Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1896-02-22

ine;on to an immense cnncOursc. The
subject Of his sermon was bringing in
the SlcaycS," the text being Joel ill.,, Is.
''l'ut yc IN the sickle, for the harvest Is
ripe
The sword has been pOetized. and the
world has celebrated the sword of Soli-
va. ihc sword OF CortcS and the sword
Of Lafayette. Tho pen has been properly
cuio~ized. and the world has celebrated
til non Of Addison. the pen of Southey
aud The pen Of Irving. The painters pen
ell i.as been honorcd. ana the world has
celebrated TIE pencil of Murillo, the pen
&! II l,ibcrS and the pencil of Bierstadt.
The .;culptor's chisel has come in for high
enc MUM. and the world has celebrated
Enautrey's chi~cl. and Crawford's chisel.
anJ Grccnor~i's chisel. I1u; There i one
instrument about which | sing the first
csu,O tlat WAS ever ~SHmg-thc sickle. the
sickle &c the Bible. thc sickle that has
rr.,nel the harvest OF many centuries.
Sl.i~p and ben; iBsO Il semicircle and gilt
tcria... this rrspin@ hook. no longer than
yaur arm, has furnished the bread for
iii sand, of years. lis SucccSscs has pro-
dU ii the wealth of nations. Ii has had
Mr. 70 Do with The worlds progress than
sword and pen AMI pencil and chisel AL
Pr to@Cjncr. Christ pas the sickle into
exquisite %scriaonic smile. and you see
that Instrument Hash I'LL mp and down the
Apocalypse aS -. John swings il. while
through IOcl in my text God commands
the people, as through his servants now
h. commanded them. Put ye in the sickle,
tor he harvest is ripe"
Estimate OF Values.
last November there was great r%ejoic-
in. MI over the land. With trumpet and
curnet and organ and thousand voiced
psalm We praised the Lord for the tenn
Ir"fal haTyeSts. We praised God for the
wheat, the rye. the oats, the cotton. the
rice. all the fruits of the orchard and all
the grains of the field. and the nation new
or does a better thing than when in the
autumn it gathers 10 f~cstivity and thanks
God Cor The greatness Of the harvest.
I;Ht | come to-day to speak to you of rich
er harycStS. even the spiritual. How shall
We estimate the value of Il man? We say
he is worth So many dollars. or he has
achieved such and such a position. but
W. know very well there are some men at
The tep o. the ladder who ought TO be at
the bottom and some ut the bottom who
ought to bc at the top. and the only way
So estimate u man is by his soul. We all
know that we shall live forever. Death
cannot Kill us. Other crafts may he drawn
ms the whirlpool or shiycrcd on the rocks.
but tlis life within us will Weather all
storms AMI drop no anchor and 1O.oO0.OOO
years after death will shake out signals
oil the high seas Of eternity. You put the
mendicant of your doorstep and say he j.
Otly Il lcgsar. hut he is worth all the gold
al nc mountains. worth all the pearls of
tho sea. worth the solid earth. worth sun
an moon and stars. worth the entire
material universe. Take all the papcr
rat ever came from the paper mills and
put il side by side and sheet by sheet and
L. men with ~ilcctest pens make figures on
that paper Tor 10000 years. and they will
Only have begun TO express the value Of
the soul. suppose | owned Colorado and
Nevada and Australia. of how much value
would that bc 10 mo one moment after |
departed this life? How much of Phila-
dclphia does Stephen Girard own today ?
How much Of Boston property does Alb
bolt Lawrence w to-day: The man
VINO today hath Il dollar in his pocket
hath more worldly estate than the million
are who died last year. How do Won
suppose ! feel. standing here surrounded
by 4 multitude of souls. each one worth
sncrc than the material universe? Oh
was | not right in saying this spiritual
harvest is richer than the temporal har.
vest? ! must tighten the sirdle. | must
sharpen the sickle. | must be careful how
swing the instrument for gathering the
grain list one stalk be lost.
tine oil the most powerful sickles for
rca9ing this spiritual harvest is the
preaching of the gospel. If the sickle
have u handle, and it be adorned
with precious stones, and yet it cannot
bring down the grain. it is not mI,.h of "A
sickle. and preaching amounts to nothing
unless 1t harycsts souls for God. Shall
we preach philosophy? The Ralph Waldo
Ernersons could beat us at that. Shall we
preach science: The Agassizes beat MS nj
that. The minister of Jesus Christ with
weakest arTn going forth in earnest PRAYER
and welding this sickle Of the gospel
shal lind the harvest all around him wait
ing for the angel sheaf binders. oh. this
harvest Of souls | notice i'm the fields
that the farmer did not stand upright
when he gathered the grain. / noticed
he had 10 stoop i'm his work. and | noticed
In order to bind the sheaves the better he
had to put his knee upon them. And rs
we 90 forth in this work for God we can.
not stand upright in our rhetoric and our
metaphysics and our crudition. We have
TO stOop to our work. Aye. we have Ia
pat our knee 10 it. or we will never gather
sheavcs for the Lords garner. Peter
swung that sickle on the day Of Pentccost
and 5000 sheaves came in. Richard Bax.
ter swung that sickle ut Kidderminster
and McCheync ut Dundee. and vast multi
tudcs came into the kingdom of ouI
God.
The Mighty Gospel.
On, this is n mighty gospel! 1t can
fured not only John. the lamb. but Paul
the lion. Men may gnash their teeth al
II and clinch their fists. but it is the power
of God and the wisdom of God unto saliva
ton. But. alas. if it is only preached il
pulpits and on Sabbath days! We mus
70 forth into our stores, our shops, ouI
bankin: houses. our factories, and thu
streets. and everywhere preach Christ
We stand in our pulpits for two hours OF
the Sabbath and commend Christ to tn,
people, but there are 1jS hours in tn,