Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1896-02-01

sharp, keen. glittcring steel spear of ar
gument. expecting in that way to take the
castle. but they have LOGO spears where
we have 10. And So the castle of sin
stands Oh, my friends. we viii never
capture this world for God by any keen
saber of sarcasm. by any glittering lances
OF rhetoric. 10y any sapping and mining Of
profound disquisition. by any gunpowdery
explosions of Indignation. by %sharpshoot-
ingS of wit. by howitzers of mental
strength made to swing shell five miles.
10y cavalry horses gorgeously caparisoned
paving the air. La vain all the attempts
on the part of these ecclesiastical foot
soldiers. light horSemen and grenad;ers.
My friends, | propose Il different style
of tactics. Let each one 20 to the forest
of Gods promise and invitation and hew
down 4 branch and put il on his shout
der. and let Us all come around these obsti-
nate iniquitieS, and then. with this pile
kindled by the fires OF Il holy zeal and the
lanes of Il conSecrated life. we will burn
them out. What steel cannot do fire may.
And | announce myself in favor of any
plan of religious attack that succeeds
any plan of religious attack. however rad
zeal. however odd. however unpopular.
however hostile 10 all the conyentiOnali-
ties Of church and state. If one style Of
prayer does net do the work. let Us try
another style. If the church music of to-
day does not get the victory. then let Us
make the assault with a backwoods cho-
rus. III a prayer meeting at half past !
in the evening does not succeed. let Us
have one as early in thcsmorning Is when
the angel found wrestling Jacob too much
for him. If a sermon with the three au-
thorized heads does not do the work. then
let us have a sermon with twenty heads.
or no heads ut all.
Gospel Truths.
We want more heart in our song, more
heart in our a~lmsgiving. more heart in
oar prayers. more heart in our preach
ing. Oh. for less OF Abimelech's sword
and more Of Abimelech's conflagration. |
had often heard.
There is Il fountain filled with blood
SUNG artiStically by four birds perched on
their Sunday Toost in the gallery until y
thought of Jenny Lind and Nilsson and
Sontag. and all the other warblers. but
there came not one tear 10 my eye, nor
one master emotion to my heart. But
one night | won't down TO the African
-hNtiipuANA meeting HVASC II L Iilid'i'llbiti u,
and at the close of the service a black
woman in the middle of the audience be-
gan to sing that hymn. and all the audi
ence joined in. and we were floated some
three or four miles nearer heaven than |
have ever been since. | saw with my own
eyes that fountain filled with blood
red, %agonizing. sacrificial. redcmptive-
and | heard the crimson plash of the wave
rs we all went down under it.
For sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
Oh, my friends, the gospel is not n syl-
logism; it is not casuistry; il is not pO-
lemics or the science of s%qualblesi 1t is
blood red fact; it is warm hearted invita-
ton; it is leaping, bounding. flying good
news; it is efllorescent with all light; ii *
rubescent with all summary glow; it Is
arboresccnt with all sweet shade. ! have
seen the sun rise on Mount Washington,
and from the Tiptop House, but there
was no beauty in that compared with the
dayspring from OF high when Christ gives
light to Il SOU. / nave heard Parepa
sing. but there WAS no music in that com
pared with the voice of Christ when he
said, Thy sins are forgiven thee; 20 in
peace" food news. Let every one cut
down n branch of this tree of life and
wave il. Let all the way from Mount
Zalmon TO Shechem be filled with the toss
ing joy. Good news, This bonfire of the
gospel Shall consume the last temple of
sin and will illumine the sky with apoca-
lyptic joy, that Jesus Christ came into
the world To save sinners. Any new plan
that makes Il man quit his sin and that
proStrates Il wrong | I'm as much in favor
of as though all he doctors, and the bish-
ops. and the archbishops. and the SYMBOLS,
and the academical gownsnen of Chris
tianity sanctioned it,. The temple of
Berth must come down, and / do not care
how it comes.
Power of Example.
Still further, / learn from this subject
the power of example. If Abimelech had
sat down on the grass and told his men to
go and get the boughs and go out 10 the
battle. they would never have gone at all.
or if they had, it would have been without
any spirit or effective result, but when
Abimelech goes with his own AK and news
down Il branch. and with Abimelech's
arm puts it on Abimelech's shoulder, and
marches on. then, my text says. all the
people did the same. How natural that
was. What made Garibaldi and Stone
wall Jackson the most magnetic com
manders of this century, They always
rode ahead. Oh. the overwhelming power
of example. Here is Il father on the
wrong road. All his boys 90 on the wrong
road. Here is n father who enlists for
Christ. His children enlist. / saw III
some of the picture galleries of Europe
that before many of the great works of
the masters-thc old masters-there 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 are n masterpiece.
and it is being copied. and long after You
are gone it will bloom or blast in the
homes of those who knew You. and be Il
Gorgon or Il Madonna. Look out what
YOU say. Look out what YOU do. Eternity
will hear the echo. The best sermon ever
preached is 4 holy life. The best music
ever chanted is a consistent walk. If you
-. o.l,rS q. cnrva God Saryo-hip, n,,.