Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-10-26

that in their migration they fly very
high. During the summer, when they
are in the fields, they often come with
in reach of the gun, but when they start
for the annual flight southwark they
take their places midheaven and go
straight as a 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 fight heavenwardl We fly so low
that we are within easy range OF the
world, the flesh and the devil We are
brought down by temptations that ought
not to come within a mile Of reaching
us. Oh, 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 piety in the church Of God now that
men actually caricature the idea that
there is any such thing as a 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, tho famous engineer, about
the length of the railroad from London
to Bristol. The engineer said: 1T is
not very great We shall have after
awhile steamer running from Eng
land to New York. 1" 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 Lordl l do not be-
lieve that God exhausted all his grace
in Paul and Latimer and Edward Pay
son. believe there are higher points of
Christian attainment to be reached in
the future ages Of the Christian world.
Get ont of the Old Ruts.
You tell me that Paul went up to the
tiptop of the Alps Of Christian attain
ment. Then tell you that the stork
and crane have found above the Alps
plenty of room for free flying. We go
out and we conquer our temptations by
the grace Of God and lie down. On the
morrow those temptations rally them
selves 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 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 ranks after the last
victory. Do my brethren, let us have
some novelty of combat, at any rate, by
changing, by going on, by making adj
yancement, trading off our stale prayers
about sins 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 fact is. if the church Of God, if we
as individuals, made rapid advancement
in tho 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 10 years ago. On, for
higher fight In the Christian life, the
stork 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 greatf
Before It Is Too Late.
Again. I remark that the birds Of the
air are wiser than we because they know
when TO start. If you should go out now
and shout, "Stop, storks and cranes,
don't be in a hurry" they would say:
"No. we cannot stop Last night we
heard the roaring in the woods bidding
us away, and the shrill flute Of the
north wind has sounded the retreat We
must 90. We unjust 60" So they gather
themselves into companies, and turning
not aside for storm, or mounaln top, or
shock Of musketry, over land and sea,
straight as an arrow to the mark, they
90. And if you come out this morning
with a sack of corn and throw it in the
fields and try to get them 10 stop they
are SO far up they would hardly SEQ IT.
They are on their way south You
could NOT stop them. Oh, that we were
as wise about the best time to start for
God and heaven We say: wait I'M
til it is a 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 God S
wrath is kindled but little. There are,
YOU know, exceptional 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
persisted half way between the world
and Christ They waited until the last
sickness, when the mind was gone, or
they were OH the express train going at
40 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 secondsi To do the work
OF lifetime and to prepare for the vast
eternity in two secondsi 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 before
him, and the king Familiarity looked
over his shoulder and said; "What are
you playing? l see no music before
you" And Mozart put his hand on his
brow, as much as to say, Il am impro-
vising." 1t was very well for him; but,
oh, my friends, we cannot extemporize
heaven. If we do not get prepared in
this world, 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
The Frost of Sin.
Some of you have felt the pinching
frost of sin. You feel it today. You are
not happy. / look into your faces, and
1 know you are not happy. There are
voices within your soul that will not DO
silenced, tollipg you that you are sin
ners, and that without the pardon Of
God you are undone forever. What are
you going to do. my friends, with the
| accumulated transaregsions of this life