Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-09-18

| hearts. the holiness of their lives QIali-
| fy them fer their work. Then You will
/ find in every church court of every de-
! nomination group Of men who utterly
/ amaze you with the fact that such semi
Imbeeility can get any pulpits TO preach
in Those are the men who give farlorn
statistics about church decadence Frogs
never eroak in running water; always in
gnan,. But l say TO all Christian
,orkers to an Sunday school teachers
TO all evangelistS. to all ministers of the
gospel. il we want our Sunday schools
/ and oar prayer meetings and our
! churches TO gather the people we must
freshen up. fhe simple fact is. the pe0-
] pie are tired al the humdrum OF re-
I ligionistS. Religious lmndrum is The
/ worst Of all humdrum Yen say over
and over again, Come 10 Jesus until
the phrase means absolutely nothing.
/ Why do you nor tell them a story which
/ will make them come to Jesus in five
! minutes:
You say that ali Sunday school teach
erS and all evangeliSts and all ministers
must bring their illustrations from The
Bible. Christ did not when he preached.
The most Of the Bible was written before
/ Chrisis time, hut where did he get his
J
lilies from the ravens. from salt. from a
candle. from u buShel, from long faced
hypocrites from gnats, from moths. from
large gates and small gates, from
camel from the needles eye, from yeast
in the dough Of bread, from mustard
seed, from a fishing net. from debtors aud
| creditors. That is the reason mHltitudes
followed Christ. His illustrations were
I al Il 1on fHhara-
fore. my brother Christian worker, if you
and l find two Illustrations for a religious
subject and the one is Bible illustration
and the other is outside the Bible | will
take the latter. because | want TO be like
the Master Looking across to a hill
| Christ saw the city of Jerusalem. Talk
ing to the people about the conspicuity Of
| Christian example he said: The world is
looking at you. Be careful. A city that
is set on hill cannot be hid While he
was speaking of the divine care of Gods
children bird flew past. He said, BE
bold the ravens. Then looking down
into the valley. all covered at that sea-
son with flowers, he said Consider the
lilies. Oh, my brother Chris ian WORK
ers, what is the use of going way off in
some obscure part of history or on the
other side Of the earth to get an illustra-
ton when the earth and the heavens are
full of Illustrations?
Vicarious Suffering.
Why should we go away off to get an
illustration of the yicarious suffering of
Jesus Christ when at Bloomfield, y. j.,
| two little children were walking ON the
rail track and train was coming; but
they were on bridge of trestlework,
and the little girl took her brother and
let him down through the trestlework as
gently as she could toward the water.
very 'arefully and lovingly and cautious
ly. so that he might not be hurt in the
fall and might be picked up by those
who were standing near by while doing
that the train struck her, and hardly
enough of her body was left 10 gather
into funeral caSketi What was thatt
Eicarious suffering. Like Christ. Pang
for others. Woe for others. Suffering
for others. Death for others. What is
the use of Our going away off to lind an
illustration in past ages when in Mithi-
gan mail carrier on horseback riding
on. pursued hy those flames which :iad
swept over a hundred miles, saw an old
man by the roadside. dismounted. helped
he old man on the horse, saying. Now,
whip up and get away The old RAN
got away. bur the mail carrier persisted.
Just like Christ dismounting fNlm
the glories Of heaven to put us on the
way of dciiyerancC. then falling back
into the flames OF sacrifice for 9th RS
O Christian workers. we have got to
freshen mp, What is the use Of ouS GO
ing back in the Christian classics to lind
| an illustration Of he victorious Ci-ris-
tian deathbed when my personal fis nj.
Alfred Goodman. few years ago sent
away in as imperial grandeur as did
| Edward Payson? Is it any less an aus
traton to me and 10 YOU because / met
him a few weeks before in front Of Trim
ity Church Broadway. and / said, Cook
man. you look as if you We're working
too hard" Where in all the classi S is
| there such a story as that Of CooL man
| when, IN his last moment. he cried, Il
| am sweeping through The gates washe1
in the blood OF the LAMB
Oh. fellow Christian workers, what is
the use of our being stale and obsolete
and ancient when all around us are aesc
evidences Of Gods grace. Gods deiirer-
| ancc Gods mercy and Gods vision?
! We have got to freshen mp in our SER
| mons freshen up in our songs, freshen
up in our zeal, fresheu up in our con
secration, aud if we do it, my breihren
and sisters we will no more hays to
coax people To come 10 church than if
yen throw corn 90 the ground YOU Save
to coax pigeons to come and eat it, no
more than you would have to coax
tired horse ia eat oats you throw il his
nanger. Yes. we must freshen mp IN our
Sunday schools and in our prayer set
ings ana in cur pulpits.