The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-02-28
RIPE.
rses Upon

Joel ILL.,, 10.
The sword has been poetized and The
world has celebrated the sword of Boil
war, the sword of Cortez, and the
sword Of Lafayette. The pen has beer
properly eulogized, and the world has
celebrated the pen of Addison, the per
of Southey, and the pen of Irving. The
], painters pencil has been honored, and
the world has celebrated the pencil OF
Murillo, the pencil of Rubens, and the
pencil of Bierstadt The sculptors
chisel has come in for high encomium,
and the world has celebrated Chan.
trcy's chisel, and Crawford's chisel,
and Greenough's chisel. But there is
one instrument about which l sing
the first canto that was ever sung
the sickle, the sickle of the Bible, the
sickle that has reaped the harvest of
many centuries. Sharp, and bent into
semi-circle, and glittering, this reap
ing-hook, no longer than your arm,
has furnished the bread for thousands
of years. Its success has produced the
wealth of nations. 1t has had more to
do with the worlds progress than
sword, and pen, and pencil, and chisel,
all put together. Christ puts the
sickle into the exquisite sermonic
smile, and you see that instrument
flash UP and down the Apocalypse as
st. John swings it, while through Joel
in my text God commands the people,
as through His servants now He COM
mands them--"Put We in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe"
Last November there was great re-
joicing all over the land. With trum-
pet and cornet and organ and thou
sand-voiced psalm we praised the Lord
for the temporal harvest. We praised
God for the wheat, the rye. the oats,
the cotton, the rice, all the fruits of
the orchard and all the grains of the
field; and the nation never does bet
ter thing than when In the autumn it
gathers to festivity and thanks God
for the greatness of the harvest. But
! come to-day to speak to you of
richer harvests, even the spiritual.
How shall we estimate the value of
3 man? We say he is worth so
many dollars, or he has achieved
SUCH and such position; but
We know very well there are some men
it the top of the ladder who ought to
be at the bottom, and some at the bot
tom who ought to be at the top, and
5hc only way to estimate man is by
lis soul. We all kr ow that we shall |
i've forever. Death can not kill us.
Other crafts may be drawn into the
~,
his life within us will weather all |
storms and drop no anchor, and 10, OOO,-
100 years after death will shake out |
'ignals on the high seas of eternity. |
You put the mendicant off your door
tep and say he is only beggar;
,ut he is worth all the gold of the
Mountains; worth all the pearls of the
ga, worth the solid earth, worth sun
md moon and stars. worth the entire
universe. Take all the paper
hat ever came from the paper mills,
md put it side by side and sheet by
heet, and let men with feetest pens
make figures on that paper for 10000
ears, and they will only have begun
o express the value of the soul. Sup
ose I owned Colorado and Nevada
nd Australia, Of how much value
would they be to me one moment af-
er l departed this life? How much of
aoes Stephen Girard own
o-day? How much of Boston property
oes Abbott Lawrence own to-day?
he man who TO-DAY hath dollar in
is pocket hath more worldly estate
han the millionaire who died last
ear. How do you suppose feel,
landing here surrounded by multi-
ude of souls, each one worth more
han the material universe2 Oh, was
not right in saying, this spiritual
arrest is richer than the temporal
arvest? must tighten the girdle,
lust sharpen the sickle. l must be
areful how I swing the instrument
Or gathering the grain, lest one stalk
e lost.
One of the most powerful sick1es for
Gaping this spiritual harvest is the
of the Gospel. If the sickle
ave rosewood handle, and it be
dorned with precious stones, and yet
can not bring down the grain, it is
OF much of sickle, and the preach
az amounts to nothing unless it har-
ests souls for God. Shall we preach
The Ralph Waldo Emer-
ons could beat us at that. Shall we
reach science? The Agassizes could
eat us at that. The minister of
esus Christ with weakest arm going
orth in earnest prayer, and welding
bis sickle of the Gospel, shall
nd the harvest all around him
rafting for the angel sheaf bind
rs. Oh. this harvest of souls IL
office In the fields that the farmer did
ot stand upright when he gathered
be grain. noticed he had to stoop
4 his work. and noticed In order to