The Iola register., 1896-02-21

chants. upon all mechanics, upon all
toilers, and God says to you, as he says
to me: go, teach all nations. He
that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved, and he that believeth not shall
be damned" Mighty gospel, let the
whole earth hear it, The story of
Christ is to regenerate the nations, 1t
is to eradicate all wrong. it is to turn
the earth into a paradise. An old
artist painted the Lords Supper. and
he wanted the chief attention directed
to the face of Christ When he invited
his friends in to criticise the picture
they admired the chalices more than
they did the face. and the old artist
said: This picture is a failure" and
he dashed out the picture of the cups
and said: Il shall have nothing to de-
tract from the face of the Lord; Christ
is the all of this picture"
Another powerful sickle for the
reaping of this harvest is Christian
song. know in many churches the
whole work is delegated to a few peo-
pie standing in the organ loft. But,
my friends. as others cannot repent
for US and others cannot die for US, we
cannot delegate to others the work of
singing for US. While a few drilled
artists shall take the chants and ex-
ecute the more skillful music. when
the HYMN is given out let there be hum
dreds and thousands of voices uniting
in the acclamation. On the way to
grandeurs that never cease and glorics
that never die, let US sing. At the
battle af Lutzen, general came to the
king and said: Those soldiers are
singing as they are going into battle.
Shall l stop them?' No" said the
king, ''men that can sing like that can
fight. Oh. the power of Christian
song. When l argue here you may
argue back. The argument 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, o Lord, forgive!
Let a repenting rebel live.
Are not thy mercieS large and free;
May not a sinner trust in Thee:
Another mighty sickle for the reap
ing Of the gospel harvest is prayer.
What does God do with our prayers?
Does He 60 on the battlements of
Heaven and throw them off? No.
What do you do with gifts given you
by those who love you very much?
You keep them with great sacredness.
And do you suppose God will take our
prayers, offered in the sincerity and
- fr,
the winds? Oh. no, He will answer
them all in some way. Oh, what a
mighty thing prayer isl 1t is not a
long rigmarole of "ohs'', and "ahs, ~
and ''for ever and ever. Amens." 1t is
a breathing of the heart into the heart
of God. Oh, what a 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
Melanchton lay sick unto death, as
many supposed. Martin Luther came
in and said: Phillip, we can't spare
you!r' oh said he, Martin, you
must let me go; am tired of persecu-
ton 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, Martin" said Melanchton,
you must let me GO" Martin Luther
said: You take this food, or l will
excommunicate you" He took the
food and Martin Luther knelt down
and prayed as only he could pray, and
convalescence came, and Martin Luther
went back and said to his friends:
God has saved the life of Philip Me-
lanchton in direct answer to my
prayer" Oh, the power of prayer!
Have you tested it?
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. 1t does not make any diff
ference about the ply steal posture, as
was shown IN a hospital, when the
chaplain said when he looked over the
beds of 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 except to say:
me! Mer' Oh, it does not make any
difference about the rhetoric of your
prayers; it does not make any differ
ence about the posture; it does not
make any difference whether you lift
a hand or have no hand to lift God is
ready to hear you. Prayer is answered
God is ready to respond
Lift up your eyes upon the fields,
for they are white already to harvest"
How many have you reaped for God?
Do you ask rue how many l have
reaped for God? / cannot say. Now
can you say how many you have
reaped? 1 hope there are some who
have been brought into the kingdom
of God through your instrumentality.
Have there not been? Not one? You,
a man 35. 40. 50 years of age, and not
one. l see souls coming up TO glory.
Here is Sunday school teacher bring
ing ten or fifteen souls. Here is
tract distributor bringing in forty or
fifty souls Here is a man you have