Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1889-08-09

I
gion had been hurled in there as though it
were a bombshell. We must be adroit in the
presentation Of religion to the world
BE NATURAL
Do you suppose That Mary in her CONVEX
sation with Christ lost her simpicityior that
Paul laundering from Mars Hill took the pull
pit tonei Why is it people cannot talk as
naturally in prayer meeting and on religious
subjects as they do in worldly circlesl For
no one ever succeeds in any kind Of Christian
work, unless he works naturally We want
to initiate the Lord Jesus Christ, who
plucked poem from the grass Of the field.
We all want to initiate Him who talked
with farmers about the man who went forth
to sow, and talked with the fishermen about
the drawn net that brought in fish Of all sorts,
and talked with the vine dresser about the
idler in the vineyard, and talked with those
newly gfIlanced about the marriage supper,
and talked with the man cramped in money
matters about the two debtors, and talked
with the woman about the yeast that leav-
ened the whole lump, and talked with the
shepherd about the lost sheep. Oh, we
might gather even the stars Of the sky, and
twist them like forget-me-nots in the gar
land Of Jesus We must bring everything
to him-the wealth of language, the tender
ness Of sentiment, the delicacy of morning
dew, the saffron Of floating cloud, the
tangled surf of the tossing sea, the bursting
thunder guns Of the storms bombardment.
Yes, every star must point down to him,
every helotrope must breathe his praise,
every drop in the summer shower must flash
his glory, all the tree branches of the forest
must thrum their music in the grand march
which shall celebrate a world redeemed.
Now, all this being 50, what is the common
sense thing for you and for me to dol What
we do ] think will depend upon three great
facts. The first fact that sin has ruined US
1t has blasted body, mind and soui We
want no Bible to prove that we are sinners.
Any man who is not willing TO acknowledge
himself an imperfect and a sinful being Is
simply a fool and not to be argued with We
all feel that sin has disorganized our entire
nature That is one fact. Another fact is
that Christ came to reconstruct, to restore,
to revise, to correct, to redeem. That is a
second fact The third fact is that the only
time we are sure Christ will pardon US is the
present. Now, what is the common sense
thing FOR US to do in view of these three
factsl You will all agree with me to quit
sin, take Christ and take him now. Suppose
some business man in whose skill you had
perfect confidence should tell you that to-
morrow Monday morning, between II and
II O'Clock, you could by a certain financial
transaction make five thousand dollars, but
that on Tuesday, perhaps, you might make
1t, but there would not be any positiveness
aboutFit, and on Wednesday there would
not be so much, and Thursday less, Friday
less, and so on less and less-when would you
attend to the matteri Why, your common
sense would dictate: Immediately | will
attend TO that matter, between II and 70
o'clock tomorrow lMondayl morning, for
then | can surely accomplish it, but on Tues
day may not, and on Wednesday there is
less prospect. / will attend lit tomorrow. -
Now, let us bring our common sense in this
matter of religion. Here are the hopes Of
the Gospel We may get them now. To
morrow we may get them and we may not
Next day we may and we may not. The
prospect less and less and less and less.
NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TINE.
The only sure time now-nQw would
not talk to you in this way if / did not know
that Christ was able to save all the people,
and save thousands as easily as save one.
would not so into a hospital and tear Off the
bandages from the wounds if had no balm
to apply. would not have the face to tell
man he is a sinner unless / had at the same
time the authority Of saying he may be saved.
Suppose in Venice there is a Raphael, a faded
picture, great in its time, bearing some marks
of its greatness. History describes that pic
ture. It is nearly faded away You say:
sob, what pity that so wonderful q picture
by Raphael should be nearly defaced" After
a while man comes up, very unskillful in
art, and he proposes to retouch it, You say:
"Stand off would rather have It Just as it
is; you will make it worse" After a while
there comes an artist who was the equal Of
Raphael He says: ~ will. retouch that pic
ture and bring out all its original power"
You have full confidence in his ability. He
touches it here and there Feature after fea-
ture comes forth, and when be is done with
the picture it is complete in all its original
power Now God impressed his image on
our race, but that image has been defaced
for hundreds and for thousands Of years.
getting fainter and fainter Here comes up
a divine Raphael He says: 81 can restore
that picture" He has all power in heaven
and on earth He is the equal of the One
who made the picture, the equal of the One
who drew the imagine of God in our
soul He touches this sin and it is gone
that transgression and it disappears.
and all the DETACHMENT vanishes. aud
where sin abounded grace doth much
more abound VIII you have the de-
facemept or will you have the restorationG
| am well persuaded that if could by
touch of heavenly pathos in two minutes put
before you what has been done to save your
soul, there would be an emotional tide over
Whelming. Mamma" said little child to
her mother when she was being put to bed at
night, mamma, what makes your hand so
SCARED and twisted and unlike other peoples
handsF' well, said the mother, my child,
when you were younger than you are now,
years ago. one night after had put you to
bed heard cry, a shrek upstairs ! came
up and found the bed was on fire aud You
were on fire, and took hold OF you and
tore off the burning garments, and while /
was tearing them off and trying to get you
away | burned my hand, and it has been
Scared and twisted ever since, and hardly
looks any more like a hand, but | got that,
my child, in trying to save you" o mani
0 woman | wish today could show you
the burned hand Of Christ-burned in pluck
ing you out Of the fire, burned in snatching
you away from the flame Aye, also the
burned foot, and the burned brow, and the
burned heart-burned for you BY hisstIipes
sc are healed.