The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-12-15

| 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
w stminster hall, that compared with
the scene in the courtroom when, before
robed officials, Paul bowed and began his
speech. saying, II think myself happy,
King .Agrippa, because shall answer for
myself this day. Irepeat that religion
that can capture man like that must
have some power in it. 1t is time you
stopped talking as though all the brain
of the world We're opposed to Christiani-
ty. Where Paul leads, we can afford to
! follow.
TALENTED CHRISTIANS.
| lam glad to know that Christ has in
the different ages of the world had in
his discipleship Mozart and Handel
in music, Raphael and Reynolds in
painting, an Angelo and a Canova in
sculpture, Rush and Harvey in medi-
cine, Grotius and Washington in
craftsmanship; Blackstone, Marshall
and 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
Brock of Ages"
Oh, instead of covering and shivering
when the skeptic stands before you and
talks of religion as though it were pu-
sillapimous 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. 1t is glorious gospel.
1t is an all conquering gospel. 1t is an
| omnipotent gospel 1t is the power of
God and the wisdom of God unto saliva
ton.
HE MUST BE HUMBIED.
Again, learn from the text 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 caparisoGed. We want to
come into the kingdom of God in fine
style. No ceiling down at the altar no
sitting on anxious seats, )" no crying over
sin, no begging at the door of Gods mer-
cy. Clear the road and let us come in
all prancing il the pride Of our soul.
No, we will never get into heaven that
way. We must di5mount.
There is no knight crrantry in religion,
no fringed trappiugs of repentance, but
an utter prestration before God. q going
down in the dust with the cry. Gun
clean, unclean!'--a bewailing of the soul,
like David from the belly of hell--a
going down in the dust until Christ
shall by his grace lift US up as he lifted
Paul. Oh, proud hearted nearer, you
must get of tlat horse! May light
from the throne OF God brighter than the
sun throw you! Come down into the
dust and cry for pardon and life and
heaven.
Again, learn from this scene of the
text that the grace of God can overcome
the prosecutor. Christ and Paul were
boys at the same time in different vii
lagos, and Paul's antipathy to Christ was
increasing. He hated everything about
Christ He was going down then with
writs in his pockets to have Clrist's dis
ciples arrested. He was not going as a
sheriff goes to arrest a man against
whom he had no spite, but Paul was go
ing down to arrest those people because
he was glad to arrest them.
The Bible says, He breathed out
slaughter" He wanted them captured,
and ne wanted them butchered. hear
| the click and clash and chatter of the
hoofs of the galloping steeds on the way
to Damascus. Oh, do you think that
proud man on horseback can ever be-
come Christian? Yes! There is voice
from heaven like thunderclap uttering
two words, the second word the same as
the first, but uttered with more emphasis,
80 that the proud equestrian may have
no doubt as to who is meant: Saul!
Saull' That man was saved, and he was
a prosecutor, and SO God can by his
grace overcome any prosecutor.
STILL. SOME PERSECUTION.
The days of sword and fire for Chris
tians seem to have gone by. The bayo-
nets Of Napoleon | pried open the sin
QUESTION" and let the rotting wretches
out. The ancient dungeons around Rome
are today mere curiosities for the travel
ers. The Coliseum, where wild beasts
used to suck up the life of the martyrs
while the emperor watched and Lola
Paulina sat with emerald adornments
worth go, 100000 sesterces, clapping her
hands as the Christians died under the
paw and the tooth of the lion-that Col
iseum is ruin now The scene of the
Smithfeld fires is haymarket. The day
of fire and sword for Christians seems to
have gone by. But has the day of per-
s,ntion ceased? No. Are you not carl
catured for your religion? In proportion
as you try to serve God and be faithful
to him, are you not sometimes NAL
treated?
That woman finds it hard to be Chris
tian as her husband talks and jeers
while she is trying to say her prayers or
read the Bible. That daughter finds it
hard to be Christian with the whole
family arraTed against her = father,
mother, brother and sister making her
the target of ridicule That young man
finds 1t hard to be Christian in the
shop or factory or store when his COM
rades jeer at him because he VIII not GO
to the gambling hell or other places of
iniquity.
Oh, no, the days of persecution have
not ceased and will not until the end
of the world. But oh, you prosecuted
ones, is it not time that you began to
pray for your prosecutors? They are NO
prouder, no fiercer, no more set in their
way than was this prosecutor of the text.
He fell. They will fall if Christ from
the heavens grandly and gloriously looks
out on them. God can by his grace
make Renan believe in the divinity OF
Jesus and Tyndall in the worth of
prayer.
Robert Newton stamped the ships
deck in derisiye INDIGNATION at Chris