Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-05-03

MNaf@ AhA AA@ ~ruAF durrA dome At.A-F A-,.+
~ many stop az the outside door - Col
holy word, looking az the rhetorical t-i ilie-
instead % going In ami looking ~ the altar.
% sacrifice aud the dome 81 Co.'s mercy AM
salvation that hovers over p-nittui anu '7-
lieying s3ulsi
Oh. my friends. ifyou merely want tosiuty
the laws Of Language. DO not % % the bi'l,.
II was not made for that. IaSr Howe
Elements % Criticism IL will ha better
than the Bible Tor that II Won want 70 study
metaphysics. better than th. Bible will be
the writings Of William Hamilton. Blt IL
Won want % know how to have Sin pardonet
and at last 20 gain the hles~edness OF heaven
search the Scriptures. "lor in them We have
eternal life"
When peopl. arr anxious ahout theirsoul-.
there are those who recommend good books.
That Is all right But want to tell You that
the Bible i the best hook under such cir'un-
stances. Baxter wr1t" a Call t. the tu-
converted. bat the j. hlr l. the hest call To-
uuconysrted. Philip Dolindgr wrote The
Rise and Progress OF Religion in the Soul.
but the Bible j. thu best rise and progress.
John ANGEL Jane. Wrote advice tu the
Anxious Inquirer but the Bible j. the best
advice 10 the anxious inquirer.
Oh. the Bible Is the very book You need.
anxinu, ana inquiring soul. \ dying soldier
said to his mate, "C1mrals give me drop,
The cOmrale shook up the cdutcrn ami said.
There isn't q drbp 81 wlterin the cautetn.
"Oh, said the dying soldier. that's not
what ! want. Feel in my ku1pSark for my
Bible. and his comraie found the Bible and
read him a few Of the gracious promises. aud
the dying soldier said: An, that's what |
want. There isn't anything like the Bible
for dying soldier. Is there. my cCmrade:'
Oh. blessed book while we live! Blessed
book when We die!
| remark again we must seek God through
church ordinances what " say YOU. cant
"A man be saved without going TO churrhy'
| reply there are men. suppose in glory who
have never seen a church. but the church H.
the ordained means by which we ars 10 he
brought To God. aud If truth affects Us when
We are alone II affects Us more nightly when
we are in the assembly. the feelings of others
emphasizing our own feelings. The great
law Of sympathy comes into play. and atruth
that would tax h,id only with the grasp Of
sick man beats nightly against the soul
with a thousand heart throhs.
when YOU come into TIL religious circle,
come only with one notion and only for one
purposa-tO find the way % Christ When |
seq people critical about sermons, and criti-
eat about tones Of voice. aud critical Hp1It
sermonic delivery. they make m' think Of Il
man in prison. III Is condemned to death.
but an officer 81 the government brings a
pardon and puts it through the wicket OF
the prison ami says. Here is your pardon.
Come and get it, what, Do yoU expect
me to take that pardon offered with such
voice as You have with such an awkward
manner a. yuu have? | would rather die
than 50 compromise my rhetorical notions.
Ali. the man does not say that. He takes it.
Ii is his life. H. does not care how 1t Is
handed to him. And il to-day thar pardon
from the throne uf God Is offered TO our
souls should We not seize il regardless Of all
nouessentials!
But l come now to the last part OF my
text. Ii tells Us when We are 10 seek the
Lord. while H. may b. found When i
that? Old age You may not see old age.
Tomorrow? You may lot see tomorrow.
Tonight: You may not see tonight. Now,
Oh, if could only write on every heart in
three capital letters that word N-O-W-uow,
Sin is an awful disease I hear people say
with a toss Of tn" head and with a trivial
manner, "Oh. yes. m a sinner Sin l. an
awful disease. 1t il leprosy. 1t Is dropsy.
Ii is consumption. 1t Is all moral disorders
In one. Now. You know there i u crisis IN
disease. Perhaps YOU have had some Illus
tration Of il in your family. Sometimes the
physician has cailei aud he has looked az
the patient and said: That case VA, SIM
pie enough. but the crisis has pRssai. II you
had called me yesterday or this morning. |
could have cured the patient. II is too late
now. The crisis pa esd. just so il is In the
spiritual treatment ot the ~pul-thera Is
crisis.
There are somN here wAocal rem .-uher in
stances in life when, if they had bought a
certain properly. they would have become
very rich. 4 few res that would have COS.
them almost nothing were offered them.
They refused them. Afterwdrl large vii
lage or city sprung up on those acres Of
ground, and they ~n' what a mistake they
made ia not buying the property. There
was au opportunity OF getting il. Ii never
came back again. And SO il is in regard TO
mans spiritual and eternal fortune. There
is chance. II You let that 20, perhaps il
never comes back. Certainly that one never
comes back.
\ gentleman told me that AT the battle of
| Gettysburg he stood upon Il height loo liug
off upon the conflicting armies. IL said il
was the most rN 'lting moment ii his life.
Now one army seeming to triumph and now
the other After awhile the host wheeled IN
such a way that he knew in five minutes the
whole question would DE decided. He said
the emotion was almost unbrarlble. There
is just such a tim" to-day with you-the
| forces Of light on one side the forces of death
on the other side, and in a few moments the
matter will be settled for eternity.
There is time which mercy has set fol
! leaving port. Ii yon are on board before that
| You will get passage for heaven. II yot
! are not on board, You miss Your passage ioI
| heaven. As in Law courts cas-" i some
! times adjourned from term II term and from
year to year till the hill Of costs eats up the
entire estate, 80 there are men who are al
| iourning the matter )f religion from
| time to time aud from year to yeat until
| heavenly bliss is the bill ot costs The man
will have to pay Tor 1t.
Why defer this matter, ON, rEdear nearer:
Have you any idea that sin will wear out
that it will evaporate; that il will relax it,
grasp; that you may lInt religion as a mar
accidentally finds lost pJtketb0oG2 All
no! No man ever becam" Christian by ar
cident or by the relaxing ot sin. The en-.
| harrassments are all lifetime increasing. III,
hosts of darkness are recruiting, AMI tn
I no ms ba