Connecticut western news., 1893-07-27

that was very rich land-this land of Israel. It says, "The stones are iron, and out of the hills thou shalt dig brass" and yet hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of this metal was kept under the hills. Well, that is the difficulty with the church of God at this day. Its tai ent is not developed. If one-half of its energy could be brought out, it might take the public iniquities of the day by the throat and make them bite the dust If human eloquence were consecrated to the Lord Jesus Christ, it could in a few years persuade this whole earth to sur render to God.
 There is enough undeveloped Christian energy in the United States to bring the whole world to Christ, but it is buried under strata of indifference and under whole mountains of sloth. Now, IS 1t not time for the mining to begin, and the pickaxes to plunge, and for this bur jed metal to be brought out and put into the furnaces and be turned into how itzers and carbines for the Lords host? The vast majority of Christians in this day are useless. The most of the Lords battalion belong to the reserve corps. The most of the crew are asleep in the hammocks. The most of the metal IS under the hills.
 Oh, is it not time for the church of God to rouse up and understand that we want all the energies, all the talents and all the wealth enlisted for Christ's sake? like the nickname that the English sol diers gave to Butcher, the commander. They called him ''Old Forwards" We have had enough retreats in the church of Christ; let us have glorious ad- vance. And l say to you now as the general said when his troops were af- frighted. Rising up i'll his stirrups, his hair flying in the wind, he lifted his voice until 20,00O troops heard him, cry ing out, Forward, the whole lineP' THE LoGICIANs OF THE CHURCH.
 Again, I learn from this subject that we sometimes do well to take advantage of the worlds sharpening instruments. These Israelites were reduced to file, and so they went over to the garrison of the Philistines to get their axes, and their goads, and their blows sharpened. The Bible distinctly states in the context that they had no other instruments now with h did right when they went over to the Philistines to use their grindstones. My | friends, is it not right for us to employ the worlds grindstones? If there be art, l if there be logic. if there be business fac i ulty on the other side, let us go over and employ it for Christ's sake. The fact is we fight with too dull weapons, and we work with too dull im- ! plements. We hack and we maui when we ought to make clean stroke. Let us go over among sharp business men and among sharp literary men and find out what their tact is, and then transfer l it to the cause of Christ If they have 1 science and art, it will do us good to rub ] against it. In other words, let us em- | ploy the worlds grindstones. We will listen to their music, and we will watch ! their acumen, and we will use their l grindstones, and we will borrow their l philosophical apparatus to make our ex- periments, and we will borrow their | printing presses to publish our Bibles, | and we will borrow their rail trains to | carry our Christian literature, and we will borrow their ships to transport our missionaries. | That was what made Paul such mas ter in his day. He not only got all the learning he could get of Dr. Gamahel, but afterward standing on Mars hill | and in crowded thoroughfare quoted their poetry and grasped their logic and yielded their eloquence and employed their mythology until Dionysius, the l Areopagite, learned in the schools of | Athens and Heliopolis, went down under his tremendous powers.
 | That was what gave Thomas Chalmers his power in his day. He conquered the worlds astronomy and compelled it to | ing out the wisdom and greatness of | the Lord, until for the second time the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. That was what gave to Jonathan Edwards his in tuence in his day. He conquered the worlds metaphysics and forced it into the service of God, until not only the old meeting house in Northampton,
 Mass, but all Christendom, felt thrilled by his Christian power.
 Well. now, my friends. we all have
 tools of Christian usefulness. Do not let them lose their edges. We want no rusty
 blades in this fight. We want no colter that cannot rip up the glebe. We want no ax that cannot fell the trees. We
 want no goad that cannot start the lazy
 team. Let us get the very best grind stones we can find, though they be in the
 possession of the Philistines, compelling
 them to turn the crank, while we bear down with all our might on the swift revolving wheel until all our energies
 and faculties shall be brought up to 8
 bright, keen, sharp, glittering edge.
 Again, my subject teaches us on what
 small allowance Philistine iniquity
 puts man. Yes, these Philistines shut
 up the mines, and then they took the
 spears and the swords, then they took the
 blacksmiths, then they took the grind
 stones, and they took everything but g
 file. Oh, that is the way sin works. Il
 grabs everything. It begins with rob
 bery, and it ends with robbery. It de
 spells this faculty and that faculty and
 keeps on until the whole nature is gone
 Was the man eloquent before, it gener
 ally thickens his tongue. Was he fne
 in personal appearance, it mars his wis
 age. Was he affluent, it sends the sher
 if to sell him out Was he influential
 it destroys his popularity. Was he placid
 and genial and loving, it makes hin
 splenetic and cross, and so utterly is ht
 changed that you can see he is sarcastic
 and rasping and that the Philistine'
 have left him nothing but a file.
 Oh, ''the way of the transgressor i.
 hard" His cup is bitter. His night ii
 dark. His bangs are deep. His end ii
 terrific. Philistine iniquity says to tha
 man, ''Now, surrender to me, and vii
 give you all you want-music for tht
 dance, swift steeds for the race, imperia
 couch to slumber on and you shall bt
 refreshed with the rarest fruits in bas
 kets of golden fIgree." He lies. The
 music turns out to be a groan. Tn,
 fruits burst the rind with rank poison | The filiOrae is made mn Of twisted snales