Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-02-20

given out let there be hundreds and thou
sands Of voices uniting In the acclamation.
On the way to grandeurs that never cease
and gIories that never die let us sing. At
the battle Of Lutzen a general came TO the
king and said: "Those soldiers are sing
ing as they are going into battle Shall 1
stop themS' "No," said the king. "Men
that can sing like that can fight" Oh,
the power Of Christian songl When I
argue here, you may argue back. The ar
gument you make against religion may be
more skillful than the argument make
In behalf of religion. But who can stand
before the pathos Of some uplifted song
like that which we sometimes sing:
Show pity, Lord; Lord, forgivel
Let q repenting rebel livei
Are not thy merces large and freef
May not sinner trust in thee?
An Effective Sickle.
Another mighty sickle for the reaping
of the gospel harvest is prayer. What does
God do with our prayersP Does he go on
the battlements of heaven and throw them
Off No. What do you do with gifts given
you by those who love you very muchP
You keep them with great sacredness.
And do you suppose God will take our
prayers, offered in the sincerity and love
of our hearts, and scatter them to the
wiudss Oh, mol He will answer them
all In some way. Oh, What mighty thing
prayer is! 1t is not long rigmarole of
''ohs' and tahs'' and ''for ever and ever,
amens." 1t is a breathing of the heart
into the heart Of God. oh, what mighty
thing prayer is! Elijah with it reached up
to the clouds and shook down the showers.
With it John Knox shook Scotland. With
it Martin Luther shook the earth. And
when Philip Melanohthon lay sick unto
death, as many supposed, Martin Luther
came In and said, "Philipp, we can't spare
you." "Oh," said be, MARTIN, you must
let me go! am tired of persecution and
tired of life. want to go to be with my
God" "No," said Martin Luther, "you
shall not go. You must take this food,
and then will pray for you" "No, Mar
| tin, said Melanchthon, ''you must let me
| go.' Martin Luther said "You take this
food or will excommunicate you" He
| took the food, and Martin Luther knelt
down and prayed as only he could pray,
and oonvalescence came, and Martin
| Luther went back and said to his friends,
"God has saved the life of Philip Melanch-
| thon in direct answer to my prayer" Oh,
the power of prayerl Have you tested itP
DR.. Prime of New York, in his beauti-
| full book entitled "Around the World"
described mausoleum in India which 1t
| took 1000 men 20 years to build-that
and the buildings surrounding-and he
says, Standing in that mausoleum and
uttering word, it is echoed back from q
| height of 150 feet-not an ordinary echo,
but prolonged music, as though there
were angels lowering in the air." And
every word Of earnest prayer we utter has
| an echo not from the marble cupola Of an
earthly mausoleum. but from the heart of
God and from the wings of angels as they
hover, crying, Behold, he praysn' Oh,
test it! Mighty sickle for reaping this
| gospel harvest, the sickle of prayerl
Forms Of Little Consequence.
1t does not make SO much difference
about the posture you take, whether you
| sit, stand or kneel or lie on your face or
| In your physical agonies lie on your back.
It does not make any difference about the
physical POSTURE as was shown in a hos
| pital, when the chaplain said as he looked
over the beds of the suffering: "Let all
those wounded men here who would like
to be prayed for lift the hand" Some lifted
two hands; Others lifted one hand; some
with hands amputated could only lift the
stump of the arm. One man, both his
arms amputated could give no signal ex-
cent to say: nMe Me!'' Oh, it does not
mako any difference about the rhetoric of
| your prayers. 1t does not make any differ
ence about the posture. 1t does pc.,s make
any difference whether you oan lie+ a hand
or have no hand to lift God Ia ready r.
hear you. n .a,ar 10 answered God L
-.,t,no r. rasnond - ''' 0.0
/ aT,ift mn vo,,r ewes pnon the fields fo,
tbag ara vpbito a,readv to harvest ), How
manv have roy rasned for Godp m vo,,
asE mo how y,anv + baya reanad for God'
cannot cav Now can vou saw. how
manv von have raanedS r hone there arr
. some who have heen brought into tbe
kinodom of God tbron0h your instr,,.