Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-02-01


leeh, although suppose some OF the old
1sraeiitIsh heroes told Abimelech, You
are only going up there 70 be cut 70
pieces. Yet you are willing to testify
today that By no other mode certainly
not by ordinary modes-could that tenn
pie 90 easily, SO thoroughly, have been
taken. Fathers and mothers. brethren
and sisters in Jesus Christ. what the
church most wants to learn this day is
that any plan is right, is lawful, Is best.
which helps TO overthrow the temple OF
sin aud capture this world for God We
are very apt to stick to the old modes of
attack. We put on the old style coat of
mail. We come up with the sharp, keen,
glittering steel spear OF argument, ex-
pecting IN that way TO take the castle,
but they have Thousand spears where
we have ten. And SO the castle of sin
stands. Oh, my friends, we will never
capture this world for God by any keen
sabef OF sarcasm, by any glittering lances
OF rhetoric, by any sapping and mining
OF profound dlsquisition. by any gun
powdery explosions Of indignation, by
sharpshootings Of wit, by howitzers of
mental strength made to swing shell
five miles, by cavalry horses gorgeously
caparisoned paving the air. In vain all
the attempts on the part Of these ecclesi-
asticaI foot soldiers, light horsemen and
grenadiers.
My friends, propose different
style OF tactics Let each one go to the
forest of Gods promise and invitation
and hew down branch and put it on
his shoulder, and let rs all come around
these obstinate iniquities, and then with
this pile kindled by tho iires of holy
zeal and the flames Of consecrated life
we Will burn them ont. What steel can
not do, IRE may. And | announce myself
Id favor OF any plan of religious attack
that succeeds-any plan of religious at
tack, however radical, however odd,
however unpopular, however hostile to
all conventionalities of church and state.
IL one style OF prayer does not do the
work, let us try another style. Ii the
church music of today does not get the
victory, then let us make the assault
with a backwoods chorus. If prayer
does not succeed, let us have one as
early IN the morning as when the angel
found wrestling Jacob too much for
him. Ii sermon with three authorized
heads does not do the work, then let us
have sermon with 20 heads or no
heads at all. We want more heart in our
song, more heart III our almsglvlng,
more heart in our prayers, more heart
in our preaching.
A Blood Red Fact.
Oh, for less of Abimelech's sword and
more of Abimelech' s confagration I
had often heard
There is fountain filed with blood
sung artistically by four birds percbed
ON their Sunday roost in the gallery nm
til / thought of Jenny Lind and Nilsson
and Sontag and all the other warblers.
but there came not one tear to my eye
nor one master emotion to my heart.
But one night / went down to the Afri-
can Methodist meeting house in Phila-
delphia, and at the close of the service
a black woman in the middle of the au-
dience began to sing that hymn, and all
the audience Joined in, and we were
fioated some three or four miles nearer
heaven than | have ever been since.
saw with my own eyes that fountain
filled with blood"-red, agonizing. sac
rifieial, redemptiye-and l heard the
crimson plash of the wave as we all
went down under it.
For sinners plunged beneath that food
I Los
Oh, my friends, the gospel is not
syllogism; 1t is not casuistry; 1T is not
polemlcs, or the science OF squabbles. 1t
is blood red fact; II is warm hearted in
yltatlon; 1T IS leaplng, bounding, flying
! good news; 1t is effiorescent with all
light; 1t is rubescent with ali summary
glow; IL Is arborescent with all sweet
/ shade. / have seen the sun rise on Mount
Washington, and from the Tiptop Honse,
but there was no beauty in that COM
pared with the dayspring from on high
when Christ gives light to soul. 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
uewsi Let every one cut down branch
of this tree of life and wave it. Let him
throw it down and kindle it. Let all the
way from Mount Zalmon to Shechem be
/ filled with the tossing joy. Good news
This bonfire of the gospel shall consume
the last temple of sin, and will illumine
the sky with apocalyptic JOY, that Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sim
ners. Any new plan that makes man
quit his sin, and that prostrates wrong,
| l am as much in favor of as though all
the doctors, and the bishops, and the
archbishops, and the synods, and the
academical gownsmen of Christianity
sanctioned it. The temple of Berth
must come down, and do not care how
it comes.
The Power of Example.
Still further | learn from this subject
the power of example. If Abimelech
men to go and get the boughs and go