Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-03-20


the will, degrading i'll passion, harmful
i'll custom, false in friendship, hypocrit-
ical III profession-against all this
Christ makes onset From false profess
sion he would tear tho mask From op-
preston he would tear the rod. From
pride no would rend off the plumes.
From revenge he would exercise tho
devil While Christ loved the world so
much he died to save it, he hates sin so
well that to eradicate the last trace Of
it's pollution he will utterly consume
the continents and the oceans. At tho
gate of Eden the declaration of perpet-
unl enmity WAS made against the SER
pent. The tumult roundabout Mount
Sinai was only tho roar and flash Of
Gods artillery Of wrath against sin.
Sodom OIL fire was only one of Gods
flaming bulletins announcing hostility.
Nincvoh and Tyre and Jerusalem in
awful ruin mark tho track of jehovah 8
advancement. They show that God WIS
terribly in earnest when he announced
himself abhorront Of all iniquity. They
make us believe that, though nations
! belligeront and revcngcful may sign ar
ticles of peace and come to an amicablo
adjustment there shall be no cessation
of hostilitics between the forces of light
and the forces of darkness until tho
Kingdoms OF this world have become
the Kingdoms of our Lord Affrighted
by no opposition, discouraged by no
temporary defeats shrinking from no
exposure, every man to his position,
| while from the tops Of our schoolhouses
and churches and seminaries and asy-
lums III the name Of God we will set
up Our banners. F"
A Glorious Standard.
Again, it WIS the custom i'll ancient
times for the purpose of gathering ar
mics to lift IN ensign on the top Of some
high hill, so that all who SAW it would
feel impelled to rally around it. In
more modern times the same plan has
been employed fer the gathering of an
army Thus it is that the church OF
Christ lifts its flag for recruits. Tho
cross of Jesus is our standard, planted
OIL the hill Of Calvary Other armies
demand that persons desiring to enter
the lists of war shall be between such
and such an ago, lest the folly of ex-
IRENE youth or the innrmity of advanced
age be clog rather than an advantage.
But none is too young for Christ's reg
imcnt; none can be too old. The hand
that is strong enough to bounda ball or
tlundle hoop is skilled enough to fight
for Christ, while many a hand trem-
bling with old ago has grasped the ar
row of truth, and with dim eye close
to it, taking aim, has sent its sharp
point right through the heart of tho
King S enemies Many of you have long
ago had your names written or the roll
of celestial troops, and you like the serv-
ice well, although you now bear the
scars of multitudinous conflicts and can
recount many long march and tell Of
siege guns opened on you that you
thought never would be spiked. But
there may be soine who have not yet en-
listed. Your being here implies that
you arc seriously thinking about it, and
your attention makes me hope you are
only looking for the standard to be
hoisted. Will you not, 100 of you, with
all the aroused enthusiasm of your ma
ture come bounding into the ranks,
while in the name of Gicd we set up
cur banners?"
Through natural modesty do you hold
back and say, II will tc Of no advan-
tage to Christ. AM too awkward TO
learn the step Of the host CT to be Of
any service in the shock Of battlc?' To
you make the reply, Try it. One hour
under Christ's drill, and you would so
well understand his rules that the first
step of your march heavcnward would
make the gates of hell tremble on their
hinges We may not be as polished and
trim as many Christians we have
known, and we may not as well under
stand sharpshooting, but there is rough
work which we can all accomplish. We
may be axmen and hew a pathway
through the forests We may be spades
men and dig the trenches or throw up
tho Notifications We Go not care where,
we do not care what, if we can only
help i'll the cause of our King and shout
as loudly as any of them at the compile
ton of the conquest.
There are nonprcfessors who have a
very correct idea of what Christians
ought to be. You have seen members of
the church who we're as proud as Ahab
and lied as badly as Ananias and who
were as foul hypccrites as Judas You
abhor all that You shy followers of
Christ ought to be honorable humble
and self denying and charitable and pa
tient anu forsiying. Amen. So they
ought. Come into the kingdom of
Christ, my nearer, and be just that
glorious Christian that you have de-
scribcd. Every church has enough stingy
men in it to arrest its charities, aud
enough proud men in it to grieve away
the Holy Ghost and enough lazy men
in it to hang on behind till its wheels,
like Pharaoh S chariots, drag heavily,
and enough worldly men to exhaust the
patience Of the very elect, and enough
snarly men to make appropriate the BIZ
BILE warning, beware of dogs If any
of you men Oh the outside Of the king
dom expect to make such Christians as
that, VIC do not want you to come, tor
the church has already million mem
bers too many of just that kind. We do
not want our ranks crowded with serfs
when we cun have them filled with
zouaves.
There are men now, as in Christ's
time, possessed of seven devils. In some
instances it seems as though at CONVEX
sion only six of these evil spirits were
cast out, while there remains still one
in the heart-the devil Of avarice, the
devil of lust or the devil of pride. Men