The Portland daily press., 1892-06-18


away. But let 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 life-they
are not perplexed, they are all the time
busy; while there are others who do
nothing, and they are stung and stung
and covered from head to foot with the
blotches of Incidence and inctivity, 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 OFT
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 while the lazy men on the
road hear the booming of the guns for
hours, and they hear the shout of victory,
and a man on horseback comes up and
says: "We have won the daym Then
they hasten up. How brave they are
after the battle is over. Poor at figh-
ing but grand at 'huzza!" So there
are stragglers after the Lords host.
There come days of darkness and bat
tie. Where are they? We call the roll
of the host. They make no answer,
but after a while there comes day of
triumph in the church, and they are all
about. ''Huzza! Huzza! Didn't we
give it to them'
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
expect to be strong all that day-you
| might as well abstain from food all the
week and expect to be strong physi-
cally, 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 getting
along only tolerably is that the first
prays more than the last. You can
graduate a mans progress in religion
by the amount of prayer, not by the
number of hours, perhaps, but by the
earnest supplication that he puts up to
God. There is no exception to the rule.
| Show me Christian man who neglects
L., - IL
one who is inconsistent. Show me a
man who prays, and his strength and
his power cannot be exaggerated. Why
just give to 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
equal? The first thought only of her
own apparel. The other came from
great prostration before God in earnest
supplication, asking that Gods mercy
might come upon the school, and that
in the afternoon she might gain the at
| tention of those five or six immortals
| that would be around her. The one
teacher has no control over her class.
| The other sits as with the strength of
the Lord God Almighty.
A minister comes into the pulpit? He
has magnificent sermon, all the SEN
fences rounded according to the laws
of rhetoric and fine sermonizing, and
the truth makes no impr ession on the
hearts of men. People go away and
say: Every beautiful, wasn't it?" A
| plain man comes into the pulpit. He
has been on his knees before God asking
for an especial message that day, and
the hearts of men open to the plain
truth, the broken sentences strike into
their consciences, and, though the peo-
! pie may disperse at the close of the serv-
ices seemingly without having received
any impression, that night voices will
be lifted in some households: "Men and
brethren what shall we do to be saved?"
O, this power of prayer! Pray Pray!
Another word of counsel I have to
give. Be faithful in Bible research. A
great many good books are now coming
out. We cannot read half of them At
every revolution of the printing press
| OAtCy oIO SOA1ihhS. IllCy COVCI Jul ptaElOT7
tables, and our sitting-rooms and libra
ries. Glorious books they are. We
thank God every day for the work of
the Christian printing press. But have
thought that perhaps the followers of
Christ sometimes allow this religious
literature to take their attention from
Gods word, and that there may not be as
much Bible reading as there ought to be.
How is that with your own expert
ence? just calculate in your minds
how much religious literature you have
read during the year, and then how
large portion of the word of God you
have read, and then contrast the two
and answer within your own soul
whether you are giving more attention
to the books that were written by the
hand of man or that written by the
hand of God. Now, you go to the
drug store and you get the mineral
waters; but you have noticed that
the waters are not so fresh or sparkling
or healthful as when you get these
very waters at Saratoga and Sharon
getting them right where they bubble