Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1899-04-12

VI the MIN. |
oh, we have found an enemy who can
not be conquered by rosewater and soft
speeches. 1t must be sharp stroke and
straight thrust. There is intemper
ance, and there is fraud, and there is
gambling. and there is lust. and there
arc 10000 battalions of iniquity.
armed Philistine iniQuity. How are
they to be captured and overthrown?
Soft sermons in morocco cases laid
down in front of an exquisite audience
will not do it. You have got to call
things by their right name. You have
| got to eXpel from our churches Chris
tians who eat the sacrament on Sunday
and devour widows houses all the week
| We have got to stop our Indignation
against the Hittites and the Jebusites |
and the Girgashites and let those poor |
wretches go and apply our Indignation
| TO the modern transgressions which
need to be dragged out and slain. Ahabs
here. Herods here. Jezebels here. The
massacre of the infants here. Strike for
God so hard that while you Stay the sin
the sword will adhere to your own
hand. l tell you, my friends, we want
Il few John Knoxes and John Wcsleys
in the Christian church to-day.
The whole tendency is to refine on
Christian work. We keep on refining
on il until we send apologize word to
iniquity we are about TO capture it.
And we must go with sword, silver
chased and presented by the ladies, and
we must ride on white palfrey under
embroidered housing, putting the
spurs in only just enough to make the
charger dance gracefully, and then we
must send "a missivc, delicate as "A wed
ding card, TO ask the old black giant
of sin if he will not surrender. Women
saved by the grace of God and ON glori-
Gus mission sent, detained from the
Sabbath classes because their new hat
is not done. Churches that shook our
cities with great revivals sending
around to ask some demonstrativc wor-
shipper if he will not please to say
amen" and "halleluiah" little softer.
1t seems as If in our churches we want
ed "A baptism of cologne and balm OF
n thousand flowers when we actually
need baptism of fire from the Lord
God of Pcntecost. But we are SO afraid
somebody will criticise our sermons
or criticisc our prayers or criticise our
religious work that our anxiety for the
worlds redemption is lost in the fear
we will get our hand hurt, while Flea
gar went into the conflict, 'and his hand
clave unto the sword"
But | see in the next place what IL
hard thing it was for Eleazar to get his
I hand and his sword parted. The mus
clcs and the sinews had been so long
graSpcd around the sword he could not
7 drop it, and his three comrades, sup
pose, came up and tried to help him,
: and they bnthcd the back part of the
u hand, hoping the sincws and muscles
Il would relax. But no. Ills hand clave
= unto the sword" Then they tried to
l. pull open the fingers and to pull back
the thumb. but DO sooner were they
pulled back than they closed again,
and his hand clavc unto the sword
But after awhile they were successful!
and then they noticed that the curve
in the palm of the hand corrcsponded
exactly with the curve of the hilt. His
hand clavc unto the sword
You and | have seen it many n time.
There are in the United States to-day
many 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.
J They had small salaries and but few
books. and they swan spring freshcts
TO meet their appointments. But they
did siaaske ir day a mighty work for God