Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-04-10
salve, for our hand is hurt, while Flea
Ear does not know his hand is hurt
ellis hand clave unto the sword -

ZdT uoeS uOt huoW Ills ndnQ is nuTb.
ellis hand clave unto the sword -
Strike Hard For Right.
AS look at Eleazar's hand come to
the conclusion that he has done a great
deal of hard hitting. I am not surprised
when see that these four men-Eleazar
and his three companions drove back
the army of Philistines-t Eleazar' s
eword clave to his hand, for every time
he struck an enemy with one end of the
sword the other end of the sword
wounded him. When he took hold of
the sword, the sword took hold of him.
Oh, we have found an enemy who
cannot be conquered by rosewater and
soft speeches. It must be sharp stroke
and straight thrust. There is intemper-
ance, and there is fraud, and there is
gam bling, and there is lust, and there
are 10, 600 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 Christians who eat
widows houses all the week We have
got to stop our indignation against the
Hittites and the Jebusites and the Cir
gashites and let those poor wretches go
and apply our indignation to the mod
ern transgressiOns which need to be
dragged out and slain. Ahabs here,
Herods here Jezebels here, the mas
sacre 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 a few
John Knoxes and John WesIeys in the
Christian church today. The whole
tendency is to refine on Christian work
We keep on refining on it 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 hous-
ing, putting the spurs in only just
enough to make the charger dance
gracefully, and then we must send
delicate as wedding card, to
ask the old black giant of sin if 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 demonstrative worshiper if he
will not please to say Famen" and
''halleluiah'' little softer. It seems as
if in our churches we wanted baptism
Of cologne and balm of a thousand flow
ers when we actually need a baptism
Of fire from the Lord God of Pentecost
But we are so afraid somebody will
crlt1cise our sermons or criticise our
prayers or criticise our religious work
that our anxiety for the worlds re-
1emption is lost in the fear we will get
our hand hurt, while Eleazar went into
he conflict, 'and his hand clave unto
;he sword.
Strong to the End.
But / see in the next place what a |
hard thing it was for Eleazar to get his
hand and his sword parted. The mus
les and the sinews had been so long
,rasped around the sword he could not |
lrop it when he proposed to drop it,
md his three comrades, suppose, came !
Up and tried to help him, and they
,athed the back part of the hand, hop /
ng the sinews and muscles would re-
ak. But no. Ellis hand clave unto the /
word. " Then they tried to pull open
he fingers and to pull back the thumb,
'ut no sooner were they pulled back
han they closed again, ''and his hand
lave unto the sword. But after
while they were successful, and then
hoxv @lo4 Ii
f the hand corresponded exactly with
he curve of the hilt. ellis hand clave
INTO the sword"
You and I have seen it many time.
here are in the United States today
many aged ministers Of the gospel
they are too feeble now to preach. In
he church records the word standing
ppCsite their name is ''emeritus, or
he words are ga minister without
barge" They were heroic race. They
ad small salaries and but few books,
nd they swan spring freshets to meet
heir appointments, but they did in
heir day mighty work for God. They
ook off more of the heads of Philistine
niquity than you could count from
DON to shutdown. You put that old
Minister of the gospel now into prayer
netting or occasional pulpit or sick
Dom where there is some one to be COM
orted, and it is the same old ring to his
dice and the same old story of pardon
nd peace and Christ and heaven. His
and has so long clutched the sword in
christian conflict he cannot drop it.
His hand clave unto the sword
I had in my parish in Philadelphia a
cry aged man who in his early life had
cen the companion and adviser of the
arly presidents, Madison and Monroe.
-e had welded vast influence, but I
My knew him as a very aged man.
he most remarkable thing about him
as his ardor for Christ. When he
,uld not stand up in the meetings