The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1897-03-26

after prayers, in
which I had given out Cowper's ia
nous hymn about "The Fountain Filled
with Blood" do you really believe
there is a literal application of the
blood of Christ to the soul?" My neg
alive reply then is my negative reply
now. The Bible statement agrees with
all physicians, and all psychologists,
and all scientists, in saying that the
blood is the life. and in the Christian
religion it means simply that Christ's
life was given for our life. Hence all
this talk of men who say the Bible
story of blood is disgusting, and that
they don't want what they call a
slaughter house religion" only shows
look through the figure of speech to-
ward the thing signified. The blood
that, on the darkest Friday the world
ever saw, oozed, or trickled, or poured
from the brow, and the side, and the
hands, and the feet of the illustrious
sufferer back of Jerusalem. in few
hours coagulated and dried up, and for
ever disappeared; and If men had de-
pended on the application of the literal
blood of Christ. there would not have
been a soul saved for the last eighteen
centuries.
In order to understand this red word
of my text, We only have TO exercise as
much common sense in religion as we
do in everything else. Pang for pang,
hunger for hunger, fatigue for fatigue,
tear for tear. blood for blood. life for
life, we see every day illustrated. The
act of substitution Is no novelty, al
though / hear men talk as though the
idea of Christs suffering substituted
for our suffering were something alb
normal, something distressingly odd.
something wildly eccentric. solitary
episode in the worlds history; when
/ could take you out in this city. and
before shutdown point you to five hun
dred cases of substitution and volun-
tary suffering of one in behalf of an
other.
AT o'clock tomorrow afternoon go
among the places of business or toll.
1t will be no difficult thing for you to
find men who, by their looks, show you
that they are overworked. They are
prernaturely old. They are Fastening
rapidly toward their decease. They
have gone through crises in business
that shattered their nervous system
and pulled on the brain. They have
shortness Of breath and pain in the
back of the head. and at night an in
somnia that alarms them. Why are
they drudging at business early and
late? For fun? No; it would be diff
cult to extract any amusement out of
that exhaustion. Because they are
avaricious? In many cases no. Be-
cause their own personal expenses are
lavish? No; a few hundred dollars
would meet all their wants. The sim
pie fact is, the man is enduring all
that fatigue and evaporation, and wear
and tear, to keep his home prosperous.
There is an invisible line reaching from
that store, from that bank, from that
shop, from that scaffolding, to quiet
scene few blocks away, a few miles
away, and there is the secret of that
business endurance. He is simply the
champion of homestead, for which he
wins bread, and wardrobe, and edu-
cation, and prosperity, and in such
battle ten thousand men fall. OF ten
business men whom I bury, nine die of
overwork for others. Some sudden dis
ease finds them with no power OF re-
sistance, and they are gone. Life for
life. Blood for blood. Substitution!
-
hour when slumber is most uninter-
rupted and most profound. walk amid
the dwelling houses of the city. Here
and there you will find a dim light. be-
cause 1t is the household custom TO
keep a subdueG light burning: but
most of the houses from base to ton
are as dark as though uninhabited. A
merciful God has sent forth the arch
angel of sleep, and he puts his wings
over the city. But yonder is a clear
light burning. and outside on the win
dow easement is glass or pitcher con-
tanning food for a sick child; the food
is set in the fresh air. This is the sixth
night that mother has sat up with that
sufferer She has to the last point
ODeyeQ the pnySlcldn s prescription,
not giving drop too much or too lit
| tie, or a moment too soon or too late.
She is very anxious, for she has buried
three children with the same disease.
and she prays and weeps. each prayer
and sob ending with kiss of the pale
cheek. BY dint of kindness she gets
the little one through the ordeal. After
! It is all over. the mother is taken
down. Brain or nervous fever sets in.
and one day she leaves the GONZALES
cent child with a mothers blessing.
and goes up to join the three in the
kingdom of heaven. Life for life. Sub
stitution! The fact is that there are
an uncounted number of mothers who.
after they have navigated a large fam
lily of children through all the diseases
Of infancy and got them fairly started
up the Towering slope of boyhood and
girlhood. have only strength enough
left to die. They fade away: some call
II consumption; some call it nervous
prostration; some call II intermittent
or malariaI fndispositfon. but 4 cnlI Al