The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-10-04

| any nuu lndI HltN pcOpAc uC IHe WOTh
Take a membership of 500. and yo
generally find that ten people do tn
work. There are scores of cnurche
where two or three people do th
work.
We mourn that there is so much use
less lumber in the mountains of Leb
anon. / think. of the 10000, 900 mem
bership of the Christian church to-day
if 5000, 900 of the names were off tn,
books the church would be stronger
| You know that the more towards anC
drones there are in any army the weak
er it is. Iwould rather have the 3Ot
picked men of Gideon than the 30, OOt
unsifted host. How many Christians
there are standing in the way of al
progress, | think it is the duty of the
church of God TO ride over them. and
the quicker it does it the quicker il
does its duty.
Do not worry, oh Christian, IL you
have to do more than your share OF
the work You had better thank God
that He has called you to be one oi
| the picked men. rather than to belong
/ to the host of stragglers. Would not
YOU rather be one of the three hundred
that fight, than twentv-thousand that
run? l suppose those cowardly Gideon
! ties who went off congratulating
themselves. said: We got rid of all
that fighting. did not we? How lucky
we have been; that battle costs US
nothing at all" Bot they got none of
the spoils of the victory. After the
battle the three hundred men went
down and took the wealth of the
Midianites. and out of the cups and
platters of their enemies they feasted.
And the time will come. my dear breth-
ren, when the hosts of darkness will be
routed. and Christ Will say to His
troops: We'll done. my brave men,
go up and take the spoils, Be more
than conqueror forever" and IN that
day all deSerters viii be shot
Again: | learn from this subject that
Gods way is different from mans. but
Is always the best way. If we had the
planning of that battle, we would have
taken those thirty-two thousand men
that originally belonged to the army.
and we would have drilled them. and
marched them up and down by the
day. and week. and month and we
would have had them equipped with
swords or spears. according to the way
of arming in those times; and then we
would have marched them down in SOL
id column upon the foe. But that is
not the way. God depletes the army.
and takes away all their weapons, and
gives them a lamp. and pitcher, and
a trumpet. and tells them to go down
and drive ont the Midiauites. | sup
pose some wiSeacres were there who
said: That is nOt military tactics
The idea of three hundred men. I'M
armed, conquering such great host of
Midianites,' 1t was the best way.
What sword. spear or cannon ever ac-
complished such a victory as the lamp.
pitcher and trumpet?
Gods way is different from mans
way. but it is always best, Take. for
instance, the composition of the Bible
If we had had the writing of the Bible.
we would have said: Let one man
write it. If you have twenty or thirty
men to write a poem, or make a stat
ute, or write a history, or make an ar
gument. there viii be flaws and con-
tradictions" But God says: Let not
one man do it. but forty men shall do
it." And they did. differing enough
to show there had been no colluSion
between them, but not contra
dieting each other on any inn
portant point. while they all
wrote from their own standpoint and
temperament; so that the matter-of-
fact man has his Moses; the romantic
nature his Ezekiel; the epigrammatic
his solomon; the warrior his Joshua;
the sailor his Jonah; the loving his
John; the logician his Paul Instead
of this Bible. which now | can lift in
my hand-instead of the Bible the
child can carry to Sunday school-in-
stead of the little Bible the sailor can
put in his jacket when he goes to sea
if it had been left to men to write. it
would have been thousand volumes,
Judging from the amount of ecclesi-
astical controversy which has arisen.
Gods way is different from mans, bat
it is best, infinitely best.
So it is in regard to the Christians
life. If we had the planning of Chris
tian's life we would have said: Let
him have eighty years of sunshine,
fine house to live in; let his surround
ings all be agreeable; let him have
sound health; let no chill shiver
his limbs, no pain ache his
brow. or trouble shadow his soul" l
enjoy the prosperity of others so much,
would let every man have as much
money as he wants, roses for his chill
dren's cheeks, and fountains of glad
ness glancing in their large round eyes.
But that is not Gods way. 1t seems as
if man must be cut, and hit, and pound
ed just in proportion as he is useful.
His child falls from a third-story win
dow. and has its life dashed out; his
most confident investment tumbles
him into bankruptcy; his friends, on
whom he depended, aid the natural
force of gravitation in taking him
down; his life is a Bull Run defeat.
Instead of twenty thousand advan-
tages, he has only ten thousand-aye,
only three hundred-aye. none at all.
How many good people there are at
their wits ends about their livelihood,
about their reputation. But they will
find out it is the best way after awhile;
God will show them that He depletes
their advantages just for the same
reason He depleted the army of Gideon
that they may be induced to throw
on His mercy.
A grape vine says in the early spring:
How glad am to get through the
winter, l shall have no more trouble
now, Summer weather will come and
the garden will be very beautiful
But the gardener comes and cuts the