The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-04-28

pathy for the worst man, remembering
he is brother; sympathy for the worst
woman, remembering she is sister. II
that is not the gospel, | do not know
what tho gospel is. All, yes, sympathy
for all the troubled, for the orphans in
their exposure, for widowhood with Its
weak arm fighting for bread, for the
household which erst resounded with
merry voices and pattering feet now aw
fully still-broad winged sympathy, like
the feathers of the Almighty; warm
blooded sympathy, everlasting sympa
thy; sympathy which shows itself in the
grasp of the hand, in the glittering tear
of the eye, in the consoling word of the
mouth; sympathy of blankets for the
cold, of bread for the hungry, of medi-
cine for the sick, of rescue for the lost,
Sympathy!
TwENTY-FouR YEARS OF HEALTH.
Let it thrill in every sermon. Let it
tremble in every song. Let it CLEAN in
every tear and in every light. Sympathy!
Men and women are signing for SYM
pathy, groaning for sympathy, dying for
sympathy, tumbling off into uncleanli-
ness and crime and perdition for lack of
sympathy. May God give it to us! Fill
all this pulpit with it from step to step.
Let the sweep of these galleries suggest
its encircling arms. Fill all the house
with it, from door to door, and from floor
to ceiling, until there is no more room
for it, and it shall overflow into the
street, and passersby on foot and in car
riage shall feel the throb of its magnifi-
cent benediction.
Let that be our new departure as q
church. Let that be my new departure
as a pastor. Sympathy! Gratitude to
God demands that this morning men
ton the fact that during all these q
years l have missed but one service
through sickness. When l entered tho
ministry, 1 was so delicate did not think
Iwould preach three months, but preach
ing has agreed with me, and | think the
healthiest thing in all the earth is the re-
hgion of Jesus Christ. Bless the Lord,
o my soul! What ingrates we are in re-
gard to our health
must, in gratitude to God, also men
ton the multitudes to whom / have been
permitted to preach. 1t is simply mirac-
ulous, the attendance morning by morn
ing, night by night, and year by year,
and long after it has got to be an old
story. l know some people are dainty
and exclusive in their tastes. AS for my
lelf, I like big crowd. would like to
Zee an audience large enough to scare
me! If this gospel is good, the more that
get it the better.
Many have received the gospel here,
but others have rejected it. Now, tell
you what l am going to do with some Of
my dearest friends who have hitherto
rejected the gospel. You are not afraid
of me, and l am not afraid of you, and
some day, o brother, will clasp your
hands together, and l will turn your face
the other way, and will take hold of
your shoulders, and while you are help
less in my grasp will give you one head
long push into the kingdom of God.
Christ says we must compel you to come
in. will compel you to come in. Can
| consent to anything else with these
men, who are as dear to me as my own
soul? l will compel you to come in.
THE PAST HAS LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE.
Profting by the mistakes Of the past, /
must do better work for you and better
work for God. Lest I might, through
some sudden illness or casualty, be
snatched away before 1 have the oppor-
tunity of doing so, take this occasion
10 declare my love for you rs a people.
1t is different work if pastor is placed
in church already built up, and he is
surrounded by established circum-
stances. There are not 10 people in this
church that have not been brought into
the church through my ministry. You
are my family. feel as much at home
here as do in my residence on Oxford
street. You are my family-my father,
my mother, my sister, my son, my
daughter. You are my joy and crown,
the subject of my prayers.
Your present and everlasting welfare
is the object of my ambition. l have nc
worldly ambition. had once. I have
not now. I know the world about as
well as any one knows it. have heard
the handclapping of its applause, and
have heard the hiss Of its opposition, anC
declare to you that the former is moi
especially to be sought for, nor is the lat
ter to be feared. The world has giyer
ME about all the comfort and prosperity
it can give man, and have no worldly
ambition. / have an all consuming ambi
ton to make full proof of my ministry
to get to heaven myself and to take {
great crowd with me. Upon your tabl'
and cradle and armchair and pillow ant
lounge and nursery and drawing room
and kitchen may the blessing of the Al
mighty God come down!
During these "a years there is hardly
family that has not been invaded by sor
row or death. Where are those CRANE
| old men, those glorious Christian women
who used to worship with US? Why, the.
went away into the next world so grad
ually that they had concluded the secont
stanza or the third stanza in heaven be
| fore you knew they were gone. The,
| had on the crown before you though
they had dropped the staff of the earthl.
pilgrimage.
| And then the dear children. Oh, hov
many have gone out of this church! Yo1
could not keep them. You folded then
| in your arms and said 80 God, can
not give them up! Take all else, TAX
my property, take my reputation, bu
let me keep this treasure. Lord, l can
not bear this"
THE LAND OF NO PARTING.
| Oh, if we could all die together! ]
we could keep all the sheep and tn
lambs of the family fold together unit
some bright spring day, the bird
a-chant, and the waters a-glitter, an
then we could altogether hear the voic
of the good Shepherd and hand in han
pass through the food! No, no, no, nc
Oh, if we only had notice that we are al
to depart together, and we could say
our families: 1.-THE time has come. TIL
Lord bids us away" And then we coul
take our little children to their beds an
straighten out their limbs and say
'Now, sleep the last sleep. Good nigh
until it is good morning" And then W