The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-07-28
THE LONDONDERRY SITTER,
llestrnYed
MORE .,n,srIAy ENERGY NEEDED.

that was very rich land-this land of
Israel. 1t says, 1.-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 rake them bite the dust.
Thurman eloquence We're consecrated to
the. Lord Jesus Christ, it could in 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 it
not time for the mining to begin, and
the pickaxes to plunge, and for this bur-
led metal to be brought out and putinto
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 sold 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 in his stirrups, his
hair flying in the wind, he lifted his
voice until 90, 900 troops heard him, cry
ing out, Forward, the whole liner
THE LoGICIANs OF THE CHURCH.
Again, l learn from this subject that
we sometimes do well to take advantage
| of the worlds sharpening instruments.
! These Israelites We're reduced to file,
and so they went over to the garrison of
the Philistines to get their axes, and their
goads, and their plows sharpened. The
| Dlblt ulstiLCliy SldttS III uut CDuttAt iUdU
they had no other instruments now with
which to do this work, and the Israelites
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,
if there be logic, if there be business fac
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 i'm
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
it to the cause of Christ. If they have
science and art, it will do us good to rub
against it. In other words, let us en-
ploy the worlds grindstones. We will
listen to their music, and we will watch
their acumen, and we will use their
grindstones, and we will borrow their
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
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.. Gamaliel,
but aftefward standing on Mars hill
and in crowded thoroughfare quoted
their poetry and grasped their logic and
welded their eloquence and employed,
their mythology until Dionysiusy. The
Areopagite. learned in thss1 ho0ls of,
Athens and Heliopolis, VET pdnder
his tremendous powers:
That was what ga1eThnmas Chalmers
his power in his day. Hesonquered the
worlds astronomy and compelled it to
ring 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
fuence 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 Golfer
that cannot rip up the glebe. We want
no ak 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 q
bright, keen, sharp, glittering edge.
Again, my subject teaches us on what
small allowance Philistine iniquity
puts a man. Yes, these Philistines shut
up the mines, and then they took the
spears and the swords, then they took the
blacksmitlis, then they took the grind
stones, and they took everything but a
file. Oh, that is the way sin works. 1t
grabs everything. 1t begins with rob
berry, and it ends with robbery. 1t de-
spoils 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 fine
in personal appearance, it mars his WIS.,
age. Was he affiuent, it sends the sher-
iff to sell him out. Was he influential,
it destroys his popularity. Was he placid
and genial and loving, it makes him
splenetic and cross, and SO utterly is he
changed that you can see he is sarcastic
and rasping and that the Philistines
have left him nothing but file.
Oh, 1.-THE way of the transgressor is
: hard" His cup is bitter. His night is
dark. His pangs are deep. His end is
terrific. Philistine iniquity says to that
man, Now, surrender to me, and will
; give you all you want-music for the
dance, swift steeds for the race, imperial
couch to slumber on, and you shall be
refreshed with the rarest fruits in bas-
kets of golden fligree." He lies. The
music turns out to be a groan. The
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