Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-10-12

day = EiStty work for God They took
CT more Ct 4 heads Of PalliStEne iEigrssy
tA&R yoa could count from room 70 SAB
dgwn- yea pat that old minister cf the
Gospel rew inss prayer meeting. or occa~
slaDzl paiFsE. CO u SEX FooHl WHARF there is
some enc 10 be eomfovtei, sui IL Is TIE
saIas ell riag 70 his voice AMI the same old
story o. pSrdoa and gexce and Christ snd
ksagen. Ills hand has 80 long eluteked the
s1o.d in Christian conElet be cannot drop
1t. Ills hand elaye unto the sword"
THE AGED MINISTER'S FAITH
l had in my parish in Philadelphia
very aged man who Ia his early life had
been the companion and adviser OF thu
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 net stand up
In the meetings without proppsng he would
throw his arms around . pillar of the
church, aud though his mind was partially
gone his love for Christ was so great that
all were In deep respect and profound ad-
n,iration. AMI were moved when he spoke.
| WAS called 10 see him die. entered the
room, aad he said, MI. Taimage, I can
not speak To yoa now" He was in a very
pleasant dsliriun, as he imagined he had
an audience b<fore him. He said, IL must
tell these people TO come To Christ and pre-
pare for heaven" Aud then in this pleas
ant delirium. both arms lifted, this octo-
genarian preached Christ and told Of the
glories OF the world TO come. There. lying
On his dying pillow. his dying hand clave
70 his sword.
Oh, II there ever was any one who had
right TO retire from the conflict IL was old
Joshua Soldiers come hack from battle
have the names Of the battles on their flags,
showing who're they distinguished them
selves. and 1t Is a very appropriate inscrip-
ton. Look at the flag OF old General
Joshua, On it Jericho. Gideon, Hazar,
City Of All. and instead of the stars
sprinkloi on the flag the sun and the moon
which stood still. There he il, one hum
dred and ten years old. He is lying fat on
bis back but he is preaching. His dying
words are battle charge against idolar-y
and raiiying cry for the Lord OF Hosts as
he says, Behold, this day 60 the way Of
all the earth. and God hath not failed TO
fulfill his promise concerning Israel" His
dying hand clavs unto the sword.
There Is the headless body of Paul on the
road TO Ostea- His great brain and his
~
wood rods had stung him fearfully. When
the CORE ship broke up he swan ashor.,
coming up drenched with the brine. Every
day since that day when the horse reared
under him in the suburbs of Damascus. as
the supernatural light fell, down to this
day when he is sixty Weight years of age and
old and decrcpit from the prison cell Of
the Mamertne, he has been outrageously
treated. and he is waiting to die. How does
he spend his last bourss Telling the world
Low badly he feels, and describing the
rheumatism that he got in prison, tho
rheumatism affecting his limbs, or the
neuralgia piercing his temples. or the thirst
that fsvers his tongue? Oh, no. His last
words arc the battle shout for Chrstendom:
IL am now ready to be offered, and the
tine of my departure is at hand; have
| fought the good Fight" And so his dying
hand clave unto the sword.
| 1t was Ia the front room on the second
floor that my father lay a-dying. 1t was
| Saturday morning. four O'Clock. Just three
years before that day my mother had left
| him for the skies. and he had been home
sick to join her company. He was eighty
! three years OF age. Ministers of the Gospel
came in 10 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 forsaker, or his seed
begging bread" They bathed his brow,
and they bathed his hands, and they bathed
| his feet and they succeeded in straighten-
! ing out the feet; but they did not succeed
in bathing open the hand so it would stay
open. They bathed the hand open, but it
came shut. They bathed it open again, but
! itcame shut. What was tie matter with the
thumb and the fingers OF that old hand'
| Ali had so long ciutched the sword Of
| Christian conflict that his hand clavc unto
the sword"
SPIRITS OF THE MARTYRS
\ preach this sermon as q tonic. want
you to hold the truth with ineradicabie
| grip. and want you TO strike SO hard for
God that it Will react and while you take
the sword. the sword viii take you.
| You noticed that the officers OF the north
ern army few years ago assembled at
Denver, and you noticed that the officers
OF the southern army assembled at Lex
ington Soldiers coming together are very
apt TO recount their experiences and to
show their scars. Here is soldier who
pulls up his sleeve and says, There,
was wounded in that arm" and shows the
sca- And another soldier pulls down his
collar, and says, There, was wounded in
the neck" And anesher soldier says, 81
| have ha,! no use OF that limb since the gun
shcs fracture" Oh. my friends, when the
battle OF life Is over and the resurrection
| has come and orr bodies rise from tho
dead, viii we have on us any scars OF
bravery for Godi Christ will be there all
covered with scars. Sears on the brow,
scars on the hand. scars On the feet, scars
ali over the heart won in the battle Of re-
demption. And all heaven will sob aloud
with emotion es they look on those scars.
Ignatius viii be there, and he will point
out the places whore the tooth and the paw
Of the lion seized him in the Coliseum;
aud John Huss will be there. and he will
show where the coal first scorchcd the foot
| on that day when his spirit took wing Of
fame from Constance. M'Millan and Cam D
bell and Freeman. American missionaries
in India, will be there--the men who with
their wives aud children went down in the
! awful massacre n Cawnnore. and they will
show where tas dasgers OF the Scpoys
struck them.
The waldenses win be there. and they
! will show vksro their bo,cs were broken
on that day uhen the Piedmontese soldiery
| pitched them over the rocaa And there
| win he these there who took care OF the
sick and who looked after the poor. and
| they will have evidences OF earthly ex-
| haustion. And Christ. with his Scared
hand waving over the SCARED multi
tuic, viii saT. "You suffered with me on
| earth. now he siorifed with me in heaven. "
| Ard then tie great organs OF eternity viii
take MP the chant and St. John will play,