Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-11-30
md heart anu sympatbv and under the

| and heart anu sympathy and under the
benediction and perpetual presence Of
Christian minister.
That sermon of the future will be an
everyday sermon, going right down in
to every mans life, and it will teach
him to vote. how to bargain, how to
plough, how to do any work he is call
ed to, how to WELD trowel and pen and
pencil and yardstick and plane. And
1t Will teach women how to preside
over their households, and how to ed
ucate their children, and how to iml-
tate Miriam and Esther and Vashti,
and Eunice, the mother of Timothy;
and Mary, the mother of Christ; and
those women who on Northern and
Southern battlefields were mistaken by
the wounded for angels of mercy fresh
from the throne of God.
Do you exhort in prayer-meeting?
Be short and be spirited. Do you teach
in Bible class? Though you have to
study every night, be interesting. Do
you accost people on the subject Of re-
ligion in their homes or in public
places? Study adroitness and use COM
mon sense. The most graceful. the
most beautiful thing on earth in the re-
ligion of Jesus Christ. and If you awk-
wardly present it, 1t Is defamation. We
must do our work rapidly and we must
do 1t effectively. Soon our time for
work will be gone. A dying Christian
took out his watch and gave 1t to q
friend and said: Take that watch.
have no more use for it; time is ended
for me; eternity begins" o my friends,
when our watch has licked away for
us for the last moment, and our clock
has struck for us the last hour, may
it be found We did our work we'll. that
we did it in the very best way; and
whether we preached the Gospel in
pulpits, or taught Sabbath classes, or
administered to the sick as physicians,
or bargained as merchants, or pleaded
the law as attorneys, or were busy as
artisans, or as husbandmen or as me-
chanics, or were like Martha called to
give meal to hungry Christ, or like
Hannah TO make coat for prophet,
or like Deborah to rouse the courage
of some timid Barak in the Lords con-
f1ict, we did our work in such way
that it will stand the test Of the judy
ment. And in the long procession OF
the redeemed that march round the
throne, may it be found there are
many there brought to God through
our fundamentally and in whose res
cue we are exultant. But, o you un-
saved wait not for that coming SER
mon. 1t may come after your obse-
quies. 1t may come after the stone
cutter has chiseled our name on the
slab fifty years before. Do not wait
for a great steamer of the Cunard or
White Star line to take you off the
however low a mast. and however
small bulk, and however poor rud-
der, and however weak captain. Bet
ter a disabled schooner that comes up
in time than a full-rigged brig that
comes up after you have sunken. In
stead of waiting for that coming SER
mont may be twenty, fifty years off
take this plain invitation of a man
who, to have given you spiritual eye
sight, would be glad to be called the
spittle by the hand of Christ put on the
eyes of a blind man. and who would
consider the highest compliment OF
this service, IL at the close five hun
dred men should start from these doors
saying, Whether he be sinner or no,
| know not. This one thing | know,
whereas l was blind, now / see."
Swifter than shadows over the plain,
quicker than birds in their autumnal
flight, hastier than eagles to their prey,
HE you to a sympathetic Christ. The
orchestras of heaven have already
strung their instruments to celebrate
your rescue.
And many were the voices around the
throne;
Rejoice for the Lord brings back his
own.