Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1899-04-13

! somebody will criticise our sermons
or criticise our prayers or criticisc our
! religious work that our anxiety for the
worlds redemption is lost in the fear
we will get our hand hurt. while Flea
EAR went into the conflict, land his hand
| clavr unto the sword"
i'ut ] see in the next place what q
| hard thin. il was for ElcaLar To get his.
| hand and his sword parted. The mus
clcs and the Sincws had been SO long
grasped around the sword he could not
| drop it, and his three comrades, sup
pose. came up and tried tn help him,
aud they bathed the back part of the
| hand. hoping the sincws and muscles
would relax. But no. His hand clave
unto the sword" Then they tried to
| pull open the fingers aud to pull back
the thumb, but no sooner were they
| pulled back than they closed again,
''and his hand clavc unto the sword"
Eut after awhile they were successful,
and then they noticed that the curve
! in the palnl Of the hand corrcspondcd
exactly with the curve of the hilt Ills
| hand clavc unto the sword"
You and ] have seen il many time.
| There are in the Jnited States to-day
| many aged ministers of the Gospel.
They are To" 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 freshcts
To meet their appointments. But the,
did in their day Il mighty work for God.
| They took off more of the heads of
Philistinc iniquity than You could
count from noon to SHUTDOWN. You put
that old minister of the Gospel now into
prayer meeting or occasional pulpit
or a SickroOm where there is some one
to he comforted, and II is the same old
ring to his voice. and the same old stor,
of pardon and peace and Christ AMI
Heaven. His hand has SO long clutchcd
the sword in Christian conflict he can
not drop it. Ills hand clave unto the
sword"
had in my parish in rhiladcl-
phia a very aged man who in his early
| life had been the companion and adj
wiser of the early presidents. Madison
and Monroe. lie had welded vast in
tluencc. hut ! only knew him rs very
| aged man. The most remarkable thing
| about him was his ardor Tor Christ
| When lac could not stand up in the
meetings without propping. he woulG
throw his arm around II pillar of the
church. and, though his mind was par
tally gone. his love for Christ was so
great that all were in deep respect and
| profound admiration. and were moved
when he spoke. | was called to see
| him die. ! entered the room. and h.
said: MIR. Talmage, | cannot SPEAK
tn YOU now" lie was in very pleas
ant delirium. as he imagined he had an
| audience before him. He said: II must
tell these people to come to Christ and
prepare for Heaven" And then in this
pleasant delirun. 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 hand claye to his sword.
a right 10 retire from the conflict. il was
| old Joshua. Soldiers come back from
battle have the names of the battles on
their flags. showing where they distin-
guished themselves and il is very ap-
propriate inscription. Look at that
flag of old Gen. Joshua. On il, Jericho.
Gideon, Hazar, city of Al. and instead of
la 81 L inI /. h.. h.
and the moon which stood still. There
he is. 40 years old He is lying fiat on
his back. but he is preaching. His dying
words are battle charge against idol
airy. and a rallying cry for the Lord of
Hosts as he says: Behold. this day ]
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
clmwood rods had stung him fearfully.
When the corn ship broke up, he swan
ashore. coming up drcnched with the
brine. Every day since that day when
urbs of Damascus, as the supernatural
light fell down to this day. when he is
6S years of age and i'll from the prison
cell of the Mamertine. he has been out
rageously treated, and he is waiting
tn die. How does he spend his last
hours? Telling the world how badly he
feels and describing the rheumatism
that he got in prison, the rheumatism
affecting his limbs. or the neuralgia
piercing his temples. or the thirst that
fevers his tongue? Oh. no, His last
words are the hattie shout for Christen-
dom: Il am now ready TO be offered.
and the time of my departure is at hand.
| have fought the good fight" And so
his dying hand clave unto the sword.
II was in the front room on the see
ond floor that my father lay a-dying.
II was Saturday morning, four 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 won
derfully the words sounded out from
his dying pillow: Il have been young
and now am old. yet have ] never seen
the righteous forsaken or his seed beg
giug bread" They bathed his brow.
and they bathed his hands, and they
bathed his feet, and they succeed
ed in Strengthening out the feet. but
they did not succeed in bathing open
the hand so it would stay open. They
bathed the hand open. but it came shut.
They bathed it open again, but it came
shut. What was the matter with the
thumb and fingers of that old hand?
All, it had so long touched the sword of
Christian conflict that his hand cIave