The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1896-02-19

said: ''Those soldiers are singing as
they are going into battle. Shall l
stop them?" mo, said the king, men
that can sing like that can fight" Oh,
the power Of Christian song! When !
argue here you may argue back. The
argumen t you make against religion
may be more skillful than the argu-
ment | 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 repenting rebel hive!
Arc not Thy nercies large and frcei
May not sinner trust in Theey
Another mighty sickle for the reap
ing of the gospel harvest is prayer.
What does God do with our prayers?
Does He go on the battlements of
Heaven and throw them off? No. What
do you do with gifts given you by those
you love very much? You keep them
with great sacredness. And do you
suppose God will take our prayers, of
fered in the sincerity and love of our
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Oh, no! He will answer them all in
some way. Oh, what mighty thing
prayer is! 1t is not q long rigmarole
of 'ohs, and 'ahs, and forever and
ever, Amens." 1t is the 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 show
ers. With it John Knox Shook Scot
land. With it Martin Luther shook
the earth. And when Philip Melanc-
thon lay sick unto death, as many
supposed, Martin Luther came in and
said, Philip, we can't spare you!"
"Oh," said he, Martin, you must let
me go; am tired of persecution and
tired of life. / want to go to be with
my God" mo-" said Martin Luther,
you shall not go; you must take this
food and then | will pray for YOU
mo, Martin" said Melancthon, you
must let me CO." Martin Luther said:
You take this food, or will ex-com-
municate you" He took the food, and
Martin Lutherknelt down and prayed
as only he could pray, and GONZALES
cence came, and Martin Luther went
back and said to his friends: God has
saved the life of Philip Melancthon
in direct answer to my prayer" Oh,
the power of prayer! Have you tested
it?
DIR. Prime, of New York, in his beau
tiful book entitled Around the World, y
described a mausoleum in India which
it took 10000 men 90 years to build
that and the buildings surrounding
and he says: standing in that mauso-
leum and uttcring a word, it is echoed
book from height of 15O 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 muso-
leum, but from the heart of God and
from the wings Of angels as they hover,
crying, behold, he praysl" Oh, test
it? Mighty sickle for reaping this
gospel harvest, the sickle of prayer!
It 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
difference about the physical posture,
as was shown in 4 hospital, 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 handr' 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! me-" 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 can
lift hand, or have no hand to lift.
God is ready to hear you. Prayer is
answered. God is waiting to respond.
Lift up your eyes upon the fields,
for they arewhite already to harvestr
How many have you reaped for God?
Do you ask me how many / have
reaped for God? 1 cannot say. Now
can you say how many you have
roapcd? l hope there are some who
have been brought into the kingdom
of God through your instrumentality.
Have there not been? Not one? You
man So, 40, so years of age and not
one? see souls coming up to glory
Here is Sunday-school teacher bring.
ing 10 or Is souls. Here is tract dis.
tributor bringing in 40 or so souls.
Here is man you never heard of who
has been very useful in bringing souls
to God He comes with $50 souls. They
are the sheaves of his harvest. How
many have you brought? Not one-can
it be? What will God say? What will
the angels say? Better crouch down in
some corner of Heaven and never show
yourself. Oh, that harvest is to be
reaped nowl And that is this instant
Why not be reaped for God this hour?
oh" says some man, 81 have been
going on the wrong road for 80, 4C
or 80 years; | have gone through the
whole catalogue of crime and must
first get myself fixed up" All, you will
never get yourself fixed up until Christ
takes you in charge. You get worse
and worse until he comes to the rescue.
"Not the righteous; sinners Jesus came
to call. y So, you see, take the very
worst case there is. If there is a man
here who feels he is all right in heart
and life, am not talking to him, for
he is probably hypocrite. win talk
to him some other time But If there
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