Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1899-07-01


fcrcnt phases of emotion have in
church no more expression than the
back wheel of Il hearse. Brighten up
and be responsive. If you feel like
weeping, weep. If you feel like smil-
ing. smile. If you feel indignant ut
some wrong assailcd from the pulpit,
l'rown. DO not leave your naturalness
and rcsilcncy home because it is Sun-
day morning If as officers of church
YOU meet people ut the church door
with Il black look. and have the music
black. and HE minister in black preach
Il black sermon. and from Invocation to
bcncdiclon have the impression black,
few will come, and those who do come
Will wish they had not come at nl.
The seven CnndlcsticIs.
Golden candlrSliclis! Scour up the
six lilies OIL each branch. and know
that the more lovely and bright they
are the more lit they are to hold the
light. But Chrisllc.S light is Il dam
age to the world rather than Il good
Cromwell stabbed his cavalry horses in
St pauI's cathedral. and many now
use the church in which to stable vani-
ties and worltlincss. a worldly church
is Il candlcsiick without the candle.
and ii had its prototype in ST Sophia
in ConStantinopc. built to the glory of
God by ConSlantine.. but transformed
to base uses by Mollanmrd the Second
Built ont of colorrd marble; Il cupola
with n windows soaring to Il height of
$50 feet; the ceiling one great bewildcr
mcnt of mosaic; galleries supported by
eight columns Of porphyry and G7 col,
lmns of green jasper: nine bronze
doors with alto-relicyo work. fascinat-
ing to the eye of any artist; vases and
vcstmentS incruStrd with all manner
of precious stones. -Four walls on fire
with ndcScribahlc splrndOr Though
labor WIS cheap. The building cost ST.
100000. Ecclesiastical structure. al.
most supernatural in pomp and maj
esty. l,uI Northumberland tore down
from the walls of that building all the
snintly and Christly images, and high
up'in the dome the figure or the cross
WAS rubbed out that the crescent of the
harharous Turk might he substituted.
4 great church. but M Christ. y Sor-
geous candlcstick. but no candle. Ten
thousand such churches would not give
the world as much light us one home
made taIlow candle by which last night
some grandmother in the eighties put
on her spcctaclcs and read the Psalms
of David in larger type. Up with the
churches. by all means, Hundreds OF
them. thousands of them. and the more
the better l;ut let each one be Il blaze
of heavenly light. making the world
brighter and brighter, till the last
shadow mas disappeared, and tie last
of tile suffering children of God shali
have reached the land where they have
no need of candlcstick or "of candle,
neither light of the sun, for the LORD
God gvelh them light, and they sLali
reign forever and ever" Seven candle
sticks the complete number OF lighls!
Let your light shine before men, nj
they. seeing Your good works, may
glorify YOU. Father which is III heaven.
Turn now in your Bible 10 the seven
stats. We are distinctly told that they
are the ministers Of religion. Some are
Iorrr stars. some of them small stars,
some of them sweep Il wide circuit ana
some of them n small circuit, but so
far rs they are genuine they get their
light from the graft central sun ;lrouhu
which they make revolution. Let each
one keep in his own sphere. The soiar
system would be soon wrecked II the
stars. instead of keeping their own
orbits. should 20 to hunting down otlcr
stars. Ministers of religion should
never clash. But in all The centuries
of the Christian church some of these
stars have been hunting an Edward
Irving or n Horace Bushnell or an AL
bert Barnes. And the stars that were
in pursuit of the other stars lost their
own orbit. and some of them coulu
never again find it. Alas for the heresy
hunters. The best way to destroy
error is to preach the truth. llie Dest
way to scatter darkness IS to strike q
LIGHT. There is in immensely room
enough for all the ministers. The MIN
listers who give up righteousness ana
the truth will get punishment enough
ANYHOW. for they are "thc wandering
stars for whom is reserved the black
ness of darkness forever"
should like. is Il minister, When
am diving. to he able trutlfully to say
What captain of the English army,
ALLEN M Tie head of his column ana
diving or the Egyptian battlefield, SAD
10 General Wolsrlcy who came to con-
dole with him: Il led them straight.
Didn't lead them straight. general!
God has put us ministers as captains
in this battlefield of truth against error
Great mt last will he our chagrin If we
I fall leading the people the wrong way;
hut grr:l; will be our gladness If. when
the battle is ovl,:: we can hand our
sword back to our great commander,
saving: Lord Jesus! We led the peo-
ple straight. Didn't we lead them
stlaight?'
Those ministers who go off ut 4 tan
gent and preach some other gospel are
not stars. but comets. and they flash
across the heavens Il little while and
make people stare. and throw down a
few mctcoric stones. and then 20 out or
sight if not out of existence. Brethren
in the ministry let us remember that
| God calls us stars. and our business is
to shine and to keep our own sphere
and then when we get done trying to
light up the darkness of this world, we
will wheel into higher spheres, and in
us shall be fulfilled the promise they
that turn many to Righteousness shall
shine as the stars forever and ever"
The ministers are not all PecksniHs
and canting hypocrites. as some would
have you think. Forgive me. II having
at other times glorited the medical pro-
fesson. and the legal profession, ana
the literary professional Glorify my
own. have seen them in their homes
and heard them in their pulpits, and a
grander array of men never breatheu,
and the Bible figure is not strained
when it calls tlscu stars; and Whole
CONSIDERATIONS of glorious ministers