The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-10-29

member that on the farm we set q
standard with a red flag at the other
end of the field. We kept our v on
that. We aimed at that. We plowed
up to that. Losing sight Of that we
made a crooked furrow. Keeping our
eye on that we made a straight furrow.
Now in this matter Of conviction we
must have some standard to guide us.
1t is a red standard that God has set
at the other end of the field. It is the
cross. keeping your eye on that you
will make a straight furrow. Losing
sight Of it you will make a crooked fur
row. PloW up to the cross. Aim not
at either end Of the horizontal piece of
the cross, but at the upright piece, at
the center Of it, the heart Of the Son of
God, who bore your sins and made sat
isfaction. Crying and weeping will not
bring you through. Him hath God
exalted to be a prince and a Savior to
give repentance" Oh, pillow up to the
cross!
Again, l remark, in grace as in the
field there must be a sowing. In the
autumnal weather you find the farmer
going across the field at a stride of
about twenty-three inches, and at ev-
cry stride he puts his hand into the
sack of grain and he sprinkles the
seed corn over the field. It looks silly
to a man who does not know what he
is doing. He is doing a very impor-
tant work. He is scattering the win
ter grain, and though the snow NAV
come, the next year there will be a
great crop. Now, that is what we are
doing when we are preaching the gos-
pei. we are scattering the seed. 1t
is the f%oolishness of preaching, but it
is II winter grain; and though the
SHOWS of WOrldliness may come down
upon it, it will yield after awhile a
glorious harvest. Let us be sure we
SOW the right kind Of seed. Sow null
len stalk and mullen stalk will come
up. Sow Canada thistles, and Canada
thlstles will come up. Sow wheat and
h will come up. Let us distin-
guish between truth and error. Let
us know the difference between wheat
and %hellebore, oats and henbane.
The largest denomination in this
country is the denomination of Moth
i%ngarians. Their religion is a system
of negations. You say to one of them,
What do you believer" 'Well |
don't believe in infant baptism"
what do you believe" "Well T
don't believe in the perseverance of
the saints" "Well, now tell me what
you do believer well, 1 don't be-
lieve in the eternal punishment of the
Wicked" So their religion is a row of
ciphers. Believe something and teach
it; OF, to esum the figure of my text,
scatter abroad the right kind of seed.
Again [ remark. in grace as in the
farm there must be a reaping. Many
Christians speak of religion as though
1T were a matter Of economics or in
surance. They expect to reap in the
next world. Oh, no. Now is the time
to reap. Gather up the joy of the
Christian religion this morning, this
afternoon, this night. If you have
not as much grace as you would like
to have, thank God for what YOU
have, and pray for more. You are
no worse enslaved than Joseph no
worse troubles than was David, no
worse scourged than was Paul. Yet.
amid the rafting of letters, and amid
the gloom of dungeons, and amid the
horror Of shipWreck, they triumphed
in the grace of God. The weakest
man in the house to-day has 500 acres
OF spiritual joy, all ripe. Why do
you not go and reap it? You have
been grooming owe your infirmities for
thlrty years. Now give one round
shout over your emancipation. You
say you have it so hard; you might
nave 1t worse. You wonder why this
great cold trouble keeps revolving
through your soul, turning and turn
ing with a black hand on the crank,
An, tina trouble is the grinding stone
on Whlch you are to sharpen your
sickle. To the fields! Wake up! Take
OIL your green spectacles, your blue
s~pectacles, your black spectacles. Pull
up the of your mouth as far
as you pull them down. TO the fields!
Reap, reap!
Again, l remark, in grace as in farm
ing there is a time for threshine. T
tell you bluntly that is death. Just as
the farmer with a fail beats the wheat
out OF the straw, SO death beats the
soul out of the body: Every sick
ness is a stroke of the fail, and the
SICK bed is the %threshing floor. What.
say you, is death to a good man, only
taking the wheat out of the straw?
mat is all. An aged man has fallen
asleep. Only yesterday you saw him
III the sunny porch playing with his
grandchildren. Calmly he received
the message to leave this world. He
babe a pleasant goodbye to his old
friends. The telegraph carries the It'd
ings, and on swift rail-trains the kin
dred come, wanting once more to look
on the face Of dear old grandfather.
Brush back the gray hairs from his
brow; it will never ache again. Put
him away in the slumber of the tomb.
He will not be afraid of that night.
Grandfather was never afraid of any
thing. He will rise in the morning of
the resurrection. Grandfather was al
ways the first to rise. His voice has
already mingled in the doxology Of
heaven. Grandfather always did sing
in church. Anything CHASTITY in that?
No. The threshing of the wheat out
of the straw. That is all.
The Savior folds a lamb in his bos-
ON. The little child filled all the house
with her music, and her toys are scat
tered all up and down the stairs just
as she left them. What if the hand
that plucked four-o'clocks out of the
meadow is still? 1t will wave in the
eternal triumph. What if the voice
that made music in the home is still?
1t will sing the eternal hosanna. Put
a white rose in one hand, a red rose
in the other hand, and a wreath of
orange blossoms on her brow; the