The Monitor-register., 1896-01-31

not know the one, and have IA poor
chance of getting TO the other.
LII a former charge one Sabbath |
TOOK INTO the pulpit the church records.
and laid them on the pulpit and OPEN
ed them and said: Brethren, here are
lne church records l find great many
OF you whose names are down here are
on duty. Some were afraid | would
read the names, for at that time some
OF them We're deep i'll the worst kind of
OIL stocks and We're idle as to Christian
work. But il ministers of Christ TODAY
should bring the church records into the
pulpit and read, oh, what f1utter there
would be! There would not be fans
enough IN church to keep the cheeks
cool. do not know but it would he
good thing if the minister once in
awhile should bring the church records
IN the pulpit and call the roll. for that
Is what / consider every church record
to be-merely muster roll of the Lords
army-and the reading of it should re-
veal where every soldier is and what he
is doing.
Call the Roll.
Suppose in military circles Oh the
morning of battle the roll was called.
and out OF 1000 men only 100 men in the
regiment answered. What excitement
there would be in the camp! What
would the colonel say? What high talk
ing there would be among the captains
and majors and the adiutants. Suppose
word came to headquarters that these
dennquents excused themselves on the
ground that they had oversight them
selves, or the morning was damp and
they were afraid of getting their feet
wet, or that they were busy cooking ra-
tions. My friends, this is the morning
of the day of God Almighty's battle. Do
you not see the troops? Hear ye not all
the trumpets of heaven and all the
drums of hell? Which side are you on
If you are on the right side, to what
cavalry troop, to what artillery service,
to what garrison duty do you belong?
In other words, in what Sabbath school
do you teach? In what prayer meeting
do you exhort? To what penitentiary do
you declare eternal liberty? To what
almshouse do you announce the riches
of heaven? What broken bone of sorrow
have you ever set? Are you doing moth
ing? Is it possible that man or woman
sworn to be Il follower of Jesus Christ
is doing nothing? Then hide the horri-
BILE secret from the angels. Keep it away
from the book of Judgment. Ii you are
doing nothing, do not let the world find
it out, lest they charge your religion
with being false face. Donot let your
cowardice and treason be heard among
the martyrs about the throne, lest they
forget the sanctity of the place and de-
nounce your betrayal of that cause for
which they agonized and died.
May the eternal God rouse us all to
action As for myself, feel 1 would be
ashamed to die now and enter heaven
until. have accomplished something
more decisive for the Lord that bought
me. Oh, brethren, how swiftly the time
goes by 1t seems to me as if the years
had gained some new power of locomo-
tion-a kind of speed electric.
The temple of Berth is very broad,
and it is very high. 1t has been going
up by the hands of men and devils, and
no human engineering can demolish it,
but if the 10000 ministers of Christ in
this country should each take branch
of the tree of life, and all their congre-
cations should do the same, and we
should march ON and throw these
branches around the great temples of sin
and worldliness and folly, it would need
no match or coal or torch of ours to
touch off the pile, for, as in the days of
Elijah, fire would fall from heaven and
kindle the bonfire of Christian victory
over demolished sin.
One Safe Refuge.
Still further, learn from this subject
the danger of false refugees. AS soon as
these Shechemites got into the temple
they thought they were safe. They said:
"Berith will take care of us. Abimelech
may batter down everything else He
cannot batter down this temple where
we are now hid" But very soon they
heard the timbers cracking, and they
were smothered with smoke, and they
miserably died. suppose every person
LII Uhio AuuiSlSC ulll0 AAO1uOAb 10
into some kind of refuge. Here you step
in the tower of good works. You say, ST
shall be safe in this refuge" The bat
Elements are adorned the steps are var
nished; on the wall are pictures Of all
the suffering you have alleviated, and
all the schools you have established,
and all the fine things you have ever
done. Up i'll that tower you feel you are
safe. But hear You not the tramp of your
unpardoned sins all around the tower?
They each have match. You are kim
ding the combustible material. You
feel the heat and the suffocation. Oh,
may you leap in time, the gospel de-
claring, "By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh living be justified.
"Well," you say, 81 have been driven
out of that tower Where shall go?"
Step into this tower of indifference.
You say, eff this tower is attacked, it
will be great while before it is taken.
You feel at ease. But there is an Abim-
elech with ruthless assault coming
on. Death and his forces are gathering
around, and they demand that you sur
render everything, and they clamor for
your overthrow, and they throw their
skeleton arms in the window, and with
their iron fists they beat against the
door, and while you are trying to keep
them out you see the torches of judg-
ment kindling, and every forest is a
torch and every mountain torch and
every sea torch, and while the Alps
and Pyrenees and Himalayas turn into
live coal, blown redder and redder by
the whirlwind breath of God omnipo-
tent, what will become of your refuge
of lies:
"But," says some one, 'tyou are en-
gagged i'll very mean business, driving