Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-12-18

eiipiOyttS. ASK llul Wllt NuObe nus
band makes her fondness for the house
of God and even her kneeling prayer
by the bedside dcrislon and Is no
more fit for her holy companionship
than filthy crow would be fit com
panion for n robin or golden oriole.
Compromise with the world and sur
render to Its conventionalities and 1t
may let you alone, but all who will live
godly in Christ Jesus must suffer per-
Becution. BE thcater going. card
| playing, wine drinking, round dancing
Christian and you may escape crti-
cism and social pressure. But be an
up and down, out and out follower of
Christ, and worldlng will wink to
worldiing as he speaks your name, and
you will be put In many n doggerel and
snubbed by those not worthy to black
en- your oldest shoes. When the bridge
at Ashtabula broke and let down the
most of The carload of passengers to in
stant death, Mr.. +. +. Bliss was seated
OH one side of the aisle Of the car
writing down n Christian song which
he was composing, and on the other
side n group of men were playing
cards. Whose landing place in eterni-
tywould you prefcr-that of =. p. Bliss,
the gospel singer or Of the card play
ers?
A great complaint comes from the
theaters about the ladies' high hats
because they obstruct the view Of the
stage, and n lady reporter asked me
what I thought about it, and told
| bnr TINT 10 tbo ir,Ionant ,,ipt,,rao Of ~
tresses In the show windows were ac-
curate pictures of what goes on in
many of the theaters night by night
then 1t would be well IL the ladies' hats
were n mile high. so as to completely
obstruct the vision. If professed Chris
tians go to such places during the
week, no one will ever prosecute them
for their religion. for they have none,
and they are the joke of hell. But let
them live consecratcd and Christian
life and they will soon run against
sneering opposition.
Band Together.
For compromise Christian chnrac-
ter an easy time now. but for conse-
Grated behavior, grimace and carca-
ture. For the body, thanks to the God
of free America, there are now no
swords or fiery stakes, but for the
souls Of thousands of the good, In n
figurative sense, rack and gibbet and
Torquemada. The symbol Of the do
nestle and social and private and pub
lie suffering of II great multitude of
Gods dear children. pillars of smoke.
What an exciting scene in India when,
during the sepoy rebellion, n regiment
OF highlnnders came up and found the
dead body of one Of General Whccler's
daughters, who had been insultcd and
mnnled and slain by the sepoys. So
great was the wrath against these mur-
derers that the Scotch regiment sat
down, and, cutting Off the hair OF this
dead daughter of General Wheeler,
they divided 1t among them, and each
one counted the number of hairs given
him, and ench took nn oath, which was
executed, that for each hair of the
murdered daughter they would dash
out the life Of n .bcstial sepoy. But as
we look over the story of those who In
all nges have suffered for the truth,
while we leave vengeance to the Lord,
let us band together In one solemn
vow, one tremendous OATH after hay
Ing counted the host of the martyrs,
that for each one OF those glorious
men and women who died for the truth
an immortal shall live, live with God
and live forever.
But as already hlnted in the first
sentence of this sermon, nothing can
be more beautiful than the figures of
smoke on n clear sky. You can see
what you will In the contour of this
volatile vapor, now enchanted castles,
now troops OF horsemcn, now banner
ed procession, now winged courlers,
now n black angel of wrath under n
spear of the sunshine turned to an an
gel OF light, and now from horizon to
horizon the nir Is n picture gallery
filled with masterpieces of which God
IN the artist, burning clouds of smoke
born In the sunrise and evening clouds
of smoke laid In tho FURNISHED sep
ulchers Of the sunset.
The beauty of the transngurcd smoke
Is n divine symbol of tho beauty of the
church. The falrcst of all the fair IL
she. Do not call those prosecutors of
whom l spoke the church. They are
the parasites of the church. not the
church itself. Her mission Is to cover
the earth with supernatural glad
ness, to open all the prison doors, to
balsam all the wounds, TO moss all the
graves. to burn up the night In the
fireplace OF great morning, to change
Iron handouts into dlnmondcd wrist
let's, to turn the whole race around and
whereas 1t faced death, commanding
It. Fright about face for hcavcnw Ac-
cordlng to the number of the spires of
the churches In all our cities, towns
and nelghborhoods are the good
homes. the worldly prospcrtles and
the pure morals and the happy souls.
Crime nnd Churches.
j Meet me at any depot the world over,
and with my eyes closed take me by
the hand and lead me so that my feet
Will not stumble, and without my once
looking down or looking on the level
tast me to some high roof or tower and
let me see the tops of the churches,
and ! will tell you the proportion OF
suicides, OF arsons, of murders, OF
J thcfts. According as the churches are
numerous are the crimes few. Ac-
cording as the churches are few the
crimes are numerous. The most beau
tiful organization the world ever saw
or ever will zee Is the much malIgned
church. the friend of all good. the foe
OF all evil, "fnir as the moon and clear