Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-09-28

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sentence in regard to Christianity. I'm
der God has it changed my entire ma.
turc,' says one; 1T has brought me
from drunkenness and poverty to so
briefly and Il good home" says another.
ut solac2d me when l lost my child"
says another. 1T gave me hope Of
future treasures when my property was
swept off by the last panic" says an
other. 1T has given me a peace and
satisfaction more to me than all the
world beside" says another. 1T has
Deen to me light, and music. and fra
GRANGE. and radiant anticipation" saws
another All. stop the procession of
witnesses. Enough! Enough! All those
voices of the past and the present have
mshtlly increased our faith,
But l come to the height of nv sub
1ect when l say the way to re-cnforcc
our faith is to pray for it. So the dis
c1pies i'll my text got their Astounding
faith: Lord. increase our faith. some
one suggests: do YOU really think
that prayer amounts to anythinr:.
might as well ask you if there is a line
OF Geographic poles from New York to
Washington, is there Il line of telc-
graphic poles from Manchester to Lon
don from Cologne to Berlin. AS those
people have sent and received mes
sages on these lines know of their eN
lstence. So there are millions of souls
who have been in constant comnlunica-
ton with the capital of the universe,
with the throne Of the Almighty. with
the great God himself, for years and
years and years. There has not been
Il day when supplications did not flash
up and blessings did not flash down.
VIII some ignoramus, who has never re-
ceived telegram or sent one come
and tell us that there is no such thing
rs telegraphic communication? viii
some one Who has never offered Il pray
CT that was heard and answered come
and tell us that there is nothing in
prayer! 1t may not come as we eX-
pect 1t, but as sure as an honest prayer
goes up Il merciful answer will come
down. During the blizzard of four or
five years ago, you know that many of
the telegraph wires We're Frustrated.
and l tclegraphcd to Chicago by the
Way of Liverpool, England, and the
answer, after a While, came round by
another wide circuit, and so the prayer
we offer may come back II Il way we
never imagined, and if we ask to have
our faith increased, although it may
come by Il widely different process
than that which we expected. our con-
tidencc will surely be augmented. Oh,
put it in every prayer you ever make
between your next breath and your
last gasp: Lord, increase our faith"
faith in Christ as our personal ransom
from present guilt and eternal catas
trophc: Faith in the onmipotent Holy
Ghost. Faith in the Bible. the truest
volume ever dictated or written or
printed or read. Faith in adverse PROV
idenccs harmonizcd for our best vel
fare. Faith in judgment day that
will set I'LL things right which have for
ages been wrong. Increase our faith,
not by Il fragile addition, but by an
intinitude of recupcration. Let us do
as we saw it done in the country while
we were vet in our teens, at the old
farm house. after a long dr)uth, and
the we'll had been dried, and the cattle
mOaned with thirst at the bars, and the
meadow brook had ceased to run. and
the grass withered and the corn was
shriveled up, and one day there was
growl Of thunder, and then a congrega-
ton Of clouds on the sky, and then q
startling flash, and then q drcnchlng
rain, and father and mother put bar
rels under every spout at the corners
Of the house, and set pals and buckets
and tubs and pans and pitchers to catch
as much as they could of the shower.
For in many of our souls there has been
a long drouth Of confidence, and III
many no faith at all. Let us set out
all our affections, all our hopes, all
our contemplations, all our prayers to
catch mighty shower. Lord, increase
our faith" l like the way that the
minister's widow did in Elisha's time,
when, after the family being very I'M
fortunate, her two sons were about to
be sold for debt, and she had nothing in
the house but Il pot Of oil, and at Eli
sha's direction she borrowed from her
neighbors all the vessels she could Dor
row, and then began to pour out the
oil into those vessels, and kept on pour
ing until they were all full, and she be-
came all oil merchant with more assets
than liabilities, and when she cried,
Bring me yet vessel the answer
came, There is not q vessel more,
So let us take what oil of faith we
have and use it until the supply shall
be miraculo,lsly multiplied. Bring on
your empty vessels, and by the power
of the Lord God Of Elisha they shall
be filled until they can hold no more
Of iubilant, all-inspiring and triumphant
faith
What frightful time we had few
days ago down on the coast OF Long
Island where I have been stopping.
That archangel OF tempest, which, with
its awful wings, swept the Atlantic
coast from Florida to Newfoundland,
did not spare our region. A few miles
away. at Southampton, saw the bodles
of four men, whom the storm had slam
and the sea had cast up. AS l stood
there among the dead bodies, l said
to myself. and 1 said aloud: These
men represent homes. What will moth
err and father and wife and children
say when they know this? Some OF the
victims We're unknown, only the flrst
name Of two of them was found out
Charley and William. l wondered then
and wonder now if they will remain
unknown, and if some kindred far away
may be waiting for their coming and
never hear of the rough way Of their
going. I saw also one Of the three who
had como in n1iva Inf moro 1a11 than