The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-10-31

Of heaven and from the migratory pop
uIations dying through this autumnal
air learn always to keep singing:
| Children Of the heavenly king,
AS ye journey 8weetly sing.
| Sing your Saviour'S worthy praise,
Glorious II his works 3Dd ways.
| Ye are travelling home to God
In the way our fathers lrcd.
They are happy now, and we
Soon their happiness sfell see.
The Church Of God never will be
triumphant church until it becomes
singing church.
l go further and say that the birds OF
the air are wiser than we in the fact
that in their migration they fly very
high. During the summer when they
are in the fields they often come within
| reach of the gun, but when they start
| for the annual flight s0uthward they
take their places midaeaven and go
| straight as mark. The longest rifle
that was ever brought TO shoulder can
not reach them. Would to God that
we were as wise as the stork and crane
| in our flight heaYenWard. We fly so
low that we are in easy range
Of the world, the flesh and the
devil. We are brought down by temp
! tations that ought net TO come within
a mile Of reaching rs. Or, for some OF
| the faith OF George Muller Of England
and Alfred Goodman, once OF the
| church militant, now Of the church
triumphant. So poor is the type OF
| plety In the church Of God now that
men actually caricature the idea that
there is any such thing as higher life.
Moies never did believe IN eagles. But
my brethren, because we have not
reached these heights ourselves, shall
we deride the fact that there are any
such heights? A man was once talS-
ing to Brunei, the famous engineer,
about the length Of the railroad from
| London to Bristol. The engineer said:
"It is not very great. We shall have
| after awhile a steamer running from
England to New York" They laughed
him to scorn, but we have gone so far
now that We have ceased to laugh at
ANYTHING as impossible for human
achievement. Then, l ask, is anything
impossible for the Lord? do not be-
ieYe that God exhausted all his grace
| in Paul and Latimer and Edward Pay.
son. | believe that there are higher
points of Christian attainment to be
reached In the future ages Of the Chris
tian world. You tell me that Paul
went up to the tiptop of the Alps OF
Christian attainments. Then | tell you
that the stork and the crane have
found above the Alps plenty of room
for free flying.
We go out, and we conquer our temp
tations by the grace OF God and lie
down. On the morrow those tempta-
tions rally themselves and attack US,
and by the grace of God we defeat them
again, but staying all the time IN the
old encampment we have the old bat
ties to fight over. Why not whip out
our temptations and then forward
march, making one raid through the
enemy's country, stopping lot until we
break ranks after the last victory. DO,
nv brethren, let us have some novelty
of combat at any rate by changing, by
going on, by making advancement,
tracing off our stale prayers about sius
we ought to have quit long ago, going
on toward higher state Of Christian
character and routing out sins that we
have never thought of yet. The TACT IS
if the church of God; # we as indlvi-
duals made rapid advancement II the
Christian life! ,!these stereotyped prayers
we have been making for 10 or 10 years
would be as inappropriate to Us as the
shoes, and the hats, and the coats We
wore 10 or Is years ago. Oh, for
higher flight In the Christian life, the
st0rk and the crane IN their migration
teaching Us the lesson!
Dear Lord, and shall We ever live,
at this poor dying rate
Our love so faint, so cold to thee,
And thine to Us so great?
Again I remark that the birds of the
air are wiser than we, because they
know when to start. Ifyou should 60
out DOW and shout, "Stop. storks and
cranes, don't be in hurry" they would
say: No, we cannot stop. Last night
we heard the roaring in the woods bid
| ding us away, and the shrill flute of the
north wind has sounded the retreat
We must go. We must CO." So they
gather themselves into companies, and
turning not aside for storm or mountain
| top OF shock of musketry, over land.
sea, straight as an arrow to the mark,
| they 60. And if you come out this
morning with sack Of corn and throw
it In the fields and try to get them to
stop they would badly see 1t. They are
on their way south. You could not
stop them.
On, that we were as wise about the
best dime to start for Goo and heaven.
| We say: wait until it is little later
in the season Of mercy. Wait until
| some Of these green leaves Of hope are
all dried up and have been scattered.
| Wait until next year" After awhile
we start, and it is too late, and we perish
! in the way when Gods wrath is kindled
but little. There are, you know, ex-
ceptional cases, where birds have started
too late, and in the morning you have
found them dead on the snow. And
there are those who have perished half
way between the world and Carist.
They waited until the last sickness,
when the mind was gone, or they were
On the express train going at AZ miles
an hour, and they came to the bridge,
and the "draw was up" and they went
down. How long to repent and pray
Two seconds! To do the work Of a
lifetime and to prepare for the past
eternity in two secendsl l was reading
Of an entertainment given in kings
court, and there were musicians there,
with elaborate pieces Of music. After
awhile Mozart came and began to play,
and he had blank piece Of paper be-
fore him, and the king familiarly looked
over his shoulder and said What
aresyou playing? see no music be.
} fore you" And Mozart put his hand
on his brow, as much as to say, I am
; improYising." It was very we'll for
him; but, Oh, my friends, we cannot ex-
. temporize heaven. If We do not get
prepared in this Rorld, we will never
take part in the orchestral harmonies
Of the saved. Oh, that we were as wise
as the crane and the stork, flying away,
flying away from the tempest!
Some Of you have felt the pinching
frost of sin. You feel it today. You
are not happy. I look into your faces
and know you are not happy. There
are voices within your soul that will
! not be sllenced, telling you that you are
| sinners and that with0OS the O2TiOn Oi