Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-12-11

! dren in the infant class under years
of age. but not for stalwart men. Look
at this man of the text Do you not
think that the religion that could cap
trre such a man as that must have some
power in it? He was @ lOgician; he was
metaphysician; he was an all conquer
inc orator; he was poet of the highest
tyne. He had a nature that could swamp
the leading men Of his own day, and
hurled against the sanhedrin he made
it tremble.
He learned all that he could get in the
school of his native village; then he had
gone to higher school and there mas
tered the Greek and the Hebrew and
perfected himself in bellies lettres, until
in after years he astonished the Cretans,
and the Corinthians, and the Athenians
by quotations from their own authors.
have never found anything in Carlyle or
Goeth OF Herbert Spencer that could
conDarei in strength or beauty with PauIs
epistles. l do not think there is anything
in the writings Of Sir William Hamilton
that shows such mental discipline as you
find in Pauls argument about Just1tlca-
tion and the resurrection. have not
found anything in Milton finer IN the
way of imagination than I can find III
Paul's illustrations drawn from the am
phitheater.
There was nothing in Robert Emmett
pleading for his life, or in Edmund
Burke arraigning Warren Hastings In
Westminster hall, that compared with
the scene in the courtroom when, before
robed officials, Paul bowed and began his
speech. saying, ST think myself happy,
King Agrippa, because [ shall answer for
myself this day. [repeat that religion
that can capture q man like that must
have some power in it. It is time you
stopped talking as though ali the brain
of the world were opposed to Christiani-
tv. Where Paul leads, we can afford to
follow.
TALENTED CHRISTIANS.
am glad to know that Christ has in
the different ages of the world had in
his discipleship a Mozart and q Handel
in music, Raphael and a Reynolds in
painting, an Angelo and q Canova in
sculpture, a Rush and a Harvey in medi-
cine, a Grotius and q Washington in
craftsmanship; a Blackstone, Marshall
and a Kent in law. And the time will
come when the religion of Christ will
conquer all the observatories and uni
versities, and philosophy will through
her telescope behold the morning star of
Jesus, and in her laboratory see ''that
all things work together for good" and
with her geological hammer discover the
Crock of Ages"
Oh, instead Of covering and sh1verlng
when the skeptic stands before you and
talks Of religion as though it were a pu-
sillanimous thing-instead of that, take
YOUR New Testament from your pocket
and show him the picture of the intel
lectual giant Of all the ages FRUSTRATED
on the road to Damascus while his horse
is flying wildly away. Then ask your
skeptic what it was that frightened the
one and threw the other. Oh, no, it is
) no weak gospel. It is glorious gospel
; 1t is an all conquering gospel. 1t is an
) omnipotent gospel. It is the power OF
God and the wisdom of God unto saliva
ton.
HE MUST BE HUMBLED.
Again, I learn from the text q man can
not become Christian until he is I'M
| horsed. The trouble is, we want to ride
into the kingdom Of God just as the
knight rode into castle gate on palfrey
, beautifully caparisoned. We want tC
come into the kingdom of God in fine
: stvle. No kneeling down at the altar &c
sitting on ssanxious seats" no crying over
? sin. no begging at the door of Gods mer
CIV. Clear the road and let us come il
all prancing in the pride Of our soul
2 No. we will never get into heaven that
, way. We must dismount.
, There is no knight errantry in religion
no fringed trappings of repentance, bu
an utter prostration before God, a going
down in the dust, with the cry, Gun
, clean. unclean!"-a bewailing of the soul
, like David from the belly of hell
going down in the dust until Chris
shall by his grace lift us up as he lifted
Paul. Oh, proud hearted hearer, yor
must get off that .horsei May a ligh
from the throne of God brighter than thu
sun throw you! Come down into th'
> dust and cry for pardon and life ant
heaven.
, Again, learn from this scene of thu
text that the grace Of God can overcome
; the prosecutor Christ and Paul were
bows at the same time in different vii
: lagos, and Paul's antipathy to Christ wa
increasing. He hated everything abou
Christ. He was going down then will
writs in his pockets to have Christ's dis
: ciples arrested. He was not going as
sheriff goes to arrest man agalns
whom he had no spite, but Paul was go
ing down to arrest those people becaus
he was glad to arrest them.
The Bible says, ''He breathed GU
SLAUGHTER He wanted them captured
! and he wanted them butchered. L hea
: the click and clash and CHATTER OF tn
D hoofs of the galloping steeds Old the wa.
D to Damascus. Oh, do you think tina
| proud man on horseback can ever be
q come Christian? Yes! There is voic
: from heaven like thunderclap utterin!