The Penn's Grove record., 1892-01-29

be nothing In a general engagement" Aud
l have to tell you, . Christian men, IL you
cannot apply the principles OF Christ's re-
ligion on u small scale, you will never be
able TO apply them on a large scale. IL you
cannot successfully contend against these
sorrows that come down single handed,
what will you do when the greater disasters
Of life come down with laundering artillery,
rolling over your soul?
Again we must bring the religion Of
Christ into our commonest blessings. When
the autumn comes and the harvests are in,
and the governors make proclamation, we
assemble in churches and we are very thank.
full. But every day ought to be a thanks
mon mercies Of life. We nave to seq
a blind man led by his dog before
we begin to bethink ourselves of what a
grand thing it is to have eyesight. We have
to see some one afflicted with st. Vitus's
lance before we are ready to thank Co tor
the control of our physical energies. We
nave to see some Wounds man hoDbling on
his crutch or with his empty coat-sleeye
pinned up before we learn to think what q
4 grand thing God did for us when He gave
US healthy use OF our limbs.
We are so stupid that nothing but the mis-
fortunes of others eau arouse us up to our
blessings. As the ox grazes in the pasture
up to its eyes in clover, Yet never thinking
who makes the clover, and as the bird picks
up the worm from the furrow not knowing
that 1t is God who makes everything, from
the animalcula in tine sod to the seraph on
the throne, so We go on eating, drinking and
enjoying, but never thanking or seldom
thanking; or, If thanking at all, with only
half a heart.
1 compare our indifference to the brute;
| but perhaps | wronged the brute. | do not
know but that, among Its other instincts, it
| may have an instinct oy which il recognizes
the divine nam thai feeds it. | do not know
bt.f that Cod iG fnrDu~h IL hnlhinr F,nu1.
| munic ition with what we call 'irrational
creation" The cow that stands under the
| willow by the water course chewing its cud
| loo6@ very thankful, and who can tell how
mach a bird means by its song.
The aroma of flowers smells like incense,
and the mist arising from the river looks
ike the smoke of a morning sacrifice. oh,
| thai We were as responsiveI Yet who thanks
God for the water that gushes up In the
well, and that toams in the cascade, aud
that laughs over the rocks, and that patters
in the showers, and that clasps its hands in
| the sea? Who thanks God for the air, the
| fountain of life. the bridge Of sunbeamS,
the path of sound, the great fan on
a hot summers day? Who thanks God for
this wonderful physical organism-this
| sweep of the vision. this chime Of harmony
struck into the ear, this soft tread of a
myriad delights over the nervous tissue, this
rolling OF the crimson tide through artery
| and vein, this drumming of the heart on our
march to Immortality? We take all these
things as a matter OF course.
But suppose God should withdraw these
| common blessingsi Your body would be
some an inquisition of torture, the cloud
| would refuse rain, every green thing would
| crumple up, and the earth would crack open
under your feet. The air would cease its
healthfui circulation. pestilence would
| swoop, and every house would become a
place of skulls. Streams would first swim
with vermin and then dry up. and thirst
| and hun ger aud anguish and despair
would lift their scepters. oh, compare UGH
a life as that with the life you hive this
| morning with your families about you'll Is
it not time that, with every word of our lips
| and with every action Of our life, We began
to acknowledge these everyday merciesi
"Whether We eat or drink, or whatsoever ye
do, do all to the glory of God" Do 1 ad-
dress a manor a woman this morning who
has not rendered to God one single offering
of thanks?
1 was preaching one Thanksgiving dav
and announced my text. "Oh, give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good; for His
mercy endureth forever" l do not know
whether there was any blessing on the SER
mon or not, but the text went straight to
a young mans heart. He said to himself,
as l read the text: "'Oh, give thanks unto
to Lord, for He is good Why, l ave
never rendered Hin any thanks. oh, what
an migrate l nave DetuI Cdu IL lie, NY
brother, that you nave been fed by the good
hand of God all these ~days-that YOU have
had clothing and shelter and all beneticent
surroundings, an yet have never offered
your heart TO God?
Oh, let a sense of the divine goodness
shown you in the everyday blessings melt
| your heart, and if you have never before
uttered one earnest note of thanksgiving
let this be the day which shall bear your
song. What [ say to one l say to all OF this
audience. fake this practical religion l
have recommended into your everyday life.
Make every day "a Sabbath and every meal
a sacrament and every room you enter a holy
of hoiies. We all have WORK to do; let US
.e willing to do it. We all have sorrows to
ear; let us cheerfully bear them. We all
nave ~i,aUties to fight; let us courageousiy
fight tdenu.
If you want TO die righu you must live
right. Negligence and i'll iolence will win
the hiss OF everlasting scorn, while faithful
ness will gather its garlands and wave its
scapter and sit upon its throne long after
this earth has put on ashes and eternal
ages have begun their march, You
go home to-day and attend to you little
sphere of duties. | will go home and attend
to my little sphere of duties. Every one in
his own place. So every step in life shall be
a t%riuinphal march, and ne humblest foot
stool on which we are caliei to sit Will DO a
conqueror's throne.