Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-04-22

| rave our land first to civil liberty and after
ward to religious freedom. Yea. might g
farther baok and say It was persecution tina
gave the world the sres. saiyasao. e III
and thirsting, the unjust charge, III
ignominious death, when ali the force o
hell's fury was hurled against the cross, wa
the Introduction of that religion which I
yet to he the earth's deliverance and on
eternal salvation. The State sometimes sail
to the church, "Come. take my hand. and
will help you" What was the result? Th'
church went rack. and 1t lost its estate OF
holiness. and It became Ineffective. At other
times the State said to the church, II will
crush you" What has been the result?
After the storms have spent their fury the
church. 30 far from having lost any Of its
force, has increased and is worth infinitely
more after the assault than before Read
all history and you will find that true. The
church is far more indebted to the opposition
of civil government than to its approval.
The fires Of the stake have only been the
torches which Christ held in His hand. by
the light Of which the church has marched
to her present glorious position; In the
hear the rumbling Of tho gospel chariot
The scaf1olds OF martyrdom have been the
stairs by which the church mounted.
Learn also from our subject that sin will
come to exposure. Long. long ago had those
brothers sold Joseph into Egypt They hai
made the old father believe that his favorts
child was dead. They had suppressed the
srime, and It was a profound secret we'll kept
by the brothers. But suddenly the secret Is
out. The old father hears that his son il in
Egypt, having been sold there by the malice
of his own brothers. How their cheeks must
have burned and their hearts sunk at the
flaming out of this long suppressed crime.
The smallest iniquity has thousand
fnn nd fh..u ,rtl lab o.rt
Saul was sent to destroy the Canaanit,s,
their sheep and their oxen. but when he got
down there among the pastures he saw some
fine sheep and oxen too fat to kill. 50 he
thought he would steal them. Nobody
would know 1t. He drove Theses stolen
sheep and oxen toward home. bnt stopped
to report to the prophet how he had av.-
cuted his mission, when in the distance the
sheep began to bleat and the oxen to below.
The secret was out, and Samuel said to the
blushing and confused Saul: "what mean
eth the bleatiny of the sheep that hear and
the believing OF the cattle2" All, my hearer,
you cannot keep an iniquity still. At just
the wrong time the sheep will bieat and the
oxen will below. Achan cannot stell the
Babylonish garment without being stoned
to death, nor Arnold betray his country
without having his neck stretched. Look
over the police arrests These thieves.
these burglars. these counterfeiters, these
these asSassins, they all
thought they could bury their iniguity
so deep down 1t would never come to res
direction, but there was some shoe that an
swered to the print in the soil, some false
keys found in their possession, some bloody
knife that whispered of the death. and the
public indignation and the anathema Of
outraged law hurled them into the dungeon
or hoisted them on the gallows.
Francis J., king of France, stood counsel.
ing with his officers how he could take his
army into Italy, when Ameril, the fool of
the court. leapei out from a corner OF the
room and said: "You had better be consult
Ing how you will get your army back" And
1t was found that Francis L. and not Ameril,
was the fool. Instead of consulting as to
The best way of getting into sin, you had
better consult as to whether you will be able
TO get out of it. II the world does not ex-
pose you, you will tell it yourself. There Is
an awful power in an aroused conscience.
A highwayman plunged out upon White
Held As he rode along on horseback a sack
Df money on the horse-money that he hal
raised for orphan aSylums-and the high
wayman put his hand on the gold, and
turned to him and said: "Touch
hat IL you dare; that belongs to the Lord
Jesus Christ" And the ruffian skunk into
he forest. Conscience. Conscience. The
'uffian had a pistol, but Whnefield shook at
lim the finger Of doom. Do not think you
,an hide any great and protracted sin In your
heart, my brother. In an unguarded mo- |
nent it will slip of the lip, or some slight |
lction may for the moment Set ajar this door |
hat you wanted to keep closed. But sup /
,ose that in this life you hide it, and you get l
llOng with this transRression burning In 1
7our heart, as a ship on fire within for days |
,indeis the flames from bursting out by /
Ieeping down the matches, yet at last In the
that iniquity will blaze out before /
}od and the univere
Learn also from this subject that there L.
IN tnseparable connection between all
vents, however remote. The universe is
'nly one thought of God. Those things
yhich seemed fragmentary and isolated are
,nly different parts Of that great thought.
How far apart seemed these two events-Jo-
eph sold to the Arabian merchants and his |
OF Egypt-yet you see in what
Mysterious way God connec! ed the two into |
ne plan. So the events are linked together. |
lou who are aged men look back ami group |
Ogether thousand things In your life that
zee seemed isolated. One undivided C ain |
o the cross OF Calvary, and thus'up to the
,inRdOm Of heaven. There Is a relation be- |
ween the smallest insect that huns in the |
ummer air and the archangel on his throne
Tod can trace direct ancestral line
rom the blue jay that this spring will
uild its nest in the tree behind the |
louse 20 some one Of the flock OF birds |
Which, when Noah hoisted the ark's window,
With a whir and dash of bright wings, |
Tent out to sing over Mount Ararat. The |
ulips that bloom In the garden this spring
we're nursed by the snOwhakes. The farthest
tar on one side Of the universe cOuld not
ook toward the farthest star on the other
ide OF the universe and say, ''You are no
elation to me, for from that bright orb a
oice of light would ring across the heavens
'Yes, yes, wear sisters" Moth
ng in Gods universe swings at loose ends. |
accidents are only Gods way Of turning IL
eaf in the book Of His eternal DEGREES. From
ur cradle to our grave there Is a path ali
marked out. Each event In our life is con-
ected with every other event in our life ]
bur losses may be the most direct road to |
ur gain. Our defeat AMI our victory are
win brothers.
The whole direction of your life Wa
hanged by something which at the time
eemed TO you trifiing. while some occur
ence which seemed tr-mendou affected you
ut little. Gods plans ar magnificent be
ond all comprehension. He nolds us and
urns and directs us, and We know it not.
thousands Of years are to Him as the fl: Sht
4 a shuttle. The most terrific occurrence,
oes not make God trembe. The most trium
hant achievement uoes not lift Him into
apture. That one great thought OF God goes
ut through the centuries, and Nations rise
nd fall. and eras pass, and the world
hanges, but God still keeps the undivide
mastery, linking event to event and century
D century. TO God they are all one event,
ne history, one plan, one development. ons
-ste,r. Great and marvellous are Thy WORMS.
prI God Almighty! 1 was years ago In
ew Orleans at the exposition rooms, when I
Telegram was sent to the President OF the
nited States. at Washington, and We waited
,mn fiftaen or twenty minutes, and then the
resident answer came back. aAd the pre-
ding officer waved his handkerchief, and .
IL signal was sent to Washington that We
ere ready to have the machinery Of tho OK
osition started. and the President put his
niger on the electric button, and instantly the
rsat Corliss wheel began to move, rumblinR,
imbling, rolling, rolling. 1t was overwhelfh-
'g. and s. 900 people clapped and shouted.
ust one finger at Washington started that
nst machinery, hundreds and hundreds OF
lilies away. and I thought then. a. think
ow, that men sometimes touch influences |
lat respond In the far distance, forty years
ON now. ftty-yeAu from now. 1000 YeAH