The Yale expositor., 1894-10-26


ing through the wilderness of this
world let us remember that we are on
the way to the summery cline Of hea-
ven, and from the migratory popula-
tions flying through this autumnal air
learn always to keep singing.
Children of the heavenly King,
AS ye journey, sweetly sing,
Sing your Savior's worthy praise,
Glorious in his works and ways.
Ye are travelling home to God,
In the way YOU fathers trod;
They are happy now, and we
Soon their happiness shall see.
The church of God never will be a
triumphant church until it becomes a
singing church.
go further, and remark 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 their annual flight
| southwark, they take their places mid
heaven and go straight as q mark. The
longest rifle that was ever brought to
shoulder can not reach them. Would
to God that we were as wise as tho
stork and crane in our fight heaven
ward. We fly so low that we are with
in easy range of the world, the flesh
and the devil. We are brought dowa
by temptations that ought not to come
within mile of reaching us. Oh, for
some of the faith of George Miller OF
England, and Elfred Cookman once Of
the church militant, now of the
church triumphant! So poor is the
type of piety in the church Of God
now, that men actua.y caricature the
idea that there is any such thing as
higher life. Moles 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 talking to Brunei, the famous
engineer, about the length of the rail
road from London to Bristol The en-
gineer said, 1T is not very great. We
shall have, after while, steamer
running from England 10 New York. p"
They laughed him to scorn; but we
have gone so far now that we have
ceased to laugh at anything as impos-
sible for the Eord? l do not believe
that God exhausted all his grace
in Paul, and Latimer and Edward
Pay2un, i believe there are
higher points of Christian attainment
to be reached in the future ages of the
Christian world. You tell me that
Paul went up to the tiptop of the Alps
of Christian attainment. Then l tell
you that the storl and crane have found
above the Alps plenty Of room for free
; flying. We 60 ont and we conquer our
q, temptations by the grace of God, and
lie down. On the morrow, those
temptations rally themselves and at
tack us, and by the grace of God we
defeat them again, but, saying all the
time in the old encampment, we have
the same old battles TO fight over.
: Why not whip out our temptations
and then forward march, making one
raid through the enemy's country
; stopping not until we break
I ranks after the last victory. Do
I my brethren, let us have some novelty
. of combat, at any rate, by chang
ing, by going on, by making advance
ment, trading off our stale prayers
l about sins we ought To have quit long
ago, going on toward higher state o.
/ Christian char dcter, and routing ou
sins that we have never thought Of yet
)! The fact is, if the church of God-if W,
as individuals, made rapid advance
4 ment in the Christian life, these stereo
e typed prayers we have been making
| e.. hn IL,
c appropriate TO us as the shoes, and tn,
K hats, and the coats we wore ten o
q fifteen years ago, Oh for a highe
e flight in the Christian life, the storl
q and the crane in their migration teach
u ing us the lesson!
Dear Lord, and shall we ever Live,
;, At this poor dying rate
a Our love so faint, so cold to thee,
# And thine TO us so grentf
/. Again, / remark that the birds o
d the air are wiser than we, because the.
h know when to start. If you should g
r out now and shout, "Stop, storks an
II cranes, don't be in hurryl" they woul,
is say, mo, we can not stop; last nigh
u we heard the roaring in the wood
? bidding us away, and the shrill fut
Ar | OF the HOTLu Nlnl Ills SOuhOCu lAiC ES
n treat. We must go. We must 60.
IS So they gather themselves into compa
l nies, and turning not aside for storm
20 or mountain top, or shock of musletry
r over land and sea, straight as an arroI
10 to the mark they go. And ifyou com
&c out this morning with sack of cor
s. and throw it in the fields and try t
I get them to stop, they are now SO ia
Ig up they would hardly see It. They ar
le on their way south You could not sto
| them. Oh, that we were as wise abou
l. the best time to start for God an
* hcavenl We say, "Wait until it is
Of little later in the season of mercy
Wait until some of these green leave
k of hope are all dried up and have bee
m scattered. Wait until next year.
is After awhile we start, and il is TO
m late, and we perish in the way whe
es Gods wrath is kindled but a littl,
g, There are, you know, exceptions
L, cases, where birds have started to
is late, and In the morning you hav