Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-02-04

OF his money! But never mind, the deacon
has his black coat on now. Ne looks sol
emn and goes home talking about 'the
blessed sermon"
THR WHEAT AND cHAFF NOW MINGLED.
1.-THE wheatin the churches should be put
into hopper, the first turn OF the crank
would make the chat hy. tell you. Some
OF these men are great sticklers for Gospel
preaching. They say; You stand there in
bands and surplice and gown and preach
preach like an angel, and we will stand out
here and attend to business. Don't mix
things. Don't get business and religion in
the same bucket. You attend TO your
matters and we will attend to ours.D
They do not know that God sees every
cheat they have practiced in the last six
years; that he can look through the iron
wall Of their freproof safe; that he has
counted every dishonest dollar they have
in their pocket, and that day of judg-
ment will come. These inconsistent Chris
tian men will sit on the Sabbath night in
the house of God singing at the close of
the service, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me-"
and then when the benediction is pro-
nounced shut the pew door and say as
they go out, "Goodby, religion, I'll be back
next Sunday"
think that the Church Of God and the
Sabbath are only an arnory where we are
to get weapons. When war comes, if a man
wants to fight for his country he does not
go to Troy or Springfield to do battling.
but he goes there for swords and muskets.
look upon the Church of Christ and the
Sabbath day as only the place and time
where and when we are to get armed for
Christian conflict; but the battlefield is on
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday and Saturday. "St. Martins and
"Lenox" and "Old Hundred" do not
amount to anything unless they sing all
the week. A sermon Is useless unless we
can take it with us behind the pillow and
the counter. The Sabbath day is worthless
If it last only twenty-four hours.
There are many Christians who say:
"We are willing to serve God, but we do
not want to do it in these spheres about
which we are talking; and it seems so in
sipid and monotonous II we had some
great occasion, if we had lived in the time
of Luther, if we had been Paul's travelling
companion, If we could serve God on
great scale, we would do it, but we can't
in this everyday life" ! admit that
great deal of the romance and knight er-
rantry of life have disappeared before the
advance of this practical age. The ancient
temples of Rouen have been changed into
storehouses and smithies The residences
of poets and princes have been turned into
brokers' shops The classic mansion of
Ashland has been cut up into walking
sticks. The groves where the poets said
the gods dwelt have been carted out for
irewood. The muses. that we used to read
about have disappeared before the emf
grants AK and the trapper's gun, and that
man who is waiting for life bewitched of
wonders will never find it.
THE GREAT FIELD OF DAILY LIFE.
There is, however, a field for endurance
and great achievement, but it is in every
day life. There are Alps to scale, there are
Tablespoons to swim, there are fires to
brave; but they are all around us now
This is the hardest kind of martyrdom to
bear 1t took grace to lead Latimer and
Ridley through the fire triumphantly
when their armed enemies and their friends
were looking on; but it requires more
grace now to bring men through persecu-
tion, when nobody is looking on. l could
show you in this city woman who has had
rheumatism for twenty years, who has en-
dured more suffering and exhausted more
grace than would have made twenty mar
tyrs pass triumphantly through the fire
If you are not faithful in an insignificant
position in life, you would not be faithful
in grand mission. If you cannot stand
the bite of midge, how could you endure
the breath of basilisk2
Do not think that any work God gives
you to do in the world is on too small a
scale for you to do. The whole universe is
not ashamed to take care Of one little
flower. say: "What are you doing down
here in the grass, you poor little flower?
Are you not afraid nights? You will be
neglected, you will die of thirst, you will
not be fed. Poor little dowerl" "No,"
says a star, "I'll watch over it tonight"
mo" says a cloud, "Tll give it drink"
"No," says the sun, "I'll warm it in my
BOSOM" Then see the pulleys going, and
the clouds are drawing water, and say,
What are you doing there, o clouds?"
And they reply. eve are giving drink to
that flower"
Then the wind rises and comes bending
down the wheat and sounding its psalm
through the forest, and l cry, "Whither
away on such swift wing, o wind" And
it replies, 1--WE are going to cool the cheek
of that flower" And then bow down and
say, "Will God take care of the grass of
the field" And flower at my foot re-
spends, "Yes; he clothes the lilies of the
field, and never yet has forgotten me, a
poor little flower" Oh, when I see the
great heavens bending themselves to what
mi OF xpha
find out that God does not forget any bios
som of the spring or any snowflake of the
winter, come to the conclusion that we
can afford to attend to the minute things
in life, and that what we do we ought to
do well, since there is as much perfection
in the construction of SPIDERS eye as in
the conformation of flaming galaxies.
Plato had fable which I have now
nearly forgotten, but it ran something like
this He said spirits of the other world
came back to this world to find body and
find sphere of work. One spirit came
and took the body of a king and did his
work. Another spirit came and took the
body of poet and did his work. After
awhile Ulysses came, and he said, "Why,
all the fine bodies are taken, and all the
grand work is taken. There is nothing left
for me-" And some one replied, "Ah! the
best one has been left for you" Ulysses
said, 'What's that?" And the reply was,
"The body of common man, doing COM
mon work and for a common reward" A
good fable for the world and just as good
fable for the church. Whether we eat or
drink, or whatsoever we do, let US do it to
the glory of God.
THE LITTLE FOXES SPOIL THE VINES.
Again, we need to bring the religion of
Christ into our commonest trials. For Sc
we're losses, for bereavement. for trouble
that shocks like an earthquake and that
blasts like a storm, we prescribe religious
consolation; but, business man, for the
small annoyances of last week, how much
of the grace of God did you applys "Oh,"
you say, these trials are too small for such
application" My brother, they are shaping
your character, they are souring your tenn