Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-09-02

ana rolling OF CneSe gOlQpleCeS were
his amusement and entertainment? All,
/ the gold and silver, the hOnors, the
/ emoluments of this world are a poor
! solace for a perturbed spirit! You want
! something better than this world can
give. A young prince, when the chill
dren came around to play with him,
refused to play. He said, II will play
only with kings" And it would be sup
posed that you would throw away all
other solace before this regal satisfac-
ton, this imperial joy.
The hill Of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before reach the heavenly fields
Or walk the golden streets.
All For the Glory of God.
But my text takes q step further, and
it says, Go into the mountain and fetch
olive branches and pine branches and
palm branches. Now, the palm tree
was very much honored by the an
clients. It had $50 different uses The
fruit was conserved, the sap was
beverage, the stems were ground up
for food for camels, the base of the
leaves was turned into hats and mats
and baskets, and the leaves were car
ried in victorious professions, and from
the root to the top of the highest leaf
there was usefulness. The tree grew
S5 feet in height sometimes, and it
spread broad leaves four and five feet
long. 1t meant usefulness, and it
meant victOry-usefulness for what it
produced, victory because it was
brought into celebrations of triumph.
And, oh, how much we want the palm
branches in the churches of Jesus
Christ at this time! A great many
Christians do not amount to anything.
You have to shove them off the track
to let the Lords chariots come along.
L know the old plan was, the plan
now is, in regard to worldly invest
ments-you hear it, merchants tell you
do not put everything into one thing,
do not put all your eggs into one bas-
ket, but l have to tell you in this mat
ter of religion you had better give your
all to God and then get in yourself.
"Oh," says some one, my business is
to sell silks and cloths" Well, then,
my brother, sell silks and cloths to the
glory of God. And some one says, my
business is to raise corn and carrots"
Then, my brother, raise corn and car
rots to the glory of God. And some
one says, My business is to manufac-
ture horseshoe nails" Then manufac-
ture horseshoe nails to the glory of
God. There is nothing for you to do
that you ought to do but for the glory
of God.
Usefulness is typified by the palm
tree. All, we do not want in the church
ing willows, signing into the water,
standing and admiring their long lash
es in the CLASSY spring! No wild cher
ry dropping bitter fruit. We want
palm trees, holding something for God,
something for angels, something for
man. l am tired and sick of this fiat,
tame, insipid, satin slippered, namby
pamby, highly tightly religion! It is
woI nothing for this world, and it is
destruction for eternity. Give me 500
men and women fully consecrated to
Christ, and we will take this city for
God in three years; give me 10000 men
and women fully up to the Christian
standard; in ten years 10000 of them
would take the whole earth for God.
But when are we going to begin? We
all want to be useful. There is not a
man in the pews that does not want to
be useful. When are we going to be-
gin?
Ledyard, the great traveller, was
brought before the Geographical SOci-
ETY. of Great Britain, and they wanted
him to make some explorations in At
RIGA, and they showed him all the per-
lis and all the hard work and all the
exposure, and after they had told him
what they wanted him to do in Africa
they said to him, "Now, Ledyard, when
are you ready to start?" He said, 'To
morrow morning." The learned men
were astOnished. They thought he
would take weeks or months to get
ready. Well, now, you tell me you
want to be useful in Christian service.
When are you going to begin? Oh,
that you had the decision to say, 'Now;
noww Oh, go into the mount and
gather the palm branches!
An Emblem of Victory.
But the palm branches also meant
victory. You all know that. In all
ages, in all lands, the palm branch
means victory. Well, now, we are by
nature the servants of satan. He stole
us; he has his eye on us; he wants to
keep US. But word comes from our
Father that if we will try to break
loose from this doing Of wrong our Fa-
Their will help us, and some day we
rouse up, and we look the black tyrant
in the face, and we fly at him, and we
wrest1e him down, and we put our heel
on his neck, and we grind him in the
dust and we saw "VictOry, victory,
through our Lord Jesus Christi Oh,
what a grand thing it is to have sin
underfoot and a wasted life behind our
backs! 'Blessed is he whose trans
gression is forgiven and whose sin is