The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-10-24

so the p~lowsharc OF conviction turns
up the CHASTITY skeletons OF sins long
ago ontOmbed. GcOlOg SITS never
brought up from the depths OF the
mountain mightier ic~hthyosaurus or
megathcrium.
But what means all this crooked
blowing, these crooked burrows. the
repentance that amounts to nothing,
the repentance that ends IN nothing?
Men groan over their II. but get no
better. They wccp, but their tears
are not counted. They get convicted,
but not converted. what is the rea-
son? l remember that IN the fam
we set Il standard with a red flag at
the other end Of tie field. We kept
our eye on that. We aimed at that. We
plowed up to that. Losing sight of that
we made Il crooked furrow. Keeping
our eye on that we made a straight
furrow. Now in this matter of con-
viction we must have some standard to
guide us. 1t is a red standard that God
has set at the other end of the field. 1t
is the cross. Keeping your eye on that
you will make n straight furrow. Los
ing sight of it you will make a crooked
furrow. Plow up to the cross. Aim not
at either end of the horizontal piece of
the cross, but at the upright piece, at
the center of it, the heart of the Son Of
God, who bore your sins and made sat
isfaction. Crying and weeping will
not bring you through. Him hath
God exalted to be Il Prince and n
Saviour tn give repentance" On, pillow
up to the cross!
Again, l remark, in grace as in the
field there must be n sowing. In the
autumnal weather you find the farmer
going across the field at a stride of
about % inches, and at every stride he
puts his hand into h sack of grain
and he sprinkles the seed corn over the
field. 1t looks silly to a man who G
not know what he is doing. lie is scat
tering the winter grain, and though the
snow may come, the next year there
will be a great crop. Now, that is what
we are doing when we are preaching the
gospel-we are scattering the seed. tits
the foolishness OF preaching, but it Is
the winter grain; and through the
SHOWS of worldlineSs may come down
upon it, it will yield after a while glo-
rious harvest. Let us be sure we sow
the right kind of seed. Sow mullen
stalk and mullen stalk will come up.
Sow Canada thistles and Canada this
ties will come up. Sow wheat and
wheat will come up. Let us distin-
guish between truth and error. Let
us know the difference between wheat
and hellebore, oats and henbane.
The largest denomination in this
country is the denomination of Moth
ingarians. Their religion is n system
of negations. You say to one of them,
What dc you believer" "Well, L
don't believe in infant baptism"
What do you believer" "Well, don't
believe in the perseverance of the
saints" well, now tell me whaty you
do believer "Well, l don't believe in
the eternal punishment of the wicked"
So their religion is a row of ciphers.
Believe something and teach it; or. to
resume the figure of my text, scatter
abroad the right kind of seed.
Again, 1 remark, in grace us In the
farm there must be a reaping. Many
Christians speak of religion as though
it were a matter of economics or in
.surance. They expect to reap in Ii
next world. oh, no! Now is the time
to reap. Gather up the joy of the
Christian religion this morning, this
this night. If you have not
much grace as you would like to
have, thank God for what you have,
and pray for more. You are no worse
than Joseph, no worse trou-
bled than a David, no worse scourged
than was Paul, Yet, amid the rafting
of letters, and amid the gloom of dun
geons, and amid the horrors of ship
they triumphed in the grace ,
of God. The weakest man in the
house to-day has 500 acres of spiritual
Joy, all ripe. Why do you not go and
reap it? You have been grooming over
your infirmities for 80 years. Now
give one round shout over your eman-
cipation. You say you have it so hard;
you might nave it worse. You wonder
why this great cod trouble keeps re-
through your soul, turning and
with n black hand on the
All, that trouble is the grind
stone on which you are to sharpen
your sickle. To the fields! Wake upl
Take off your green s~pectacles, your
blue spectacles, your black spectacles.
Pull up the corners of your mou as
far as you pull them down. To the
Reap, reap!
Again, 1 remark, in grace as in farm !
there is time for thrashing. L tell
you bluutly that IS death. just as the
farmer with 4 fail beats the wheat out
Of the straw, so death beats the soul
put of the body. Even sickness is u
stroke of the fail, and the sick bed Is
he treshing-foor. What, say you, is
leath to a good man, only taking the
out of the straw? That is all
aged man has fallen asleep, Only
yesterday you saw him on the sunny
porch playing with his grand chill
Calmly he received the mes
age to leave this world, He
,ade a pleasant gOod-by to his old
The telegraph carries the
and on swift rail-trains the
come, wanting once more to
ook on the face of dear old grand
ather. Brush back the gray hairs
rom his brow; 1t will never ache
gain. Put him away in the slumber
# the tomb. He will not be afraid of
hat night Grand father was never
Lfraid of anything. He will rise ia
morning of the resurrection.
grandfather was always the first to
Use. His voice has already mingled in
he doxology of Heaven. Grandfather
.lways did sing in church. Anything
IIuoIlJ III Ildb4 W. INV bhlCehAhE 1
# the wheat out of straw. That is all.
The Saviour folds a lamb in his
The little child filled all the
lopse with her music, and her toys are
catered all up and down the stairs
ist as she left them. What II tho
and that plucked four-o'clocks out of
ne meadow Is still? 1t will wave in
eternal triumph. What if the voice
made music in the home
= still? 1t will sing the eternal
Put a white rose in
ne hand, q red rose in the other
and, and a wreath OF orange blossoms
n the BROW the white flower for
Is victory. the red flower for the
a%vionr's sacrifice, the ornnge'blossoms {
n her marriage day. Anything ghast-
about that? Oh, no! The sun went .
own and the flower shut. The wheat /
lreshed out Of the straw. / have one
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