Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-01-30

any plan of religious attack, however
radical, however odd however unpopular,
however hostile to all the conventional.
tiles of church and state. If one style OF
prayer does not do the work, let us try nm
other style. III the church music of today
docs not got the victory, then let us mako
the assault with baokwoods chorus IL
prayer meeting at half past in tho
evening does not succeed, let us have ono
as early in the morning as when the angel
found wrestling Jacob too much for him.
If sermon with the three authorized
heads does not do the work, then lot us
havo n sermon with 20 heads, or no heads
at all
Gospel Truths.
Wo want moro heart in our song, moro
heart in our almsgiving, moro heart In
our prayers, more heart in our preaching.
Oh, for loss Of Abimecch's sword and
more of Abimelcch's conflagration had
often heard
There is fountain filled with blood
sung artisticaly by four birds perohed on
their Sunday roost in tho gallery until l
thought of Jenny Lind and Nilsson and
Sontag, and all tho other warblers, but
there came not one tear to my eye nor
ono master emotion to my heart. But ono
night l went down to the African Metho-
dist meeting house In Philadelphia and ut
tho close of the service black woman In
tho middle of tho audience began to sing
that hymn, and all the audience Joined in,
nnd we were floated some three or four
miles nearer heaven than I have ever been
since. saw with my own eyes that "foun-
tain filled with blood agonizing,
sacriHcial, rodemptivo-and I heard the
crimson plnsh Of tho wave as wo all went
down under It,
For sinners plunged beneath that food
Lose all their guilty stains.
Oh, my friends, the gospel is not syl-
logism; II is not oasuistry 1t Is not po-
lemics or the science of squabblesl 1t is
blood rcd fact; 1t Is warm hearted invita-
ton; it is leaping, bounding, flying good
news; 1t is ofllorescent with all light; 1t is
rubcscent with all summary glow; it Is
arhorcscent with oil sweet shade l havo
seen tho sun rise on Mount Washington,
ard from the Tiptop House, but there was
no beauty In that compared with tho day
spring from on high when Christ gives
light TO soul. l have heard Parepa sing,
but there was no music In that compared
with the voice Of Christ when he said,
"Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace"
Good news Let every one cut down II
branch of this tree Of life and wave 1t.
Let all the way from Mount Zalmun to
Sheohem be filed with tho tossing joy.
Good news This bonfire of tho gospel
shall consume the last temple Of sin and
will ilumine tho sky with apocalyptio Joy,
that Jesus Christ came into tho world to
save sinners. Any new plan that makes
n man quit his sin and that prostrates u
\ IL. r., l.
all the DOCTORS and the bishops, and the
arohbishops, and tho synods, and tho
academical gownsmen of Christianity
sanctioned 1t. The temple Of Berth must
como down, and I do not care how it
/ comes.
Power of Example.
Still further, learn from this subject
the power of example. If Abimelcch had
sat down on the grass and told his men to
90 and get the boughs and go out to the
battle, they would never have gone at all,
or If they had, 1t would have been without
any spirit or effective result, but when
Abimolcch goes with his own ak md hews
down branch and with Abimelech's
arm puts 1t on Abimelcch's shoulder, and
marches on, then, my text says, all tho
people did tho Same. How natural that
was! What made Garbaldi and Stonewall
jackson the most magnetic commanders
of this century, They always rode ahead.
Oh, the overwhelming power Of examplel
Here is father on the wrong road. All his
boys go on tho wrong road. Here is ia
Their who onlists for Christ. His children
enlist. saw In some Of the picture gal
lcries Of Europe that before many Of tho
great works of tho masters-the old mas
ters-thero would be sometimes four or
five artists taking copies of the pictures
These copies they were going to carry with
them, perhaps to distant lands, and have
thought that your life and character arc a
masterpiece, and 1t Is being copied and
/ long after you arc gone 1t will bloom or
blast in the homes of those who knew
/ you, and BIO n Gorgon or Madonna Look
| out what you say. Look out what you do
/ Eternity will hear tho echo. The best ser
anon ever preached Is holy life. The bost
music ever chanted Is q consistent walk.
If you want others to serve God, serve him
yourself. If you want Others to shoulder
their duty, shoulder yours Where Abim-
elech goes his troops go. oh, start out
for heaven today, and your family will
como after you, and your business associ.
ates will como after you, and your social
friends will join you. With one branch OF
tho troe of life for baton, marshal just
as many as you can gather. Oh, the in
finite, the seniomnipotent power Of good
or bad example
/ saw last summon, near the beach, a
wrecker's machine 1t was cylinder.
with some holes at the SIDE made for the
thrusting In Of some long poles with
strong leverage, and when there Is any
vessel In trouble or going to pieces in the
ofling the wreckers shoot ropo out to the
suffering men. They grasp It, and the
wreckers turn tho cylinder and the rope
winds around the cylinder, and those who
are shipwrecked are saved So at your
feet today there Is an influence with o tro.
mendous leverage The rope attached to
1t swings fur out into tho billowy future.
Your children, your children's children,
and all the generations that are to follow
will grip that influence and feel tho long
reaching pull long after the figures on your
tombstone are so near worn out that the
visitor cannot tell whether 1t was 1886 OF
1895 or 1896 that you died.
Concerted Action.
Still further, learn from this subject
the advantage Of concerted action. II
Abimeleoh had merely gone out with @
tree branch, the work would not have beer
accomplished, or II TO- 20 or 80 men had
gone, but when all tho axes are lifted an6
all the sharp edges fall, and all these mel
carry each his tree branch down and throw