Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-01-31

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 a 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
saber Of sarcasm, by any glittering lances
of rhetoric, by any sapping and mining
of profound disquisition, 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 Oh the part Of these ecclesi-
astical foot soldiers, light horsemen and
grenadiers.
Ny friends, propose a different
style Of tactics. Let each one go to the
forest Of Gods promise and invitation
and hew down a branch and put it Oh
his shoulder, and let us all come around
these obstinate iniquities, and then with
this pile kindled by the fires of a holy
zeal and the flames Of a consecrated life
we will burn them out. What steel can
not do, fire may. And Iannounce myself
in 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.
If one style Of prayer does not do the
work, let US try another style. If the
church music Of today does not get the
victory, then let US make the assault
with a baikwoods chorus. If prayer
meeting at half past in the evening
does not succeed, let us have one as
early in the morning as when the angel
found wrestling Jacob too much for
him. If a sermon with three authorized
heads does not do the work, then let us
have sermon with 90 heads or no
heads at all. We want more heart in our
| song, more heart in our almsgiving,
more heart in our prayers, more heart
in our preaching.
A Blood Red Fact
Oh, for less Of Abimelech's sword and
more Of Abimelechs conhagratiOn l
had often heard
There is a fountain filed with blood
sung artistically by four birds perched
on their Sunday roost in the gallery un-
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 1 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
floated some three or four miles nearer
heaven than have ever been since. l
saw with my own eyes that fountain
filed with blood"-red, agonizing, sac
rifcial, redemptive-and l heard the
crimson plash Of the wave as we all
went down under it.
For sinners plunged beneath that food
Lose all their guilty stains.
Oh, my friends, the gospel is not a
syllogism; it is not casuistry; 1t is not
polemics, or the science Of squabbles. 1t
is blood red fact; it is warm hearted in
vitation; it is leaping, bounding, flying
good news; it is effiorescent with all
light; it is rubescent with all summery
glow: it is arborescent with all sweet
shade. have seen the sun rise on Mount
Washington, and from the Tiptop House,
but there was no beauty in that com
pared with the dayspring from on high
when Christ gives light to q 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
newsl Let every one cut down branch
of this tree Of life and wayeit 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 illumlne
the sky with apocalyptic joy. that Jesus
| Christ came into the world to save sin
ners. ANY new plan that makes man
quit his sin, and that prostrates a wrong,
| 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 l learn from this subject
the power of example If Abimelech
had sat down on the grass and told his
men to 90 and get the boughs and GO
out to the battle, they would never have
gone at all, or if they had itwould have
been without any spirit or effective re-
suit, but when Abimelech goes with his
own ak and hews down branch and
with Abimelech's arm puts it on Abim-
elech's shoulder and marches on, then,
my text says, all the people did the
same. How natural that was What
made Garibaldi and Stonewall Jackson
ths most magnetic commanders OF this
century? They always rode ahead. On,
the overwhelming power Of example
Here is a father on the wrong road.
All his boys 60 on the wrong road.
Here is a father who enlists for Christ.
His children enlist. saw in some OF
the picture galleries Of Europe that be-
fore many of the great works OF the
masters, the old masters, there would be
sometimes four and five artists taking
copies Of the pictures. These copies they
were going to carry with them, perhaps
70 distant lands, and 1 have thought
lhat your life and character are mas
terpiece, 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 O Gorgon or Madonna.
| Look out what you say. Look out what
you do. Eternity will hear the echo'
ibe best sermon ever preached is holy
life. The best music ever chanted Is
consistent walk. If you want others TO
serve God, serve him yourself. II you
want others to shoulder their duty,
shoulder yours. Where Abimelech goes
L. .roons co Oh. start out for heaven