Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-10-15

cost, But we are so afraid somebody
will criticiSe our sermons. or criticiSe our
PRAYERS, or criticise our religious work
that our anxiety for the worlds redemp-
ton is lost in the fear we WI get our
hand hurt, while EleaZar went into the
conflict, land his hand clave INTO the
sword"
But [ see in the next place what hard
thing it was for EleaZar to get his hand
and his sword parted. The muscles and
the slnews had been SO long grasped
around the sword he could not drop it,
and his three comrades, | suppose, came
I'D and tried to help him, and they
bathed the back part of the hand, hop
ing the sinews and muscles would relax.
But no. ellis hand clave unto the
sword" Then they tried to pull open
tie fingers and to pull back the thumb;
but no sooner were they pulled back than
they closed again, land his hand clave
unto the sword" But after awhile they
were successful, and then they noticed
that the curve in the palm Of the hand
corresponded exactly with the curve of
the hilt. ellis hand clave unto the
sword"
You and 1 have seen it many time.
They are in the United States to-day
are too feeble to preach. In the church
records the word opposite their name is
''emeritus,'' or the words are, "a minis
ter without charge" They were all
heroic race They had small salaries
and but few books, and they swan
spring freshets to meet their appoint
ments. But they did IN their day a
mighty work for God. They took off
more of the heads of Philistine iniquity
than you could count from noon to sun
down. You put the old minister of the
Gospel now into prayer meeting or oc-
casional pulpit, or a sick room where
is some one to be comfOrted, and it is the
same old ring to his voice and the same
old story of pardon and peace and Christ
and Heaven. His hand had so long
clutched the sword in Christian conflict
he cannot drop it. HAS hand clave
unto the sword"
had in my parish in Philadelphia
very aged man who, in his early life, had
been the companion and adviser OF the
early Presidents, Madison and Monroe.
He had welded vast influence, but only
knew him as a very aged man. The
most remarkable thing about him was
his ardor for Christ. When he could not
stand up in the meetings without prop
ping he would throw his arm around
pillar of the church, and though his
mind was partially gone, his love for
Christ was so great that all were In deep
respect and profound admiration, and
were moved when he spoke. | was called
to see him die. / entered the room and
he said, "Mr. Talmage, l cannot speak
to you now" He was in very pleasant
delirium, as he imagined he had an au-
hot i'm
tell these people to come to Christ and
prepare for Heaven" And then in this
pleasant delirium, both arms lifted, this
octogenarian preached Christ and told of
the glOries of the world to come. There,
lying on his dying pillow, his dying hand
clave to his sword.
Oh, if there ever was anybody who had
right to retire from the conflict it was
old Joshua. Soldiers come back from
battle have the names Of the battles on
their flags, showing where they distin-
guished themselves and it is very APP
propriate inscription. Look at the flag
of old Gen. Joshua On it, Jericho, Glib
con, HaZar, City of Al, and instead of
the stars sprinked on the flag, the sun
and the moon which stood still There
he is, 10 years old. He is lying flat on
his back, but he is preaching. His dying
words are battle charge against idOla-
try, and rallying cry for the Lord of
Hosts, and he says, ''Behold, this day |
go the way of all the earth, and God
hath not failed to fulfill His promise con-
corning Israel" His dying hand clave
unto the sword.
There is the headless body of Paul on
the road to Ostea. His great brain and
his great heart have been severed. The
i L. ,x,f Ill
When the corn ship broke up he swan
ashore, coming up drenched with the
brine. Every day since that day when
the horse reared under him in the
suburbs of Damascus, as the super
natural light fell, down to this day when
he is 6S years of age and old and
decrepit from the prison cell of the
Mamertine, he has been outrageously
treated, and he is waiting to die. How
does he spend his last hours? Telling
the world how badly he feels. and de-
scribng the rheumatism that he got in
prison, the rheumatism affecting his
limbs, or the neuralgia piercing his
temples, or the thirst that feVerS his
tongue? Oh, no. His last words are
the battle shout for ChrStendom: Il
am now ready to be offered, and the time
of my departure is at hand; | have fought
the good fight" And so his dying hand
clave unto the sword.
1t was in the front room on the second
floor that my father lay a-dying. 1t was
Saturday morning, o'clock. just three
years before that day my mother had
left him for the skies, and he had been
homesick to join her company. He was
SO years of age. Ministers of the Gospel
came in to comfort him, but he comforted
them. How wonderfully the words
sounded out from his dying pillow. Il
have been young and now am old, yet
have | never seen the righteous forsaken
or his seed begging bread" They bathed
his brow, and they bathed his hands,
and they bathed his feet and they sue
ceeded in Strengthening out the feet, but
they did not succeed in bathing open the
hand, so it would stay open. They