Connecticut western news., 1895-10-03


 find that ten people do the work. There are scores of churches where two or three people do the work.
 We mourn that there is so much use- less lumber in the mountains of Leban- on. think of the 10, 900, 900 member ship of the Christian church today if 5000, 900 of the names were of the books the church would be stronger. You know that the more towards and drones there are in any army the weaker it is. Iwould rather have the 800 picked men of Gideon than the 32, 900 unsifted host. How many Christians there are standing in the way of all progress I think it is the duty of the church of God to ride over them, and the quicker it does it the quicker it does its duty.
 Do not worry, O Christian, if you have to do more than your share of the work. You had better thank God that he has called you to be one of the picked men rather than to belong to tho host of stragglers. Would not you rather be one of the 300 that fight than the 22,- 900 that run? suppose those cowardly Gideonites who went off congratulated themselves. They said: I've got rid of all that fighting, did not we? How lucky we have been That battle costs us nothing at all" But they got none of the spells of the victory. After the battle the 800 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 brethren, when the hosts of darkness will be routed, and Christ will say to his troops: "Well done, my brave men. Go up and take the spoils Be more than conquerors forever.p And in that day all deserters will be shot.
 Again, I 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 2,000 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, accord ing to the way of arming in those times, and then we would have marched them down in solid column upon the foe. But that is not the way. God depletes the army, and takes away all their weapons, and gives them lamp, and pitcher, and Q trumpet, and tells them to go down and drive out the Midian- ties. I suppose some wiseacres were there who said: "That is not military tactics. The idea of 300 men unarmed conquering such great host of Midian- ites" It was the best way. What sword, spear or cannon ever accomplish ed such. victory as the lamp, pitcher and trumpet?
 Gods way is different from man s 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 90 or 30 men to write poem, or make a statute, or write history, or make an argument, there will be flaws and contradictions. !" But God says, "Let not one man do it, but 40 men shall do it. " And they did, differing enough to show there had been no collision between them, but not contradicting each other on any impor- tant 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 war rior 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, instead 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 ecclesiastical controversy which has arisen. Gods way is different from mans, but it is best, infinitely best
 No Cross, No Grown.
 So it is in regard to the Christians life. If we had had the planning of a Christians life, we would have said {: "Let him have 80 years of sunshine, a fine house to live in. Let his surround ings all be agreeable. Let him have sound health. Let no chill shiver through his limbs, no pain ache his brow or trouble shadow his soul. !" enjoy the prosperity of others so much l would let every man have as much money as he wants and roses for his children's cheeks and fountains of gladness glancing in their large round eyes. But that is not Gods way. It seems as if man must be cut and hit and pounded just in proportion as he is use- full His child falls from third story window and has it's 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 Bull Run defeat. Instead of 82, 900 advantages he has only 10000. Aye, only S00-aye, none at all How many good people there are at their wits end about their. livelihood, about their reputationr 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 themselves on his mercy.
 A grapevine says in the early spring :: 'How glad I am to get through the winteri shall have no more trouble now Summer weather will come, and the garden will be very beautiful But the gardener comes and cuts the vine here and there with his knife. The twigs begin to fall, and the grapevine cries out Murder What are you cut ting me for?" "Ah," says the garden CT, "I don't mean to kill you. If did not do this, you would be the laughing stock of all the other vines before the season is over." Months go on, and one day the gardener comes under the trel- lis, where great clusters of grapes hang, and the grapevine says: "Thank you, sir. You could not have done anything so kind as to have cut me with that knife. Whom the Lord loveth he | chasteneth.p No pruning, no grapes