Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-12-01

Sunderland, on the platform Of Brigham
Young's tabernacle at Salt Lake City, Utah,
gained the victory because they had so long
been skilful wrestlers for God. Otherwise
Brigham Young, who was himself giant
In some things, would have thrown them
out Of the window. Get ready In Bible
classes. Get ready in Christian Endeavor
meetings. Get ready by giving testimony
in obscure places, before giving testimony
In conspicuous places.
| Your going around with Bagster's
Bible with flaps at the edges, under your
| arm, does not qualify you for the work Of
an evangelist. In this day of profuse CAB,
remember that 1t is not merely capacity
to talk, but the fact that you have some
| thing to say, that is going to fit you for
the struggle into which you are to go with
O smile on your face and illumination on
your brow, but out of which you will not
| come until all your physical and mental
| and moral and religious energies have
| been taxed to the utmost and you have
not a nerve left, or thought unexpended,
| or prayer unsaid, or u sympathy un-
wept. In this struggle between Right and
| Wrong accept no challenge on platform or
in newspaper unless you are prepared. DO
not misapply the story CT Goliath the
Great, and David the Little. David had
been practising with a sling on dogs and
wolves and bandits, and a thousand times
| had he swirled a stone around his head
before he aimed ut the forehead of the
|
wise the big foot Of Goliath would almost
| have covered up the crushed form of the
son of Jesse.
Notice also that the success OF a wrestler
depended on his having his feet we'll
planted before he grappled his opponent.
Much depends upon the way the wrestler
stands. Standing on an uncertain piece Of
ground, or bearing all his weight on right
foot or all his weight on left foot, he is not
ready. A slight cuff of his antagonist
will capsize him. A stroke Of the heel of
the other wrestler will trip him. And in
this struggle for God and righteousness,
as we'll as for our own souls, we want our
feet firmly planted in the Gospel-both
| feet on the Rock of Ages. 1t will not do
to believe the Bible in spots, or think
some of 1t true and some of it untrue.
You just make up your mind that the story
| of the Garden of Eden Is an allegory,
and the Epistle of James an Interpolation,
| and that the miracles of Christ can be
accounted for on natural grounds, without
any belief in the supernatural, and the
first time you are interlocked in wrestle
with sin and Satan you will go under and
your feet will be higher than your head. 1T
will not do to have one foot on a rock and
the other on the sand. The old Book would
long ago have gone to pieces IL it had
been vulnerable. But of the millions of
| Bibles that have been printed within the
last twenty-five wears, not one chapter has
| been omitted, and the omission OF one
| chapter would have been the cause OF the
rejection of the whole edition. Alas! for
| those vino while trying to prove that Jonah
| was never swallowed of a whale, themselves
| get swallowed of the whale of unbelef,
| which digests but never elects its victims.
! The inspiration of the Bible Is not more
| certain than the preservation of the Bible
| in it's present condition. After so many CEN
turies of assault on the Book, would it not
| be matter of economy, to say the least
| n n hraiO
cry and economy of printers ink-if the
batteries now assailing the Book would
change their aim and be trained against
some other books, and the world shown that
| Walter Scott did not write "The Lady OF
| the Lake." nor Homer 1.-The Hind" nor
Virgil "The Georgics," nor Thomas
Moore "Lala Rookh," or that Washing
toms Farewell Address was written by
Thomas Paine, and that the War OF the
| American Revolution never occurred. That
attempt would be quite as successful as
this long-timed attack anti-Biblical, and
then it would be new. Oh, keep out OF this
| wrestling bout with the ignorance and the
wretchedness of the world unless you feel
that both feet are planted In the eternal
| veracities of the Book of Almighty Godl
| Notice also that in this science OF wrest-
| ling, to which Paul refers in my text, 1t
was the third throw which decided the
contest. A wrestler might be thrown once
and thrown twice, but the third time he
might recover himself, and, by an unex-
| pected twist of arm or curve Of foot, gain
the day. Well, that is broad, smiling, un-
mistakable Gospel. Some whom 1 address
| through ear or eye, by voice or printed
page, have been thrown in their wrestle
with evil habit.
Aye! you have been thrown twice; but
that does not mean, oh! worsted soul, that
you are thrown forever. l have no author
| ity for saying how many times man may
| sin and be forgiven, or how many times he
| may fall and yet rise again; but have
authority for saying that he may fall four
| hundred and ninety times, and four hum
dred and ninety times get up. The Bible
declares that God will forgive seventy
times seven, and il you will employ the
rule Of multiplication you will find that
| seventy times seven Is four hundred and
ninety. Blessed be God for such Gospel
of high hope and thrilling encouragement
and magnificent rescue! A Gospel Of lost
sheep brought home on Shepherds shoul-
der, and the prodigals who got into the low
work OF putting husks into swines' troughs
brought home to jewelrv and banqueting
and hilarity that made the rafters ring!
But notice that my text suggests that the
wrestlers on the other side in the great
struggle for the worlds redemption have
all the forces OF demonology to help them:
"We wrestle not against flesh and blood.
but against principalities. agains- powers,
against the rulers of the darkness OF this
| Woiiu, uSbiASt SplIltudi WlChOohCoo LII ui6n
places"
l. Then can we'll believe that righteous
ness will accept the challenge, and the two
mighty wr> stlers will grapple, while all
the galleries of earth and heaven look
down from one side, and all the fiery
chasms of perdition look up from the
other side. The prize is worth strug-
gle, for it is not a chaplet of laurel or
palm, but the rescue of Il world, and
wreath put on the brow by Him who prom
ised, "Be thou faithful unto death and
will give thee crown" Three worlds
earth, heaven and hell-hold their breath
while waiting for the result OF this strug-
gle, when, with one mighty swing OF an
arm muscled with Omn1potence, righteous
ness hurls the last evil, first on it's knees
and then on its face, and then rolling off
and down, with crash wilder than that
with which Sampson hurled the temple OF
Dagon when he got hold Of It's two chief
pillars.
Aye! That suggests cheering thought,
that IL all the realms of Demonology are
on the other side, all tha realms OF angel
ology are on our side, among them the
| Angel of the New Coyanant and thay nra