The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-04-26

pieces OF wood parallel to each other fast.
ened, and totally blind, with his pen be-
tween those pieces OF wood, he wrote the
stroke against one piece OF wood telling
how far the Zen must 80 in one way, the
stroke against the other piece OF wood tell
ing how far tho pen must go the other way.
OBJ, how much men will endure for worldly
knowledge and for worldly success, and yet
how little We endure for Jesus Christ! How
many Christians there are that 80 around
saving, "Oh, my hand: oh, my hand, my
hurt hand! Don't you sea there is blood on
the sword?" while Eleazar, with the hilt i'm
bedded in the flesh OF his right hand, does
not know it.
Must be carried to the skies
On flowery beds OF ease,
While others fought to win the prize
Or sailed through bloody seas?
What have we suffered In comparison with
those who expired with suffocation or we're
burned or were chopped to pieces for the
truths sake? We talk OF the persecution
Of olden times. There Is just as much per.
secution going on now in various ways. In
1849, in Madagascar, eighteen men we're put
to death for Christ's sake. They were tc
be hurled over the rocks, and before they
we're hurled over the rocks, in order to
make their death the more dreadful in IN.
ticipation, they were put in baskets and
swung to and fro over the precipice that
they might see how many hundred feet they
would have to be dashed down, and while
they were swinging in these baskets over
tho rocks they sang:
Jesus, lover OF my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fy.
While the blllows near me roll,
While the tempest still is high.
Then they were dashed down to death.
Oh, how much others have endured for
Christ, and how little we endure for
Christ! We want to ride to heaven in a
Pullman sleeping car. our feet on soft
plush, the bed made up early, so we can
sleep W the way, the black porter Of death
to wake us$ip only in time to enter the
golden city. Wewsnt all the surgeons to
fix our hand up. Let them bring on all the
lint and all the bandages and all the salve.
for our hand is hurt, while Eleazar does
not know his hand Is hurt. "His hand
claye unto the sword"
As look Mt Eleazar's hand I come to the
conclusion that he has done great deal OF
hard hitting. am not surprised when
see that these four men-Eleazar and his
three companions drove back the army OF
Philistines-that Eleazar's sword claTe to.
his hand for every time he struck an enemy
with one end Of the sword the other end oil
hold of the sword, the sword took hold oil
him.
Oh, we have found an enemy who cannot
be conquered by rosewater and soft
speeches. 1t must be sharp stroke and
straight thrust. There Is intemperauce,
and there is fraud, and there is gambling,
and there Is lust. and there are 10000 bat
talions OF iniquity armed Philstine in
iquity. How are they to be captured and
ovsrthrown? Soft sermons in morocco
cases laid down in front of an exquisite au
dience will not do it. You have got to call
things by their right name. You have got
to e1pcl from our churches Christians who
eat the sacrement on Sunday and devoul
widows houses all the week. We have
got to stop our indignation against thi
Hittites and the Jebusites and the Cir
gashites and let those poor wretches gt
and apply our indignation to the mod
ern transgressions which need to bs
dragged out and slain. Ahabs here,
Of the infants here. Strike for God 80 hard
that while you slay the sin the sword will
adhere to your own hand. I tell you, my
friends, we want few John Kpoxes anG
John Wesleys In the Christian church TO-
day. The whole tendency is to refine on
Christian work. We keep on refining on 1t
until we send apologetic word to inlqutty
we are about to capture 1t. And we must
90 with sword silver chased and presented
by the ladies, and we must ride OF
white palfrey under embroidered hous'
ing, putting the spurs In only just
enough to make the charger dance
gracefully, and then we must send
missive, delicate as Il wedding card, to
ask the old black giant Of sin II he will
not surrender. Women saved by the
grace OF God and on glorious mission
sent, detained from Sabbath classes be.
cause their new hat is not done. Churches
that shook our cities with great revivals
sending around to ask some demonstrattve
Amen" and "haI'eluiah" little softer. Il
seems as II in QUE churches we wanted
baptism Of colog le and balm OF a thousand
flowers when We actually need baptism
OF fire from thu Lord God OF Pentecost.
But we are 80 afraid somebody will criti-
else our sermons CT criticfse our prayers
or crlticise our religious work that ouI
anxiety for the worlds redemption Is losl
In the fear we will get our hand hurt,
while Eleaznr went into the con1ct, "ano
his hand clave unto the sword"
But see in the next place what hard
thing it was for Eleazar to get his hand and
his sword parted. The muscles and tho
sinews had been so long grasped around
the sword he could not drop 1t when ha
proposed 10 drop it, and his three COM
rades, I suppose. came up and tried to help
him, and they bathed the back part o. hi4
hand, hoping the sinews and muscles would
relax. But no. "His hand clave unto tha
sword" Then they tried to pull open the
fingers and to pull back the thumb but no
sooner were they pulled back than they
closed again, land his hand clave unto the
sword" But after awhile they were sue
cessful, and then they noticed that the
curve in the palm ofthe hand correspondent
exactly with the curve OF tue hilt. his
hand cIave unto the sword
You and I have seen it many time.
There are in the United States to-day
mnny aged ministers OF. the Gospel.
They are too feeble now to preach. In
the church records the word standing
opposite their name is emeritus" or
the words are "a minister without
charge" They were heroic race. They
had small salaries and but few books.
and they swan spring freshets 0to meet
their appointments, but they did In their
day mighty work for God. They
took OF more OF the heads OF Philistins
iniquity than you could count from noon
to suudown. You put that old minister OF
the Gospel now into prayer meeting OF
occasional pulpit or a sick room where
there Is some one to be comforted, and it is
the same old ring to bis voice and the
same Old story Of pardon and peace and
Christ AMI heaven. His hand has so long
clutched the sword in Christian conflict lie
cannot drop 1t. His hand ciaye unto the
sword.