
much farther on toward that heavenly re-
union.
VICTORY OR DEATHp
II this morning while speak you could
hear the cannonade of a foreign navy, coming
through the ''Narrows," which was to despoil
our city, and If they really should succeed in
carrying our families away from us, how
long would we take before we resolved to 60
after themi Every weapon, whether fresh
fromSpringfeld or old and rusty in the garnet,
would be brought out; and we would urge
on, and, coming in front Of the foe, we would
look at them, and then look at our families,
and the cry would be: "Victory or deathr'
and when the ammunition was gone, we
would take the captors on the point of
the bayonet or under the breech of
the gun If you would make such a struggle
for the getting back Of your earthly friends,
will you not make as much struggle for the
gaining of the eternal companionship of your