Connecticut western news., 1896-02-20

Inns picture ts faliuTS. inu ne iashed out the picture of the cups, and aid: II shall have nothing to detract trom the face of the Lord. Christ is the all of this picture.
 Power of Christian soax.
 Another powerful sickle for the reap ing of this harvest is Christian song. I know in many churches the whole work IS delegated to & few people standing in the organ loft. But, my friends, as oth- CTS cannot repent for us and others can not die for us. we cannot delegate to others the work of singing for us While few drilled artists shall take the chants and execute the more skillful music, when the hymn is given out let there be hundreds and thousands of voices uniting in the exclamation. On the way to grandeurs that never cease and glories that never die let us sing. At the battle of Lutzen 8 general came to the king and said: Those soldiers are singing as they are going into bat tie. Shall stop them?" No" said the king. "men that can sing like that can fight, Oh, the power of Christian song. When 1 argue here, you may ar gue back. The argument you make against religion may be more skillfui than the argument mako in behalf of religion. But who can stand before the patbos of some uplifted song like that which we sometimes sing:
 Show pity, Lord Lord, forsiyei
 Let reponting rebel live!
 Are not thy mercies large and freef
 May not 8 sinner trust in theef
 Another mighty sickle for the reaping of the gospel harvest is prayer. What does God do with our prayers? Does he go on the hattleinents of heaven and throw them of? No What do you do with gifts given you by those who love you very much? You keep them with great sacredness And do you suppose God will take our prayers, offered in the sincerity and love of our hearts, and scatter them to the windsf Oh. mol He will answer them all in some way. Oh. what mighty thing prayer is! It is not a long rigmarole of "obs" and "ahs" and t'for ever and ever. amens. It is a breathing of the heart into the heart of God. Oh. what mighty thing prayer isl Elijah with it reached up to the clouds and shook down the showers With it John Knox shook Scotland. With 1t Martin Luther shook the earth. And when Philipp Melanchthon lay sick unto death. as many supposed, Martin Luther came in and said. "Philipp. we can t spare you!' "Oh. said he, Mar tin. you must let me go. am tired of persecution and tired of life. Iwant to go to be with my God. 'No," said Martin Luther, .you shall not go; you must take this food, and then I will pray for you.' "No. Martin, said Melanch- thon. "you must let me go" Martin Luther said. You take this food or I will excommunicate you" He took the food, and Martin Luther knelt down and prayed as only he could pray, and con- valescence came, and Martin Luther went back aud said to his friends, 'God has saved the life of Philipp Melanchthon in direct answer 10 my prayer. Oh. the power of prayer! Have you tested it?
 Prayer Has It's Echo.
 Dr. Prime of New York, in his beau tiful book entitled Around the World, described a 'mausoleum in India which it took 90, ,000 men 22 years to build that and the buildings surrounding-and he says: Standing in that mausoleum and uttering word, it is echoed back from height of 150 feet; not an ordi- nary 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 mauso- leum, but from the heart of God and from the wings of angels as they hover. crying. Behold, he praysp Oh, test it? Mighty sickle for reaping this gospel harvest. the sickle of prayeri
 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. It does not make any differ ence about the physical posture, as was shown in 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 hand Some lifted two hands i; others lifted one hand; some with hands amputated could only lift the stump of the arm. One man, both his arms ann putated, could give no signal except to say, Me! Mef Oh, it does not make any difference about the rhetoric of your | prayers; it does not make any difference about the posture; it does not make any | difference whether you can lift hand | or have no hand to lift. God is ready to l hear you. Prayer is answered. God is ! waiting to respond.
 Lift up your eyes upon the fields. for | they arc white already to harvest i' How many have you reaped for God? Do you ask me how many have reaped for God? l cannot say. Now can you say how many you have reaped? hope there are some who have been brought into the kingdom of God through your instrumentality. Have there not been Not one? You, Q man S5, 40. 50 years | of age and not one? I see souls coming ! np to glory. Here is a Sunday school teacher bringing 10 or To souls. Here is tract distributor bringing in 40 or 90 souls Here is man you never heard of who has been very useful in bringing souls to God. He comes with 150 souls. They are the sheaves of his harvest. How many have you brought? Not one can il 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 reap ed nowl And that is this instant! Why not be reaped for God this hour?
 The Touch of Divine Grace
 "Oh," says some man. 'I have beer going on the wrong road for 30, 40 ol 0years. have gone through the whole catalogue of crime and must first gel myself fixed up An, you will never get yourself fixed up until Christ takes you in charge. You get worse and worse | uutil he comes in the rescue ssNot tht