Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-04-19

u
sweet tune. Oh, Is 1t not strange that with
the music Of the Gospel OF Jesus Christ,
and with this grand mrrch of the church
militant on the way to become the church
triumphant, we cannot forget ourselves
and forget all pang and all sorrow and all
persecution and ali perturbation?
We know what men accomplish under
worldly opposition. Men do not shrink back
tor antagonism or for hardship. You have
admired Prescott's Conquest of Mexico"
Is brilliant and beautiful history as was
ever written, but some Of you may not
know under what disadvantages it was
written-that Conquest of MeXico''-for
Prescott was totally blind, and he had two
pieces of wood parallel to each other fast
sned, and totally blind, with his pen be-
tween those pieces of wood, he wrote the
stroke against one piece of wood telling
now far the zen must go in one way, the
'troke against the other piece of wood tell
ing how far the pen must go the other way.
Oh, how much men will endure for worldly
knowledge and for worldly success, and yet
how little we endure for Jesus Christi How
many Christians there are that go around
saying, "Oh, my hand: oh, my hand, my
hurt bandl Don't you see there is blood on
.he sword?" while Eleazar. with the hilt i'm
oedded in the flesh of his right hand, does
lot know it.
Must be carried to the skies
On fiowery beds OF ease,
While others fought to win the prize
Or sailed through bloody seas9
What have we suffered in comparison with
those who expired with suffocation or were
burned or were chopped to pieces for the
truths sake? We talk of the persecution
Of oiden times. There is just As much per-
.eeution going on now in various ways. an
lS49, in Madagascar, eighteen men were put
TO death for Christ's sake. They were to
be hurled over the rocks, and before they
we're hurled over the rocks, in order to
make their death the more dreadful In an
Licipatiop, they were put in baskets and
swung to and fro over the precipice that
they might see how many hundred feet they
would have to be dashed down, and while
they were swinging in these baskets over
The rocks they sang:
Jesus, lover OF my soul.
Let me to Thy bosom ly,
While the billows near me roll
While the tempest still is high.
Then they were dashed down to death.
On, how much others have endured for
Christ, and how little we endure for
Christi We want to ride to heaven in
Pullman sleeping car our feet en- soft
plush, the bed made up early, so we can
sleep all the way, the black porter OF death
10 wake US up only in time to enter the
golden city. We want all t.Ie surgeons to
Tx our hand up. Let them bring on all the
lint and all the bandages and all the salve.
for our hand is hurt, While Eleazar does
not know his hand is hurt. His hand
claye unto the sword
As look at Eleazar's hand come to the
conclusion that he has done great deal of
hard hitting. lam not surprised VIXEN l
see that these four men-Eleazar and his
three companions drove back the army of
PDilistines-that Eleazar's sword clave to
his haEd, for every time he struck an enemy
with one end of the sword the other end of
the sword wounded bin. When he took
hold of the sword, the sword took hold of
hiHS.
oh, We have found an enemy who cannot
\ be conquered by rosewater and soft
speeches. 1t must be sharp stroke and
straight thrust. There is iatem peraLce,
and there is fraud, and there is gambling,
and there is lust. and there are 10000 bat
taiioDs OF iniquity, armed Philistins in
iquity. How are they to be captured and
overthrown? Soft sermons III morocco
cases laid down in frort of an exquisite au-
dience Will not do it. Yop have got to call
things by their right narre. You bave-got
to expel from our churches Christians who
eat the sacrement on Sunday and devour
widows houses all the week. We have
got to stop our indignation against the
Httites and the Jebusites ana the Cir
gashites and let those poor wret ches 60
and apply our Indignation tC the mod
ern traGsgressions which need TO bs
dragged out and slain. Ahabs here,
Herods here Jezebels here the massacre
of the infants here. Strike for God so hard
that while you slay the sin the sword will
adhere to your own haEd. l tell you, my
friends, We want few John knoxes and
John Wesleys in the Christian church to-
day. The whole tendency is to refine on
Christian work. We keep on refining on it
until We send apologetic 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 Il
missive, delicate 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 rot done. Churches
that shook cur cities with great rerivals
sending around to ask some dsmonstrative
worshiper il he will not please to say
"Amen" and .'halieluiah" a little softer. Ii
seems as if in our churches We wanted r
baptism of cologne and balm OF thousand
flowers when We actually need a baptism
of fire from the Lord God of Pentecost.
But we are SO afraid somebody will critl-
else our sermons or criticise our prayers
or criticise our religious work that our
anxiety for tie worlds redemption is lost
in the fear we will get our hand hurt.
while Eleazar went into the confict, land
his hand clave unto the sword
But l see in the next place what a hard
thing it was for Eleazar to get his hand and
his sword parted. The muscles and the
sinews had been so long grasped around
the sword he could not irop it when he
proposed to drop it. and his three COM
rades, l suppose, came up and tried to help
him, and they batheG the back part OF his.
hand; hoping the sinews and muscles would
relax. But no. His hand clave unto the
sword" Then they tried to pull open the
fingers and to pull back the thumb, but no
sooner were they pulled back than they
closed again, "anG his hand ciave ulto the
sword" But after awhile they were sue
cessful. and then they noticed that the
curve in the pal.a of the hard corresponded
exactly with the curve OF the hit. His
hand clave unto the sword"
You and 1 have seen it many a time.
There are in the U2ited 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 Zane is emeritus" or
charge" They were a heroic race. They
had small salaries and but few books.
and they swan spring freshets TO meet
their appointments, but they die in their
day mighty work for God. They
took OF more CT the heads of Phiistine
iniquity than you could count from noon
to sundown. You put that old minister of
the Gospel now Tito a prayer meeting or
occasional pulpit or a sick room where
there Is some one to be cOmforted and it is
the same old ring to his voice and the
same old story Ct pardon and peace and
Christ and heaven. His hand has so long
clutched the sword in Christian conflict he
cannot drop it. "His hand .:ave unto the
sword.'
Elephants are fond of gin. but. it
is said, will not touch champagne.
The anti-smoke ordinance in Kan
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