The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-02-04
but nobody has any idea that they are

house 20 give UeSulInOny' IncrV dfS
aged men who -ried the world and they
tried religion and they are willing to
testify on our side. 1t was not long ago
that an aged man rose in prayer circle
and said: brethren, lost my son just
as he graduated from college and 1t
broke my heart, but am glad now be
is gone. He is at rest, escaped from all
sorrow and from all trouble. And then,
in 1857, lost all my property and you
see l am getting old and it is rather hard
upon me, but am sure God will not let
me suffer. lie has not taken care OF
me for seventy-fve years now to let me
drop out of His hands" / went into
the room of an aged man-his eyesight
nearly gone, his hearing nearly gone
and what do you suppose he was talk
ing about? The goodness of God and
the joys Of religion. He said: ~
would like to go over and join my
wife on the other side Of the food,
and l am waiting until the Lord
calls me. I am happy now, shall
be happy there" What is it that gave
that aged man so much satisfaction and
peace? Physical exuberance? No; 1t
has all gone. Sunshine. He can not
see IT, The voices Of friends. He can
not hear them. 1t is the grace Of God,
that is brighter than sunshine and that
Is sweeter than music. If harpist
takes harp and finds that all the
strings are broken but one string, he
does not try to play upon it. Yet here
! will show you an aged man, the strings
OF whose Joy are all broken save one,
and yet he thrums IL with such satisfac-
ton, such melody, that the angels of
God stop the swift stroke of their wings
and hover about the place until the
music ceases. o religions 'ways are
ways Of pleasantness, and all her paths
are peace" And II you have not the
satisfaction that is to be found in Jesus
Christ, must tell you, with all the con.
centrated emphasis Of my soul: Zone
thing thou lackest."
Iremark again, that you lack the ele-
ment Of usefulness, Where is your busi-
ness? You say it is No. As such street,
or No. 26O such street, or No. 800 such
street. My friend immortal, your busi-
ness is wherever there is tear to be
wiped away or a soul to be saved. You
may. before coming TO Christ, do great
many noble things. You take loaf of
bread to the starving man in the alley;
but he wants immortal bread. You
take pound of candles TO that dark
shanty. They want the light that
springs from the throne of God,
and you can not take 1t because
you have it not in your own
heart You know that the fight
Of an arrow depends very much upon
the strength of the bow, and / have TO
tell you that the best bow that was ever
made was made out of the cross Of
Christ; and When religion takes a soul
and puts il on that, and pulls 1t back
and lets it fly, every time it brings down
Saul or Goliath. There are people
here of high social position, aud large
means, and cultured minds, who, II
they would come into the. Kingdom OF
God, would set the city on fire with re-
ligious awakening. o, hear you not
the more than million voices Of those In
these two cities who are unconvertedf
Voices of those in these two cities who
are dying in their sins? They want
light. They want bread. They want
Christ They want Heaven, o, that
the Lord would make you n flaming
evangel. As for myself, 1 have sworn
before high Heaven that l will preach
this gospel as well as can, in all Of It's
fullness, until every fiber Of my body
and every faculty Of my mind and
every passion Of my soul, is exhausted
But we all have work to do. | can
not do your work, nor can You do my
work. God points us out the place
where we are to serve, and yet are
there not people in this house who are
thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty years OF
age, and yet have not begun the great
work for which they were createdi
With every worldly equipment; "oae
thing thou lackest."
Again, you lack the element OF per
sonal safety. Where are those people
who associated with you twenty years
ago? Where are those peopl that, fif
teen years ago, used to cross South
Ferry, or Fulton Ferry with yon to New
York; Walk down the street where
you were in business fifteen years ago
and see how all signs have changed.
Where are the people gone? How many
Of them are landed in eternity can moi
say, but many, many. went to the
village of my boyhood The houses
are all changed. / passed one house in
which once resided man who had lived
an earnest, useful life, and he is in glory
now. In the next house a miserlived. H'
devoured widows houses, and spent hi
whole life in trying TO make the worlt
worse and worse. And he Is gone-th'
good man and the miser both gone u
the same place. All, did they go TO thu
same placer II is an infinite absurd
ity TO suppose them both in the sam
place. II the miser had a harp, wha
tune did he play on IL? o, my friend,
commend TO you this religion as tn
only personal safety. When you die
where are you going to2 When W
leave all these scenes, upon what scene
will we enter? When we were on ship
board, and we all felt that we must go b
the bottom, was right in saying to on
next me. 81 wonder II we will reacI
Heaven II we do go down tonight" Wa
wise or unwise in asking that quet
ton? tell you that man is fool VIII
never thinks Of the great future.
II you pay money, you take receipt
II you buy land, You record the deed
Why? Because every thing is so unceI
thin. Won want Il down In black an