The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-04-21

ger dance gracefully, and then we
must send a missive, delicate as a we'd
ding card, to ask the old black giant
of sin If he will not surrender. Women
saved by the grace of God and on glo-
rious mission sent, detained from Sab
bath classes because their new a is
not done Churches that shook our
cities with great evivafs sending
around to ask some demonstrative
~worshipper if he will not please TO say
amen" and "halleluiah' a little sof-
ter. 1t seems as if in our churches we
wanted a baptism Of cologne and balm
of a thousand flowers when we actually
need a baptism of fire from the Lord
God Of Pentecost. But we are so afraid
somebody will criticise our me or
ligious work that our anxiety for the
worlds redemption is lost in the fear
We will get our hand hurt. while Eleaz-
ar went into the conflict, land his hand
clave unto the sword"
STRONG TO THE END.
But I see in h next place what a
hard thing it was for EleaZar to get his
hand and his sword parted. The mus
cles and the sinews had been so long
grasped around the sword he could not
drop it when he proposed to drop it,
and his three comrades I suppose, came
up and tried to help him, and they
bathed the back part OF the hand, hop
ing the sinews and muscles would re-
lax. But no. His HAND elave unto the
sword" Then they tried to pull open
the fingers and to pull back the thumb,
but no sooner were they pulled back
tina they closed again, land his land
clave unto the sword" But after
awhile they were successful, and then
they noticed that the curve in the palm
of the hand corresponded exactly with
the curve of the hilt. His hand clave
unto the sword"
You and / have seen il many a time.
There are in the United States today
many aged ministers Of the gospel.
They are toe feeble now to preach. In
the church records the word standing
opposite their name is emeritus" or
h words are "a minister without
charge" They were a heroic race. They
had small salaries and but few books,
and they swan spring freshets to meet
their appointments, but they did in
their day a mighty work for God. They
o off more of the heads of Philistine
iniquity than you could count from
noon to shutdown. You put that old
minister of the gospel now into a pray
er meeting or occasional pulpit or a
sickroOm where there is some one to be
comfOrted, and it is the same old ring
to his voice and the same old story of
pardon and peace and Christ and
heaven His hand has so long clutched
h sword in Christian conflict he can
not drop it. His hand clave unto the
sword"
1 a in my parish in Philadelphia a
very aged man who in his early life
had been the companion and adviser of
h early presidents, Madison and Mon
roe. He had welded vast influence, but
I only knew his as a very aged man.
The most remarkable thing about him
was his ardor for Christ. When he
could not stand up in the meetings
without propping, he would throw his
arm around a pillar of the church and,
though his mind was partially gone,
his love for Christ was SO great that all
were in deep respect and profound ad-
miration and were moved when he
spoke. I was called to see him die. I
entered the room, and he said, Mr..
Talmage, I cannot speak to you now"
He was in a very pleasant delirium, as
he imagined he had an audience before
him.. He said, II must tell these people
to come to Christ and prepare for heav-
en-" And then in this pleasant deliri-
um, both arms lifted, this octogenarian
preached Christ and TOLD of the glories
of the world to come. There, lying on
his dying pillow, his dying and clave
to his sword.
NO RETIRING FROM THE CON-
FLICT.
Oh, if there ever was any one who
had a right to retire from the conflict,
it vas old Joshua. Soldiers come back
from battle have the names of the bat
ties on their flags, showing where they
distinguished themselves, and it is a
very appropriate inscription. Look at
hat flag of old General Joshua. On it
Jericho, Gideon, Hazar, city of All, and,
instead of the stars sprinkled on the
flag, the sun and the moon which stood
still. There he is, ITO years old. He is
lying fiat on his back, but he is preach
ing. His dying word are a battle
cry for the Lord Of Hosts as he says,
Behold, this day I go the way of all
the earth, and God hath not failed to
fulfill his promise concerning Israel"
His dying hand clave unto the sword.
There is the headless body of Paul on
the road to Ostea. His great brain and
his great heart have been severed. The
elmwood rods had stung him fearfully.
When the cornship broke up, he swan
ashore, coming up drenched with the
brine. Every day since that day when
the horse reared under him in the sub
r OF Damascus, as the supernatural
light fell, down to this day, when he is
68 years Of age and i'll from the prison
cell Of the Mamartine, he has been out
r~ageously treated, and he is waiting to
die. How does he spend his last hours
Telling the world how badly he feels
and describing the rheumatism hat he
got in prison, the rheumatism affecting
| his limbs of the neuralgia piercing his
temples or the thirst that fevers his
tongue? Oh, no! His last words are the
battle shout for C~hristendom, Il am
now ready to be offered, and the time
of my departure is at hand; L have
: fought the good fight" And so his dy-
ing hand clave unto the sword.
1t was in the front room on the sec
| ond floor that my father lay a-dying.
It was Saturday morning, 4 o'clock.
Just three years before that day my
mother had left him for the skies, and
he had been homesick to join her COM
pany. He was SO years of age. Minis
tiers of the gospel came in to comfort
him, but he comforted them. How
wonderfully the words sounded out
from his dying pillow, Il have been
young and now am old, yet nave
never seen the righteous forsaken or
his seed begging bread" They bathed
- 49, l~ Isr hon1r