Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-04-14

the creed of tens of thousands of people
in this day II you have a mind to
adopt such a theory. will not. II be-
Iieve in God the Father Almighty
Maker of heaven and earth. and in
Jesus Christ and in the holy catholic
church and in the communion Of saints
and in the life everlasting. Amenl
Oh. when | see Eleazar taking such
stout grip of tho sword in the battle
against sin and for righteousness, !
come to the conclusion that we ought
to take a stouter grip Of God s eternal
truth-the sword of righteousness.
Forget Self.
As | look at Eleazars hand also
notice his spirit Of self forgetfulness
He did not notice that the hilt Of the
sword was eating through the palm Of
his hand. He did not know it hurt him
As he went out into the conflict be was
so anxious for the victory be forgot
himself. and that hilt might go never
so deeply into the palm Of his hand, it
could not disturb him His hand claye
unto the sword " Oh, my brothers and
sisters. let us 90 into the Christian con-
fict with the spirit Of self abnegation
Who cares whether the world praises
us or denounces us2 What do we care
for Misrepresentation or abuse or perse-
cution in a conflict like thisg Let us
forget ourselves. That man who is
afraid Of getting his hand hurt will
never kill Philistine Who cares
whether you get hurt or not if you get
the victory Oh, how many Christians
there are who are all the time worry.
ing about the way the world treats
theml They are so tired. and they are
so abused, and they are so tempted,
when Eleazar did not think whether he
had a hand or an arm or foot. All he
wanted was victory.
We see how men forget themselves il
worldly achievement We have often
seen men who. in order to achieve
worldly success, will forget all physical
fatigue and all annoyance and all OBJ
stacle. Just after the battle OF York
town in the American Revolution a
musician. wounded. was told he must
have his limbs amputated. and they
were about to fasten him to the sur
geons table, for it was long before the
merciful discovery Of an@sthetics. He
said: mo; don't fasten me to that ia
BILE Get me violin. - 4 violin was
brought to him, and he said, "Now, g
to work as begin to play. and for 40
minutes. during the awful pangs OF
amputation, he moved not a muscle
nor dropped note, while he played
some sweet tune Oh. is it not strange
that with the music Of the gospel Of
Jesus Christ and with this grand
march Of the church militant on the
way to become the church triumphant
we cannot forget ourselves and forget
all pang and all sorrow and all perse'
cution and all perturbation
Weak Christians.
We know what men accomplish un-
der worldly opposition Men do not
shrink hack for antagonism or for hard
ship You have admired Prescott ;
Conquest of Mexico. as brilliant and
beautiful history a. was ever writ
ten, but some Of you may not know un-
der what disadvantages it was written
that Conquest Of Mexico for
Prescott was totally blind, and be had
two pieces Of wood parallel to each other
fastened. and, totally blind, with his
pen between those pieces Of wood, be
wrote the stroke against one piece Of
wood telling how far the pen must go
in one way. the stroke against the other
piece Of wood telling how far the pen
must 90 the other way Oh. how much
men will endure for worldly knowledge
and for worldly success. and yet how ut
tie we endure Cor Jesus Christi How
many Christians there are that 60
around saying, "Oh, my hand; oh. my
hand. my hurt hand Don't you see
there is blood on the swordy while
Eleazar, with the hilt imbedded in the
flesh Of his right hand, does not know 1t
Must be carried to the skies
on iiowery beds Of ease,
| While others fought 10 NlD lhe pIlIo
| or sailed through bloody seasY
What have we suffered in comparison
with those who expired with suffoca-
ton or We're burned or were chopped Il
pieces for the truth $ sakel We talk OF
the persecution of olden times There
is Just as much persecution going on
now in various ways In lo49, in Mad
agascar. Is men were put to death toI
Christs sake. They were to be hurried
over the rocks, and before they were
hurled over the rocks, in order to make
their death the more dreadful in antici-
patton. they were put in baskets and
swung to and fro over the precipict
that they might see how many hundred
feet they woald have to be dashed
down. and while they were swinging
in these baskets over the rocks they
sang
Jesus, lover Of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the billows near me roll,
While the tempest still IS high
Then they were dashed down tC
death Oh. how much others have en-
dured for Christ, and how little we en-