The Penn's Grove record., 1896-01-31
NUMBER %.

W IL sWllES u Out luIb Nllt ulllbNN Autuios
Your children. your children's children aud
all the generations that are TO follow will
grip that influence aud feel the long reach
ing pull long after the figures on Your tomb
stone are so near worn out that The visitor
cannot tell whether 1t was 1896 or 1895 o.
1896 that you died.
Still further | learn from this subject the
advantage of concerted action. II Abime-
le h had merely gone out with a tree branch,
the work would not have been accomplished,
Or II ten, twenty or thirty men had gone,
but when all the axes are lifted and all the
sharp edges fall, and all these men carry
each his tree branch down and threw IL
about the temple, the victory is gained-the
temple falls. My friends. where there is one
man in the church Of God at this day shout
dering his whole duty there are a great
many who never lift an ak or swing a bOugh.
1t seems to me as IL there were ten drones in
every hive to one busy bee; as though there
we're twenty sailors sound asleep Ia the
ships hammocks to -four men on the stormy
1eck. 1t seems rs IL there were 5000 men
belonging to tine reserve corps, anr2 niylOOo
active combatants. Oh, we all want our
boats to get over to the golden sands,
but the most Of us are seated either in
the PROV or in the stern, wrapped In
our striped shawl, holding a big handled
sunshade, while others are b~tistered in the
heat and PULL until the oarlocks groan and
the blades bend till they snap. Oh, You re-
ligious sleepyheads. wake up! You have
lain so long in one place that the ants and
.aterpillars have begun to crawl over you!
What do you know, my brother, about q liv-
ng gospel made TO storm the world? Now,
ny idea of n Christian is a man on fire with
,aal for God, and il your pulse ordinarily
beats sixty times Il minute when you think
of other themes and talk about other themes,
f your pulse does not go up to seventy-hve
" eighty when you come to talk about
Christ and heaven. 1t is because you do not
NOW the one, and have Il poor chance OF
getting to the other.
In q former charge one Sabbath | took
nto the pulpit the church records, AMI ]
aid them on the pulpit and opened Them
md said: Brethren here are the church
ecords l find a great many Of you whose
lamrs arc down here are off duty" Soma
we're afraid | would read the names, for at
hat time some OF them were deep in the
worst kind OF oil stocks and were Idle as to
christian work. But il ministers of Christ
o-day should bring the church records into
he pulpit and read, oh, what a fiutter there
you'd ne! There would not be fans enough
Ii church 10 keep the cheeks cool. | do not
now but 1t would be n good thing il the
minister once in awhile should bring the
hnrch records in the pulpit aud caii the
oil. for that H. what 1 consider everychurch
ecord to be-merely IL muster roll at the
AFAN . "a In -NAAl'h AAAt AkAtA " a. 'DNeAN
evnal where every soldier is and what he Ii
lOing.
Suppose in military circles on the morning
+ battle the roll was called, and out of 1000
len only 100 men in the regiment answered.
What excitement there would be in the
amp! What would the colonel say? What
Ugh talking there would bs among the
aptains AMI majors AMI the adjutants.
impose worl came to headquarters that
hese ~delinquents excused themselves on the
round that they had oversight themselves,
r the morning was damp and they were
fraid OF getting their feet wet. or that they
Tere busy cooking rations. My friends, this
the morning OF the day Of God A~imighty's
attic. Do you not see the troops2 Hear
o not all the trumpets of heaven and all
he drums of hell? Which side are you on?
{ You are on the right side. TO what
Gralry troop. to what artillery SERVICE
o what E%arrison duty do you belong2
n other words, in what Sabbath school
10 you teachf In what prayer meeting
10 you extort2 To what penitentiary do you
leclare eternal liberty2 To what almshouse
10 Won announce the riches of heaven2
What broken bone OF sorrow have you ever
ei2 Are you doing nothing2 Is 1t possible
hat a man or woman sworn to be a follower
II Jesus Christ is doing nothing? Thenhide
he horrible secret from the angels. Keep it
way from the book of Judgment. II you
re doing nothing. do not let the world find
t out, lest they charge your religion with
,eing a ia Sc face. DOnot let your cowardice
md treason be heard r1ong the martyrs
bout the throne, lest they forget the sane
ity of the place and denounce your betrayal
u that cause for which they agonized and
led.
The temple OF Berth is very broad, and il
very high. 1t has been going up by the
lands of men and devils, and no human en-
,ineering can demolish it, but If the 10000
minis ers of Christ in this country should
ZACH take a branch Of the tree of life. and all
heir congregations should do the same, n
SO should march on and throw these
ranches around the great temples of sin and
vorldliness and folly. it would need 40
match or coal or torch Of ours to touch on
he pile, for, as in the days of Elijah, fire
would fall from heaven and kindle the bon
Ire of Christian victory over demolished sin.
Still further, I learn from this subject the
LANCER Of false refugees. AS soon as these
;cnechemites got into the temple they
bought they were safe. They said: BERTH
will take care OF US. Abimelechs may batter
Town everything else. He cannot batter
iown this temple where we are now hid"
But very soon they heard the timbers crack
ing, and they were smothered with smoke,
md they miserably died. l suppose every
person in this audience this moment is step
,ing into some kind Of refuge. Here you
tep In the tower of good works. You say,
Il shall be safe In this refuge" The battle
nents are adorned; the steps are vanished
IN the wall are pictures OF all the suffering
you have alleviated, AMI all the schools you
lavc established, aud all the foe things you
lave ever done. Up in that tower you feel
you are safe. But hear you not the tramp OF
your unpardoned sins all arnua the towerf
They each have a match. You are kindling
he c~ombustible material. Yon feel the heat
md the suffocation. Oh, may you leap In
line, the gospel declaring, SPY the deeds o.
he law snail no flesh living be justified"
"Well," you say, Il have been driven out
II that tower. Where shall l go2" SteI
nto this tower Of indifference. You say, 'Il
his tower is attacked, it will be a great
while before 1t is taken" You feel at ease.
But there is an Abimelech with ruthless as
Iault coming en-. Death and his forces are
gathering around, and they demand that you
surrender everything, and they clamor foI
Four overthrow, and they throw their skeie
ton arms In the window, and with their irOI
hsts they beat against the door, and whit
you are trying to keep them out you see tn,
torches of Judgment Ending, and every for
ast Is a torch and every mountain a torct
and every sea a torch, and while the Alp
| and Pyreness and Himalayas turn into a live
.oal, blown redder and redder by the whirt
wind breath Of q God omuipotent, what vii
become Of your refuge OF lesH
But" saws some one, "you are engage,
In a very mean business. driving us from
tower to tower" Oh. no. l a to tel
| you of a Gibraltar that never has been AM
never viii! be taken, Of a wall that no satani
assault can scale, of a bulwark that tn
| Judgment earthquakes cannot bulge
The Bible refers to it when /: says, "ln Got
is thy refuge, and underneath thee are tn
| everlasting arms" On, fling yourself in't
1t. Tread down unceremoniously everything
that intercepts you. Wedge your way there
There are enough hounds Of death and peri
after you to make You hurry. Many a ma
has persisted just outside tho tower with hi
foot on the step, with his hand on the latch
Oh get inside. Not one surplus secnn
have you to spare. Quick! Quick Quick
The total ordinary expenditures OF III
Government in 1895 were 1856, 1876, 29S.
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