The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-04-21

Jesus Christ and in the holy catholic
church and in the communion of saints
and in the life everlasting. Amen!"
On, when I see EleaZar taking such a
stout grip of the sword in the battle
against sin and for Righteousness, I
come to the conclusion tina we ought
to take a stouter grip OF Gods eternal
truth-the sword Of righteousness.
FORGET SELF.
AS I look at Eleazar's hand I also
notice his spirit of self forgetfulness.
He did not notice that the hilt OF the
sword was eating through the palm Of
his hand. He did not know it hurt him..
As he went out into the conflict he was
SO anxious for the victory he forgot
himself, and that hilt might go never
so deeply into the palm Of his hand, it
could not disturb him. His hand clave
unto the sword" Oh, my brothers and
sisters, let US go into the Christian con
fict with the spirit of self abnegation-
Who cares whether the world praises
US or denounces US? What do we care
for Misrepresentation or abuse Or per-
secution in a conflict like this? Let us
forget ourselves. That man who is
afraid of getting his hand hurt will
never kill a Philistine. Who cares
whether you get hurt or not If you get
the victory? Oh, how many Christians
there are who are all the time worry
ing about the way the world treats
them! They are so tired. and they are
so abused, and they are so tempted,
when EleaZar did not think whether he
had a hand or an arm or a foot. All
he wanted was victory.
We see how men forget themselves in
worldly achievement. We have often
seen men who, in order to achieve
worldly success, will forget all physical
fatigue and all n all OBJ
stacle. Just after the battle of York
town in the American revolution q
musician, wounded, was told he must
have him limbs amputated, and they
were about to fasten him to the sur
geon's table, for it was long before the
merciful discovery of anaesthetics. He
said: NO; don't fasten me to that
table. Get me a VIOLIN" A violin was
brought to him, n he said, Now, go
to work as L begin to play" and for 40
minutes, during the awful pangs of
amputation, he moved not a muscle
nor dropped a note, While he played
some sweet tune. Oh, is it not strange
that with the music of the gospel OF
Jesus Christ, and with this grand
march 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 perse-
cution and all perturbation?
WEAK
We know what men accomplish un-
der worldly opposition. Men do not
shrink back for 2ntagonism or for
hardship. You have admired Prescott's
Conquest of Mexico" as brilliant and
beautiful a history as was ever writ
ten, but some of you may not know I'M
der what disadvantages it was written
that Conquest of Mexico"-for
Prescott was totally blind, and he had
two pieces of wood parallel tC each 9TH
er fastened, and, totally blinI, with his
pen between those pieces o. WOOD, he
wrote the stroke against one pieces Of
wood telling how far the pen must go
in one way, the stroke against the 9TH
er piece of wood telling how far the pen
must go the other way. Oh, how much
men will endure for worldly knowledge
and for worldly success, land yet how
little we endure for Jesus Christ! How
many Christians there are hat go
around saying: "Oh, my hand; oh, my
hand, my hurt hand! Don't you see
there is blood on the sword?" while
Eleazar, with the hilt imbedded in the
flesh of his right hand, does not
know it.
Must I be carried to the skies
On flOwery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize
Or sailed through bloody seas?
What nave we suffered in comparison
with those who expired with SuffOca-
ton or were burned or were chopped to
pieces for the truths sake? We talk of
the persecution of olden times. There
is just as much persecution going on
now in various ways. In 1S49, in Mad
agascar, Is men were put to death for
Christ's sake. They were to be hurled
over the rocks, and before they were
hurled over h rocks, in order to make
their death the more dreadful in an
t%icipation, they were put in baskets n
swung to and fro over the prec1pice
that they might see how many hum
dred feet they would have to be DASH
ed down. and while they were swing
ing in these baskets over the rocks they
sang:
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the pillows ear me roll,
While the tempest still is high.
Then they were dashed down to
death. Oh, how much others have en-
dured for Christ, and how little we en-
dure for Christ! We want to ride to
heaven in a Pullman sleeping car, our
feet on soft plush, the bed made up
early, so we can sleep all the way, the
black porter Of death to wake us up
only in time to enter the golden city.
We want all the surgeons to fix our
hand up. Let them bring on all the
lint and all the bandageS and all the
salve, for our hand is hurt, while Flea
Ear does not know his hand is hurt.
His hand Law unto the sword
STRIKE HARD FOR RIGHT.
AS 1 look at Eleazar's hand l come to
| the conclusion that he has done a great
deal Of hard fighting. l am not surprls-
ed when I see that these four men
Eleazar and his three
drove back the army Of Philistines-
| that Eleazar's sword 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. 1t must be sharp stroke
| and straight thrust. There is intemper-
| ance, and there is fraud, and there is