The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-11-22

a verse of the old book than for a whole
| library containing all the productions OF
| all the other religions of all the ages.
| The other religions are a sort. of cocaine
! to 5enumb and deaden the soul while
| bereavement and misfortune do their
work. but our religion is inspiration,
| illumination, imparadisation. IL is mix
ture of sunlight and hallelujah. Do not
aduterate il with one drop OF the
tincture of incredulity.
Another bible if is the ''if of eter-
nal significance. Solomon gives us that
| if twice in one sentence when he
says, IF thou be wise, thou shalt be
wise for myself, but If thou soonest
| thou alone shalt bear it Christ gives
| US that if when He says, IF thou
/ hadst known in this thy day the things
which belong unto thy peace. but now
| they are hidden from thine eyes" Paul
| gives us that if when he says, III
| they shall enter into my rest" All those
! ifs and q score more that l might re-
| call put the whole responsibility of our
salvation on ourselves. Christs willing
| ness 10 pardon-no if about that.
| Realms of glory awaiting the righteous
no If about that.
The only if in all the case worth d
moments consideration is the if that
| attaches itself To the question ass 10
| whether we will accept. whether we will
! repent. whether we Will believe, whether
we will rise forever Is IL not time that
| We take our eternal future off that
| swivel? Is IL not time that we eXtirpate
! that IF. that miserable If, that
| hazardous "if?" We would not allow
| this uncertain if to stay lonS In any
! thing else OF Importance. Let some one
| say in regard to a railroad bridge, Il
| have reasons for asking if that bridge
| is safe" and you would not cross it.
| Let some one say Il have reasons to
/ ask if that steamer is trustworthy and
[ "a IA III
! Let some one suggest in regard To
| property that you are about TO purchase
! Il have reason to ask If they can give
/ a good title" and YOU would not pay
/ a dollar down until you had some skill
! full real estate lawyer examine the title.
| But / allowed for years Of my lifetime,
| and some of you have allowed for years
| of your lifetime an IF to stand toss
| ing up and down questions Of eternal
| destiny Oh. decide. Perhaps your ar
/ rival here today may decide. Stranger
! things than that have put to flight for
! ever the If of uncertainty.
The Miners Moving story.
P A few Sabbath nights ago in this
| church a man passing at the foot Of
the pulpit said to me. Il am miner
from England" and then he pushed
back his coat sleeve and said. do you
see that scar on my arm?" l said
|
wound there some time" He said:
Yes; it nearly cost me my life. l was
i'm a mine i'm England 600 feet under
ground and three miles from the shaft
| Of the mine and a rock fell on me, and
! my fellOw-laborer pried off the rock. and
l was bleeding TO death, and he took
| a newspaper from around his luncheon
| and bound it around my wound and
then helped me over the three miles
| underground to the shaft, where l was
| lifted to the top, and when the news
paper was taken off my wound | read
| on it something that saved my soul.
| and it was one of your sermons. Good
night" he said with grateful emotion.
| And who knows but the words / now
] speak, blessed of God, may reach some
| wounded soul deep down in the black
| mine of sin, and that these words may
| be blessed to the stanching of the wound
| and the eternal life of the soul? Settle
| this matter instantly, positively and for
| ever. Slays the last If" Bury deep the
| last IF" How TO do it? Fling body,
mind and soul in prayer as earnest
| as that of Moses in the text. Can you
| doubt the earnestness of this prayer of
| the text2 IT Is so heavy with emotion
that il breaks down in the middle. 1t
| was so earnest that the tranSlatOrS in
| the modern copies of the bible were
| Obliged to put a mark, a straight line
| dash, for an omission that will never
be filed up. Such an abrupt pause,
such sudden swapping off of the SEN
| tence,
! You cannot parse my text It is an Of
| Tense TO grammatical construction. But
| that dash put in by the type-setters is
/ nightly suggestive. IF thou wilt for
| give their sin 0hen comes the dash)-
| and If not, blot me, I pray thee, out Of
| thy book" Some of the most earnest
| prayers ever uttered could not be parsed
/ and We're poor specimens of language
| They halted, they broke down, they
| passed into sobs or groans or silences
God cares nothing for the syntax of
| prayers, nothing for the rhetoric of
prayers. oh, the wordless prayers! If
they were piled up they would reach to
| the rainbow that arches the throne of
| God. A deep sigh may mean more than
| a whole liturgy. out Of the $1,000 words
of the English language there may not
be a word enough expressive for the
soul
The most effective prayers I have
| heard have been prayers that broke
down with emotion-the young man for
the first time rising i'm a prayer meeting
and saying. "Oh, Lord Jesus!' and then
| sitting down, burying the face i'm the
| handkerchief; the penitent in the inquiry
| room kneeling and saying, God help
me-" and getting no further; the broken
prayer that started a great revival in
| my church i'm Philadelphia. prayer
| MAY nave III Slylt the BIdttlulIeSS hl
| an Addison and the sublimity Of a Mil
ton and the epigrammatic force of an
| Emerson and yet be a failure, having a
horizontal power, but no perpendicular
| power, horizontal power reaching the
| ear of man; but no perpendicular power
| reaching the ear of God.
A Great Explorers Prayer Answered.
Between the first and the last SEN
fences OF my text there was a paroxysm
| of earnestness too mighty for words.
1t will take half of an eternity TO tell
Of all the answers of earnest and faith
full prayer. In his last journal David
Livingstone, in Africa, records the
| prayer so soon TO be answered: "19
| Marsh-birthday My Jesus, my God,
| my life, my all, 1 again dedicate my
whole self TO Thee Accept me, and
| grant. o gracious Father, that ere this
| year is gone 1 may finish my task. In
! Jesus's name | ask IL. Amen"
When the dusky servant looked into
| Livingstone's tent and found him dead
on his knees, he saw that the prayer
had been answered. But notwithstand-
ing the earnestness of the prayer of
prayer and was not answered. 1 think
the two Ifs" in the prayer defeated &C.
and one 'if'' is enough 10 defeat any
prayer. whatever other good character
istics it may have. IF thou wilt for
give their slns-and If not. blot me, !
pray thee out of thy book" God did