The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-06-19

ION OF Jesus Christ Preacn that ana
you will have crowd. The world is
sick 10 reorganization with the modern
quaeks in religion, The world has been
swinging off from the old Gospel, but it
will swing back, and by the time you
young men go into the pulpits the cry
will be coming up from all the millions
Of mankind, "Give us the bread of life;
no sweetened bread, no bread with
sickly raisins stuck here and there into
it, but old fashioned bread as God our
mother mixed it and baked itp
You see God knew as much when he
made the Bible as he knows now. He
has not learned single thing in six
thousand years. He knew at the start
that the human race would go wrong,
and what would be the best means Of
its restoration and redemption, And
the law which was Numbered on Mount
Sinai, from whose top had the two
tables of stone in yonder wall trans
ported, is the perfect law. And the
Gospel which Christ announced while
dying on that mount from which |
brought that stone in yonder wall, and
which Paul preached on that hill from
which brought yonder granite, is the
Gospel that is going to save the world.
Young man, put on that Gospel armorl
No other sword will triumph like that.
No other shield will protect like that.
No other helmet will glance off the
battle axes like that.
Our theological seminaries are doing
glorious work, but if ever such theo-
logical seminaries shall cease to prepare
young men for this plain Gospel advo,
cacy, and shall become mere philo-
sophical schools for guessing about God
and guessing about the Bible and
guessing about the soul, they will cease
their usefulness and young men, as in
olden time, when they would study for
the Gospel ministry, will put themselves
under the care of some intelligent and
warm hearted pastor, and kneel with
him in family prayer at the parsonge,
and go with him into the room of the
sick and the dying, and see what vic,
tories the grace of God can gain when
the couch of the dying saint is the
Marathon.
That is the way the mighty ministers
of the Gospel were made in olden times.
Oh, for great wave of revival to roll
over our theological selninaries, and our
pulpits, and our churches, and our &c
clesiastical courts and over all Christen-
doml That would be the end of con.
troversy While such deluge would
float the ark of God higher and higher,
it would put all the bears and tigers
and reptiles of raging ecclesiasticism
fifteen cubits under.
WORK FOR CHRIST BRINGS PEACE
Now, what is the simple fact that you
in the pew and Sabbath school class
and reformatory association and we in
the pulpits have to deal witha 1t is
this: That God has somewhere, and it
matters not where, but somewhere,
provided a great heaven-great for
quietness for those who want quiet,
great for vast assemblage for those who
like multitudes, great for architecture
for those who like architecture great
for beautiful landscape for those who
like beautiful landscape, great for mu-
sic for those who like music, great for
professions for those who like armies
on white horses, and great for anything
that one especially desires in such
rapturous dominion-and through the
doings of one who was born about five
miles south of Jerusalem and died
about ten minutes walk from its eastern
gate all may enter that great heaven
for the earnest and heartfelt asking.
Is that all9 That is all. What then
Is your work and mine9 Our
work is to persuade people to face
that way and start thitherward and
finally go in. But has not religion
something to do with this world as well
as the nexta Oh, yes; but do you not
see that if the people start for heaven,
on their way there they will do all the
good they can2 They will at the very
start of the journey get so much of the
spirit of Christ, which is spirit of
kindness and self sacrifice and gene
rosity and burden bearing and helpful
ness, that every step they take will re-
sound with good deeds. Oh, get your
religion off of stiltsl Get it down out
of the high towersl Get it on level
with the wants and woes of our poor
human racel Get it out of the dusty
theological books that few people read
and put it in their hearts and lives.
Good thing is it to profess religion when
you join the church, but every day
somehow, we ought to profess religion
A peculiar patchwork quilt was, dur
ing the civil war, made by lady and
sent to the hospitals at the front. She
had boy in the army, and was natur-
ally interested in the welfare of sol
diers But what a patchwork quilt she
sentl On every block of the quilt was
passage of Scripture or a verse of a
hymn. The months and years of the
war went by. On that quilt many a
wounded man had lain and suffered
and died. But one morning the hos
pital nurse saw patient under that
blanket kissing the figure of leaf in
the quilt, and the nurse supposed he
was only wandering in his mind. But
no, he was the son of the mother who
had made the quilt, and he recognized
that figure of a leaf as part of gown
his mother used to wear and it re-
minded him of home. DO you know
where this quilt came frnn2" he asked.
The nurse answered, Il can find ont,
for there was card pinned fast to it,
and | will find that.
Sure enough, it confirmed what he
thought Then the nurse pointed to q
passage of Scripture in the block of the
quilt, the passage which says, when
he was yet great way off his father
saw him, and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him. Yes" said the dy
ing soldier, 81 was a great way off, but
! God has met me and had compassion
on me. :" Shall | write to your mother