Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-11-14


pose it shall lass rs much longer, which is
very doubtful. That will make its exist
cncc twelve thousand years. But what
arr or viii hc twelve thousand years COM
pared with the eternity preceding those
wears and the eternity following them
time aS compared to eternity, like the
drop ~ the night dew shaken from the top
of a grass blade by the cows hoof on its
WAY afleld this morning, as compared with
Mediterranean and Arabian and Atlantic
and Pacific watery dominions?
Paul at Corinth.
\ stranger desired To purchase farm,
hut the owner would not sell it-would
only let it The stranger hired it by lease
for only one crop. but he sowed accorns,
and to mature that crop 300 years were
necessary. hat WAS practiced deception,
hut deg,iv, you not when tell you that
the cropof the soul takes hold of amending
ages.
| see the as;hor Of my text seated in the
house Of Gaius. who entertained him at
Corinth not far from the ovcrhanging
fortress of Acrn-C urinthuS, and meditating
on the longevity OF the soul and getting
more and more agitatcd about its value
and the awful risk some of his kindred
were running concerning IT, and he writes
this letter containing the text. which
Chrysostum admired so much he had 1t
read to him twice a week. and among 9th
or things he SAYS those daring and star
Ting words of my text, Il could wish that
myself were accurscd from Christ for my
brethren, my kinsmcn, according 20 the
flesh
Another way to get something of the
Pauline longing for redeemed immortali-
ties is by examining the vast machinery
arranged To save this inner and spiritual
nature That machinery started t. rcvolve
on the edge of the garden Of Eden. just
after the cyclone of sin Frustrated its
Sycamorcs and iamarisks and willows and
will not cease To revolve until the last soul
of earth shall get rid of its last sin and
enter the heavenly Eden. On that stu
pendous machinery for soul saving the
patriarch put his hand, and prophet his
hand, and evangelist his hand, and apostle
his hand. and Christ his hand, and almost
every hand that touched il became n crush
ed hand IL was the most expensive ma
chinery ever constructed. 1t cost more TO
start IL and has cost and will cost more to
keep it running than all the wheels that
ever made revolution on this planet. That
machinery turned not by ordinary motive
power, but by force of tears and blood. To
connect its bands of influence made out of
human and Christly nerves with all parts
of the earth millions of good men and
women are now at work and will be ut
work until every wilderness shall become u
garden, and every tear of grief shall be
tear Of joy, and the sword of divine victory
shall give the wound to the old dragon
that shall send him bowling To the pit, the
L IA.
again 10 open All that and infinitely
more TO save the soul! Why, it must be n
tremendous soul-trcmendous for good or
tremendous for evil, tremendous for hap
pincss or tremendous for woe
Put on the left side of the largest sheet
of paper that ever came from paper mill
single unit, the figure l. and how many
ciphers would you have to add TO the right
of that figure To express the souls value,
each cipher adding tenfoldi Working into
that scheme OF the souls redemption, how
many angels of God, descending and as
cendinR. How many storms swooping on
Lake Galilcc, How many earthquakes
opening dungeons and striking cataclysms
through mountains. from top to basel
What MONDAY sun was put on retreat!
What omnipotence lifted and what God
| head was put Ia torturcl All that for the
soul. No wonder that Paul, though pos
sessing great equipoise Of temperament
when he thought what his friends and
kindred were rsking concerning their
souls, flung aside all his ordinary modes
of speech, argument and apt simile, and
| bold metaphor, and learned allusion, as
unfit to express how he felt, and Selling
upon the appalling hyperbolsm Of my text
cries out, II could wish myself accurscd"
that Is, struck of the thunderbolts of
the omnipotent God, sunk to unfathomed
depths, chained into servitudc 10 Abaddon
and thrust into furnaces whose fires shall
never burn outfit only those whom love
might now and forever be saved Mind
you, Paul does not say, II do wish. He
says, Il could wish. Even in the agony
NJ felt for Others he did not lose his bal
Nicc. Il could wish myself accurscd."
could, but do not. Only one being that
ever lived was literally willing to give up
heaven for pcrdition, and that was the di-
vine peasant whom mentioned few mo-
mcnts ago He was not only willing To
exchange dominions Of bliss for dominions
of wrcichcdness, but he did So, for that he
| forsook heaven, witness the STOPPING star
and all those who saw his miracles Of
mercy, aud that he actually entered the
gates of the world Of perpetual conflagra-
| zion the Bible distinctly declares. He did
not say, with Paul, II could" but he
said, II will, do" and for the souls of
men he descended into hell. y
Piety on Ice.
In this last half of the last decade of the
nineteenth century the temperature in tho
churches is very low, and most of the piety
would spoil If it were not kept on ice. And,
taking things as they are ordinary Chris
tians will never reach the point where the
outcry of Paul in the text will not seem
like extravaganza. The proprietics In
most OF the churches are so fixed that all u
Christian is expected to do on Sunday is
to get up little later in the morning than
usual, put on that which Is next TO his
best attire-not the very best, for that has
| to be reserved for the levee-enter the
church with stately step, bow his head, or
at any rate shut his eyes in prayer time,
or close them enough TO look sleepy, turn
toward the pulpit with holy dizziness while
the preacher speaks. put 5 cent piece-or
| IL the times be hard / cent PIGEON
the collection platter Kind of showing it
down under the other coin so that 1t might
be, for all that the usher knows, 50 gold
| piece, and then after the bcnediction, 90
quietly nome To the biggest repast of all
the week. That is all the majority of
Christians are doing for the rectiflcation of
this planet, and they will do that until, at
the close Of life, the pastor opens black
book Mt the head Of their casket and reads:
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
They rest from their labors and their
works do follow them The sense of the
ludicrous is so thoroughly developed in me
that when i hear these Scripture words
read at the obsequies Of one of the religious
do nothings in the churches il is too much
for my gravity. Their works do follow
them" What works, And in what direc-
ton do they follow them-up or down?
And do they follow on foot or on the wing?
And how long will they follow before they
catch up: More appropriate funeral text
for all such religious dead beats would be
the words in Matthew XIV, $: Our lamps
are gone out. > One would think that such
Christians would show ut least under
whose banner they are enlisted. In one of
| the Napolennic wars a woman-Jeannette
by name-tOok her position with the
troops and shouldercd broomstick. The
colonel said, ''.Ieannette, why do you take
such useless weapon into the ranks:
well, she said, II can show, mt least,
which side am on"