Democratic messenger., 1892-05-21

Win IN indignant Wofd OF uOuplcu up
fist make response An yet here is our
Christian religion which has done so
much for you and So much for the world
that il will take all eternity 10 celebrate
il, and yet when il was attacked you
did not SO much as say: Il differ. | OBJ
ject, | am sorry TO hear you say that
There Is another side 10 this.
You Christian people ought in such
times rs these TO 20 armed. not with
earthly weapons. but with the sword of
the Spirit Yon ought To have four or
five questions with which You could
confound any man who attacks Chris
tianity. y man ninety years old was
telling me IA few days ago how he put to
flight sccffer My aged friend said to
the skeptic, Did you ever read the his
tory of Joseph in the Bible:" Yes,
said the man; lit Is fine story, and as
interesting story as | ever read.
We'll. now, said my old friend sup
pose that account of Joseph stopped half
way! "Oh." said the man, then il
would not be entertaining We'll.
now" said my friend, I'VE have in this
world only half of everything. and do
You not think that when we hear the
last half things may be consistent, and
that then we may find that God was
right
LOAD UP WITH INTERROGATION POINTS.
oh, friends, better load UP with few
Interrogation points. Yon cannot afford
to be silent when God and the Bible
a a
Your silence gives consent 10 the bonn
bardment of your fathers house You
allow Il slur 10 be cast on your mothers
dying pillow. In behalf of the Christ,
who for you Went through the agonies
of assassination on the rocky bluff back
of Jerusalem. you dared no, face a sick
ly joke. Better load up with "A few ques-
tions so that next time You will be ready
Say TO the scoifer: My dear sir. Will
you tell me what makes the difference
between the condition of woman IN
China and the United States: What do
you think of the sermon on the mount:
How do you like the golden rule laid
down in the Scriptures: Are you IN
favor of the ten commandments: In
NQHt HsfNt
you come across lovelier character
than Jesus Christ: Will you please to
name the triumphant deathbeds of in
fidels and atheists: How do you account
for the fact that among the out and
out believers IN Christianity We're such
persons as Benjamin Franklin. John
Ruskin, Thomas CARLYLE. B;tbingtol
Mapat.ia.. NNfIlsn,st .,ls.,
Charles Kingsley. Horace Bushnell.
James \. Garfield Robert T. Lee Stone
wall jackson. Admiral Foute. Admiral
Farragut. Ulysses :. Grant. John Mil.
ton. William Shakespeare. Chief Justice
Marshall. John Adams. Daniel Webster
George Washington: How do You ac-
count for their fondneSs for the Christian
religion: Among the inuumerablc col
| leges and universities Of the earth VIII
you nalnc me three started by iufidcls
and now supported hy infdels: Down
i'll your heart are you really happy in
the position You occupy antagonistic 70
the Christian religion: When do YOU
have the most rapturous views of the
next world:
Go at him with Il few such questions
and Ee will get so red III the face rs to
suggest apopleXy. and he will look at
his watch and say he has an engagement
and must go You will put him in Il
sweat that will beat IL Turkish bath
You will put him "u Il rot;t compared
with which our troops al Bull Run made
no time at all Arm Yourself. not with
arguments bat Interrogation points. and
| promise you victory. Shall such ii
man as you, shall such woman as YOU
surrender to one Of the meanest spirits
that ever smoked mp from tile pit-the
dumb devil spoken II III the text:
But then there ar. occasions when
this particular spirit that Christ eXer
cised when he said, Il charge thee to
come out of him. takes people by the
wholesale In the most responsive rcli-
gious audience have you noticed how
many people never sing at all: They
have book. and they have voice and
they know how 10 read They know
many of the tunes. and yet are silent
while the great raptures of music pass
by. Among those who sing not one ont
IF hundred sings lond enough 10 hear
his own voice. They hum it. They give
- sort of religious grunt. They make
the lips go. but il is inaudiblc. With ii
voice strong enough 10 stop IL street car
one block away, all they can afford in
the praise Of God Is about half whis.
per. With enough sopranos. enough
| altos, enough bassos to make small
heaven between the four walls, they let
the opportunity go 10y unimproved.
The volume of voice that ilsceuds from
the largest audience that ever assembled
ought to be multiplied about two thou-
sand fold. But the minister rises and
gives ont the hymn; the organ begins;
the choir or prcccntor leads; the audi
ence are standing 50 that the lungs may
have full expansion. and Il mighty har-
mony Is about 10 ascend. when the evil
spirit spoken of in my teXt-the dumb
deyiI-spreads his two wings one over
other wing over the lips of the other half
of the audience. and the voices roll bacl;
into the thro.ts from which they started.
and only here and there anything is heard,
and nine-tcnths of the holy power is
destroyed; and the dumb devil, as he
flies away, says, Il could not keep Isaac
Watts from writing that hymn. AMI /
could not keep Lowell Mason from com
posing the tune Ia which it is set but
smote into silence or half silascc the lip,
from which il would have spread abroad
to bless neighborhoods and cities, and
! then mount the wide open heavens "
Give the long meter doxology the full
support Of Christcndom, and those four
lines would take the whole earth for God
THE POWER OF song.
During the cotton famine in Lanca-
shire. England. when the suffering was
something terrific. as the first wagon
load of cotton rolled in. the starving
| people unlocked the horses and drew
/ the load themselves, singing. until 1ll
| Lancashire joined ia with triumphant
voices. their cheeks sopping with tears.
Praise Gud from whom all blessings