Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-09-16

SI0QI HISTORY EDu an OF
the fact that il is dangerous to defy
God when in the Adirondacks 1 saw
fash Of lightning and bolt so vivid I
said, THAT struck something very
near?" \ few hours afterward we
found that two farmers that Monday
morning had been seated under a tree,
the one Boosting how that the day be-
! fore, on the Lords day, he had got hig
hay IN and so cheated the Lord out Of
that part Of the time anyhow and both
Of them laughing over the achievement
! by which they had wronged the Lord
! Of his holy day, when the lightning
! struck one dead instantly and the 9TH
/ er had been two weeks in bed when we
| left the Adirondacks and has become
an invalid, [ suppose, for life. He did
: not make as much out Of the Lord as
! he thought he did. Was it any less an
illustration for my soul because l met
the clergyman on his way home from
the funeral and he told me of the facts
and said the body Of the man who had
been destroyed was black with the
| electricity?
Heaven Very Near.
Oh, Christian workers, we have got
to freshen up. What is the use Of our
going back in the Christian classics to
find an illustration of the victorious
Christian deathbed when my personal
friend, Alfred Goodman, Il few years
ago went away in as imperial grandeur
as did Edward Payson? Is it any less
an illustration to me and to you be-
cause l met him a few weeks before in
front of Trinity church, Broadway, and
1 said, Goodman, you look as if you
were working too hard?" Where in all
the classics is there such a story as
that of Goodman, when in his last mo-
ment he cried, Il am sweeping through
the gates washed in the blood Of the
Lamb?'
What is the use of going away of to
get an illustration when in house on
Third avenue, Brooklyn, 1 saw a wo-
man dying, and she said, "NIr Tai
mage, heaven used to be to me great !
way off, but it now is just at the foot
of the bed| What is the use of your /!
going away off to get illustrations of a
victorious deathbed when all Wales /
was filed with the story of the dying |
experience of Frances Ridley Haver- |
gal? She got her feet wet standing on
the gospel to a group of boys and men, /
went home with a chill, and conges-
ton set in, and they told her she was
dangerously sick. Il thought so,' she /
said, "but it is really too good to be
true that L am going. Doctor, 90 you
really think 1 am going?" Yes"
Today" Probably" She said, Beau
tiful, splendid, to be so near the gate
of heaven" Then after a spasm of
pain she nestled down in the pillows
and said, There, now, it is all over
blessed rest" Then she tried to sing.
and she struck one glad note, high
note Of praise to Christ, but could sing
only one word, he" and then all was
still. She tllSshed it in heaven.
Oh, fellow Christian workers, what
is the use Of our being stale and obso-
lete and ancient when all around us are
these evidences Of Gods grace, Gods
deliverance, Gods mercy and Gods
wisdCm: We have got to freshen up
in our sermons, freShen up in our
songs, freshen up in our zeal, freshen
up in our conservation, and if we do it,
my brethren and sisters, we will no
more have to coax people to come to
church than if you throw corn on the
ground you have to coax pigeons to
come and eat it, no more than you
would have to coax q tired horse to eat
the oats you throw in his Manager. Yes,
we must freshen up in our Sunday
schools ard IN our prayer meetings and
in our pulpits.
Church Needs No Apologies.
1t is high time that the church of
God stopped writing apologies for the
church. Let the men who are on the
outside, who despise religion, write
the apologies. If any people do not !
want the church, they need not have 1t.
1t is a free country. If any man does
not want the gospel, he need not have
it. 1t is a free country. But you go
out, oh, people of God, and give the !
gospel to the millions of America who
do want it. 1t is high time we stop
skirmishing and bring on a general
engagement. l want to live to see the
Armag eddOn, all the armies of heaven
and hell in battle array, for 1 know our
COnqGeror on the white horse will gain
the day. Let the church of God be de-
voted to nothing else, but go right on
to this conquest.
When Moses with his army was try
ing to conquer the Philippians, profane
history says it was expected that he
would go II q roundabout way and
come by the banks of the river, as
other armies had done, because the
straight route was infested with
and no army and no man had
dared to go across this serpent infest-
ed region. But Moses surprised them.
He sent his men out to gather up ibis
es. The ibis is bird celebrated for
sernont Slavinp. and these ihiSeS were