Orange County observer., 1898-03-17

green than that with which He has emer- |
aided the grass; more crimson than that !
with which He has FURNISHED the sunsets.
say it with reverence-from all that can
see, God has never halt tried.
"My text makes 1t plain that the rectfh-
cation of this world Is a stupendous UNDER
taking. It takes more power to make this
world over again than it took to make 1t at
first A word was only necessary for the
| first creation, but for the new creation the
unsleeved and unhindered forearm Of the
Almighty. The reason OF that can under
stand. In the shipyards Of Liverpool, or
| Glasgow, or New York, great vessel is
constructed. The architect draws out the
! plan: the length of the beam, the capacity
| of tonnage, the rotation of wheel or screw,
| the cabin the masts and all the appoint
| ments Of this great palace OF the deep. The
| architect finishes his work without any
! perpiexity, and the carpenters and artisans
| toll on the craft SO many hours day, each
one doing his part, until, with flags flying
and thousands Of people cheering On the
docks the vessel is launched. But out on
| the sea that vessel breaks her shaft and Is
| impng slowly along toward harbor, when
| Caribbean whirlwinds, those mighty hunt
ers Of the deep, looking out for prey OF
| ships. surround that wounded vessel and
| pitch it on rocky coast, and she lifts and
| falls in the breakers until every joint Is
| loose and every spar is down, ana every
wave sweeps over the hurricane deck as
she parts amidship. Would it not require
more skill and power to get that splintered
vessels off the rocks and reconstruct 1t than
it required originally O build her? Aye!
"Our world which started out with all
the flags Of Edenic foliage and with the
chant of Paradisaicaf bowers has been six
tv centuries pounding in the skerres or sin
and sorrow, and to get her out and oil, and
to get her on the right way again, will re-
quire more of omnipotence than it required
to build her and launch her. so [ am not
surprised that, though In the drydock OF
one word our world was made, it will take
the unsleeved arm Of God to lift her from
the rocks and put her On the right course
again. 1t is evident from my text, and its
comparison with other texts that it would
not be so great an undertaking to make a
whole constellation of worlds, and a whole
galaxy of worlds, and a whole astronomy
of worlds, and swing them in their right
orbits, as to take this wounded world, this
stranded world, this bankrupt world, this
, destroyed world, and make it as good as
when it started.
But / have no time to specify the mani
fold evils that challenge Christianity. And
I think have seen in some Christians, and
read in some newspapers, and heard from
some pu1pits, a disheartenment, as though
l Christianity were so worsted that it is
!. hardly worth while to attempt to win this
world Of God, and that all Christian work
would collapse. and that it is no use for you
: to teach Sabbath class to distribute tracts,
or exhort in prayer meeting, or preach in
pulpit as Satan is gaining ground.
:, To rebuke that pessimism, the Gospel Of
, Smash-up, I preach this sermon, shown g
that you are on the winning side. Go
, ahead! Fight on! What I want to make
out to-day is that our ammunition is not
exhausted; that all which has been ac-
complished has been only the skirmishing
! before the great Armageddon: that not
/ | Of ho fhnncan1 nta a NJ q
, Of beauty in the Kings Park has begun to
play; that not more than one brigade Of
the innumerable hosts to oe marshaled by
the Rider on the White 3rse has yet taken
the field; that what God has done yet has
, been with arm foiteI in flowing robe but
that the time is coming when he will rise
from his throne, and throw off that robe
; and come out OF the palaces OF eternity
= and come down the stairs Of heaven with
all-conquering step, and halt in the pres
> ence OF expectant nations, and flashing
u his Omniscient eyes across the work to be
d done will put back the sleeve OF his right
arm to the shoulder, and roll it up there
u and for the worlds final and complete
. rescue make bare his his arm. Who car
doubt the result when according to my
: text Jehovah does his best; when the last
reserve force of Omnipotence takes the
a a field; when the last sword Of Eternal Might
Il leaps from it's scabbard! -s,-sd
''Do you know what decided the battle
. { of Sedan? The hills a thousand feet high
Il Eleven hundred cannon on the hills. Ar
. tillery on the heights of Givonne, anG
:: twelve German batteries on the heights Of
u La Monceilo. The Crown Prince of Sax
. Ony watched the scene from the heights
u Of Marry Between a quarter to O'Clock
u in the morning and O'Clock in the after
g noon of September g 1870, the hill.
dropped the shells that shattered tht
" French host in the valley. The Frencl
q Emperor and the S6, 900 OF his army cap
"a "a tured by the hills. At the close OF tina
10 battle Of Sedan the Emperor sat broken
% hearted in poor woman's cottage, 'ant
,,e when she said in sympathy What can
> do for YOU? he replied, Nothing. excep
L. pull down those blinds SO that they can
= not stare at me!' Sedan decided by tn
- hills. SO in this conflict now raging be
% tween holiness and sin our eyes are unit
4 the hills Down here in the valleys 0
l. earth we must be valiant soldiers of th
cross. but the Commander of our hos
~ walks the heights, and views the seen
~ " far better than we can in the valleys
10 10 and at the right day and the right hou
IA all heaven will open its batteries on ou
- side, and the commander Of the hosts 0
~ sin with all his followers, will surren
20 der, and it will take eternity to full
a. celebrate the universal victory througl
~ our Lord Jesus Christ. Our eyes are unit
-, the hills 1t is 50 certain to. be accom-
III u, plished that Isaiah, in my text looks dow
1e speaks Of it as already accomplished, an
80 take my stand where the prophet too
so his stand, and look at it as all done SEE
. Those cities without tear? Look! Thos
"a continents without pang! Behold! Thos
~ hemispheres without a sin! Why, thos
Il. Ia deSerts-Arabian desert, American deser
~ and Great Sahara desert-are all irrigate
~ into gardens where God walks in the coz
% of the day. The atmosphere that encircle
-. our globe floating not one groan. All th
uN rivers and lakes and oceans dimpled wit
u a. not one falling tear. The climates Of til
o oe earth have dropped out Of them the rigol
on q, OF the cold and the blasts OF the heat. an
W. ~ il is universal spring. Let US change tn
:, ~ old worlds name. Let it no more be calle
H. the earth, as when it was reeking wit
everything pestiferous and malevolen
scarleted with battle-felds and gashe
with graves. but now so changed. SO arr
matte with gardens, and so resonant wit
C song, and SO rubescent with beauty let U
call it Immanuers Land or let US call
r., Beulah, or MillenniaI Gardens or Paradi,
'iS Regained. or Heaven, Hallelujah for II
/ Ir4 I'D 49, ~