The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-06-14


his eternal interest is to go to work for
God. Ten thousand voices are lifted up
asking for your help. Go and help.
Here is q wood full of summer in
sects. An axman goes into the wood to
cut firewood. The insects do not bother
him very much, and every stroke of the
sx makes them fly away. Bullet man
go and lie down there, and he is bitten
and mauled, and thinks it is horrible
thing to stay in the wood. Why does
he not take an ak and go to work? So
there are thousands of Christians now
in the church who go out amid great
annoyances in hfe-they are not per
picked, they are all the time busy; while
there are others who do nothing, and
they are stung and stung and stung
and covered freSn head to foot with the
blotches of Incidence and inactivity, and
spiritual death.
The first thing, then. you have to do,
o Christian young man. Christian young
woman, is to go to work in the service
of the Lord, if you want to be happy
Christian When an army goes out,
there are always stragglers falling off
here and there. some because they are
faint and sick, but great many because
they are afraid to fight and too lazy TO
march. After a while the lazy men on
the road hear the booming of the guns
for hours, and they hear the shout of
victory, and man on horseback comes
up and says, I'VE have won the dayp
Then they hasten up. How brave they
are after the battle is over. Poor at
fighting, but grand at "huzzan So
there are stragglers going after the
Lords host. There come days of dark
ness and battle. Where are they? We
call the roll of the host. They make no
answer, but after while there comes
day of triumph in the church, and they
are all about "Huzza! huzza! Didn't
we give it to themr
PRAYER GREAT STRENGTHENED
have another word of counsel to give
those who have Just entered Christian
| life, and that is, Be faithful in prayer.
| You might as well, business man, start
out in the morning without food and ex-
pect to be strong all that day-yOu might
| as we'll abstain from food all the week
and expect to be strong physically, as to
be strong without prayer. The only way
to get any strength into the soul Is by
prayer, and the only difference between
! that Christian that is worth everything
and that who is worth nothing Is the
fact that the last does not pray and the
other does
And the only difference between this
Christian, who is getting along very fast
in the holy life, and this, who Is only
getting along tolerably, is that the
| e - ,,,-o,,s ,,oo,-a tbor tho last Won caO
graduate a mans progress in religion by
the amount of prayer; not by the num-
Der of hours, perhaps, but by the earnest
supplication that he puts up to God.
There is no exception to the rule. Show
me a Christian man who neglects this
kind of duty, and l will show you one
who is inconsistent Show me man
who prays, and his strength and his
power cannot be exaggerated. Why
lust give to a man this power of prayer
and you give him almost omnipotence.
This afternoon you will see two Sab
bath school teachers. That one does not
gain the attention of her class. This one
does. What is the difference between
them, their intellects being about equal
The first thought only of her own ap
parel. The other came from great pros
tratiou before God in earnest supplica
ton, asking that Gods mercy nigh
come upon the school and that in the
afternoon she might gain the attention
of those five or six immortals that would
be around her. The one teacher has NJ
control over her class The other sit
as with the strength of the Lord Go(
, Almighty.
, A minister comes into the pulpit. H
, has a magnificent sermon, all the sen
fences rounded according to the laws o
: rhetoric and fine sermOnizlng, and tn
truth makes no impression on the heart
of men. People go away and say, "Ver.
, beautiful. wasn't itF' a plain man come
/ into the pulpit. He has been on his knee
before God asking for an especial mes
l sage that day, and the hearts of me
5 open to the plain truth, the broken sen
a fences strike into their cOnsciences, an
l though the people may disperse at tn
close of the services seemingly withou
l having received any impression. tina
l night voices Will be lifted IN some house
Y hold. Men and brethren, what shall W
D do to be saved?" Oh, this power G
4 prayer! Pray! Pray!
DRINK OF THE WATER OF KNOWLEDGE
! Another word of counsel have to give
: Be faithful in Bible research. A grea
S many good books are now coming out
( We cannot read half of them. At ever
= revolution of the printing press they ar
!. coming. They cover our parlor table:
y and are in our sitting rooms and hbrt
= ries. Glorious books they are. W
T thank God every day for the work of tn
Christian printing press. But 1 hav
r thought that perhaps the followers
) Christ sometimes allow this religious Ii
f erature to take their attention frol
y Gods Word, and that there may not /
/ as much Bible reading as there ougf
t to be.
n How is that with your own exper
: euce? Just calculate in your minds ho'
h much religious literature you have rea
: during the year and then how large
s. portion of the Word of God you hay