Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-07-25

eases you could imagine, he did not eat
enough TO keep child alive; he lived on q
10 dined every day with the King. He was
tept alive simply by the force OF our holy
teligion. It Is healthy religion; healthy
Tor the eye, healthy for the hand, healthy
Tor the feet healthy for the heart healthy
or the liver, healthy for the spleen, healthy
Tor the whole oman IL gives man such peace,
tuch quietness such Independence OF cir.
sumstancss such holy equipoise. Oh that
we all possessed it, that we possessed 1t now,
mean that il is healthy il q man gets
enough Of it. Now, there are some people
who get just enough religion TO bother them,
.ust enough religion to make them sick; but
4 a man take a full, deep, round inhalation
of these pine branches Of the gospel arbor,
he will find 1t buoyant, exuberant undying,
immortal health.
But this pine branch of my text also sug-
gests the simple fact that it Is ON evergreen.
What does this pine branch care for the
snow on its browi 1t is only a crown of
glory. The winter cannot freeze it out
This evergreen tree branch Is as beautiful in
winter as it is in the summer. And that il
the characteristics Of our holy religion; in the
sharpest coolest winter of misfortune and
disaster, it Is as good religion as it is in the
bright summer sunshine. Well, now that is
practical truth. For if should 60 up and
down these aisles, would not find in
this house fifty people who had had no trou-
ble But there are some of you who have
especial trouble. God only knows what you
go through with. Oh, how many bereave-
ments, how many poverties how many per.
secutions! How many misrepresentation
And now, my brother, you have tried every
thing else, why don't you try this evergreen
religion? 1t is just as good for you now as it
was in the days Of your prosperity; it is
better for you. Perhaps some of you feel
almost like Muckle Baclie, the fisher
cause he kept on working, although
that very day he buried his child. They came
to him and said: "It is indecent for you to
be mending that boat when this afternoon
you buried your child" And the fisherman
looked up and said: "Sir, it is very easy for
you gentlefolks to stay in the house with your
handkerchiefs to your eyes in grief; but, sir,
ought to let the other five children starve
because one Of them is drowned? No, sir, we
maun work, we maun work, though our
hearts beat like this hammer"
You may have had accumulation of sorrow
and Misfortune. They come in focks, they
come in herds upon your soul and yet have
to tell you that this religion can console you,
that it can help you, that it can deliver you
If nothing else will. Do you tell me that the
riches and the gain Of this world can console
you? How was it with the man who had
such fondness for money that when he was
sick he ordered basin of gold pieces to be
brought to him, and he put his equity hands
down among the gold pieces, cooling
his hands off in them, and the rattle and
rolling OF these gold pieces were his amuse-
ment and entertainment. All, the gold and
silver, tho honors, the emolumentS of this
world arc poor solace for perturbed spirit.
You want something better than this
world can give. A young Prince, when the
children came around to play with him, re-
fused to play. He said: will play only
with Kings. And it might be supposed that
you would throw away all other solace before
this regal satisfaction, this imperial joy. Ye
who are sons and daughters of the Lord Al
mighty ought to play only with Kings.
The hill OF Zion yields
thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heavenly fields
Or walk the golden streets.
But my text takes further step and n
says: ''Go into the mountain, and fetch olive
branches and pine branches, and palm
branches" Now, the palm tree was very
much honored by the ancients. It had three
hundred and sixty different uses. The fruit
was conserved; the sap was beverage; the
stems were ground up for food for carnels;
the base Of the leaves was turned into hats,
and mats, and baskets; and the leaves were
carried in victorious professions; and from
the root to the top of the highest leaf there
was usefulness. The tree grew eighty-five
feet in height sometimes, and it spread broad
leaves four and five yards long; it meant
usefulness, and it meant victory; usefulness
for what it produced, victory because it was
brought into celebrations of triumph. And
oh, how much we want the palm branches i'll
the churches of Jesus Christ at this time!
A great many Christians don't amount to
anything. You have to shove them out of
the way when the Lords chariots come along.
We don't want any more Of that kind of
Christians in the church.
The old maxim says: 'sDo not put all your
eggs into one basket" but have to tell you
in this matter Of religion you had better give
your all to God and then get in yourself.
''Oh," says some one, my business Is to sell
silks and cloths" Well, then, my brother,
sell silks and cloths to the glory of God. And
some one says: my business is to raise corn
and carrots" Then, my brother, raise corn
and carrots to the glory of God. And some
one says: "My business is to manufacture
horse shoe nailsn Then manufacture horse
shoe nails to the glory of God. There is moth
ing for you to do that you ought to do but
for the glory Of God.
Usefulness is typi1ed by the palm tree. All,
we don't want in the church any more peo-
pie that are merely weeping pillows, signing
into the water, standing and admiring their
long lashes in the CLASSY spring. No wild
cherry, dropping bitter fruit. We want palm
trees, holding something for God, something
for angels, something for man. I am tired
and sick of this fiat, tame, insipid, satin slip
pered, namby -pamby, nightly tightly religionl
1t is worth nothing for this world, and it is
destruction for eternity.
Give me five hundred men and women
fully consecrated to Christ, and we will take
any city for God in three years. Give me
ten thousand men and women fully up to the
Christian standard; in ten years ten thousand
of them would take the whole earth for God.
But when are we going to beginP
Ledyard, the great traveller, was brought
before the Geographical Society of Great Brit.
ain, and they wanted him to make some ex-
plorations in Africa, and they showed him all
the perils, and all the hard work, and all
the exposure and after they had told him
what they wanted him to do in Africa, they
said to him: Snow, Ledyard, when are you
ready to start?' He said: Tomorrow
morning" The learned men were aston
ished; they thought he would take weeks or
months to get ready. Well, now, you tell
want to be useful in Christian service.
When are you going to begin? Oh, that you
have the decision to say: To-day, nowr'
Go now into. the mount and gather the
penn branches. But the palm
branch also meant a victory. In
all ages, in all lands, the palm branch means
victory. We are by nature the servants of
Satan. He stole us, he has his eye ON us, he
wants to keep U.S. The word comes from our
Father thatif we will try to break loose from
this doing Of wrong, our Father will help us;
and some day we rouse up, and we look the
black tyrant In the face, and we fly at him,
and we Wrestle him down. and we put our
heel on his neck, and we grind him in the