The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-12-10


King, warrior and sacred poet There
goes Tamerlane, the conqueror There
goes Haroun al 3ascbid, once the COM
mand4r OF an army of $4,000 Persians
and Arabs. There comes warrior on
his way to the barracks, carrying that
kind OF sword which the world has for
gotten how to make, a Damascus blade
with the interlacing OF color chang
colors coming and going and interjoin-
ing, the blade so keen 1t could cut In
twain an object without making the
lower part OF the object tremble, with
an elasticity that could not be broken,
though you brought the point OF the
| sword clear back to the hilt, and having
o watered appearance which made the
blade seem as though just dipped In a
clear fountain, triumph OF cutlery
which thousand modern foundrymen
and chemists have attempted in vain TO
initiate. On the side OF the street, dam
asks, named after tho city, figures OF
animals, and fruits, AID landscapes here
being first wrought into silk-damasks
And specimens Of damaskeeming by
which In this city steel and iron were
first graved, and then the grooves filled
with wire Of notwithstanding. But
stand back or be run over for here are
at the gates OF the city laden caravans
from Aleppo in one direction and from
Jerusalem in another direction, and
caravans Of all nations paying toll to
this supremacy. Great is Damascus!
But what most stirs my SOULS neither
chariot, nor caravan, nor bazaar, nor
palace, but blind man regsing along
the street, small OF stature al irsignih-
cant in personal appearance @ yes,
we have seen him before. He was cne
of that cavalcade coming from Jerusa
lem to Damascus to. kill Christians, and
we saw him and his horse tumble up
there on the road some distance out Of
the city, and he got up blind. Yes, it
1t Is Saul OF Tarsus now going along
this street called Straight He Is led
by his friends, for he can not see
his hand before his face, unto the
house OF Judas; not Judas the bad,
but Judas the good In another part OF
this city one Ananias, not Ananias the
liar, but Ananias the Christian, is told
by the Lord to 90 to this house Of Judas,
on Straight street, and put his hands on
the blind eyes OF Saul that his sight
might return. o." said Ananias, dare
not 90; that Saul is a terrible fellow"
He kills Christians and he will kill me-"
go" said the Lord, and Ananias went.
There sits in blindness that tremendous
prosecutor Ho was great nature
crushed. He had started for the city OF
Damascus for the one purpose Of assassi-
mating Christ's followers, but since that
fall from his horse he has entire
ly changed. Ananias steps up to tho
sightless man, puts his right thumb on
one eye. and the left thumb on the other
eye, and In an outburst OF sympathy
and love and faith says: Brother Saul!
Brother Saul! the Lord, even Jesus, that
appeared unto thee in the way as thou
camest, has sent me that thou mayest
receive thy sight, and be filled with tho
. Holy Ghost" Instantly something like
scales fell from the blind mans eyes,
and he arose from that seat the mightiest
evangel OF all the ages, a Sir William
Hamilton for metaphysical analysis,
, John Milton for sublimity Of thought,
l Whitefield for popular eloquence, a
t John Howard for widespread philan-
throphy. but more than all Of them put
: together inspired, thund6rbolted, null
A tipotent, apostolic. Did Judas, the kind
host OF this blind man, or Auanias, the
: visitor, SEQ scales drop from the sight
: less eyes? think notl But Paul knew
Q they had fallen, and that is all that hap
T pens TO any OF us when we are converted.
Tho binding scales drop from our eyes
4 and we see things differently.
/: A Christian woman, missionary among
r most degraded tribe, whose religion
!, was never TO wash or improve personal
trufn IN N
y OF those heathen women not only o.
. need OF change OF heart but change o
Q habits, which would result in chan gC
o OF appearance, but the effort failed
o until the missionary had placed
O in her own hallway looking
4 glass, and, when the barbaric woman
q passing through the hall, saw herself II
y tho mirror lor the first time, she OK
~ claimed 'can 1t be possible | look lik'
y that2" and appalled, at her own appear
/ ance she renbunced her old religion ant
s asked to he instructed In tho Christian
s religion. And so we feel that we are
n all right in DUR sinful and unchanged
! condition unit the scales fall from oul
:, eyes, and in the looking-glass OF God'i
- word we see ourselves as we really are
: until divine grace transforms US
. There are many people in this hous'
L to-day as blind as Paul was before Ara
!, Mas touched his eyes And ere arr
" many here from whose eyes the SCALE
n have already fallen. You see all sub
! iects and an things differontly-God
a and Christ, and eternity and your owl
!, immortal spirit Sometimes the scale
!, = do not all fall at once. When was
a boy, at Mount Pleasant, one Sunda!
b afternoon, repding 'Dodridge's Rise ant
IS Progress OF Religion in the Soul,
r that afternodh somo OF the scales fel
Is from my eyed and saw little. After
a had been In lhe ministry about year
, one Sunday Afternoon, In the villag,
parsonage, rkading the Bible story o
. the Syro-Phehician's faith, other scale
Y fell from my eyes and saw better
d Two Sunday evenings ago, while pre-
10 pairing for the evening service in New
D York, / picked up . book that did no
h remember u have seen before, ant
after had rbad page about reconse
Grafton TO Gdi, think the remaining
scales fell from my eyes Shall not ou
. visit 10 Damascus to-day result, lik'
1 Paul's visit, III vision 10 the blind, ant
h increased viAon for those who saw
N somewhat befre.
If / was reading OF painters child witt
o became blind bn infancy. But after th'
n child was netrly grown, a surgeon re
A moved the blindness When told tina
!. = this could bk done the child's chic
% thought her mother being dead, was
:. she would be ible to see her father, VIII,
d had watched Ioyer her with great ten
l. derness When sight came she wa
d In rapturos, bnd ran her hands owe
70 her fathers hce, and shut her eye
II as II to assuh herself that this wa
" really the father whom she had onl.
{. /. known BY touIh, and now looking upoI