Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-09-04

band Ana. IL oy any means my own
sinful life has made him turn his back
upon thee, then blot out my name from
the book of life, If thou wilt! Only
save him. My brother and sister,
prepa ring for the great and eternal
journey beyond the grave. beg Of you
at this critical time to look after the
spiritual interests of your loved ones
and those who are near to you.
But there Is one overwhelming
thought about my text upon which [
love to dwell. If we 90 to the throne
of grace In the right spirit OF prayer.
God will let every one Of us live as
long as Is necessary to do the work
he wants us to do In his name. When
the prophet Isaiah entered the royal
palace OF Jerusalem and said to the
sick IIezekiah, Thus saith the Lord.
set thine house IN order, for thou shalt
die" the king turned his face towart.
the wall and began to weep. 1fezckiah
was not weeping because he had to die.
He was not afraid to die. But he went
because he could not accomplish for
God and his people that which seemed
necessary for him to do. Then, n
answer TO IIezekiahs prayer, God said
TO Isaiah the prophet, GO and say 10
Hezeluah, Thus saith the Lord the God
of David thy father, / have heard thy
prayer; have seen thy tears. Behold,
| will add unto thy days fifteen years
So today, If, like Hezehiah, we will
pray in the right spirit God will let
most of us live long enough to carry
the gospel message to all of our dear
ones as well as TO spiritually prepare
for our own eternal Journey. But as
orr earthly time is short in order 10
make this spiritual preparation our
selves and to help make the spiritual
preparation Of our loved ones by bring
ing them to the Saviour, we must con
secratc ourselves to the Lords service
now. BY the power Of the Holy Spirit
we must consecrnte our lives to Gods
work rs we have never conseCrated
them before. We must so eat and
drink and breathe and talk and pray
that We shall make Christ the supreme
ruler of our lives so that in all things
we may do nothing inconsistent with
our allegiance to him. Are you and L
like H"zekiah-ready to surrender our
lives entirely to the Divine Master
will?
"Chrfst or Dfnnaf"
Some OF us have seen the noted pic
ture which bears the title Christ or
DIANA" The central figure is n beau
tiful girl. with one Of the sweetest.
nI ~
lists brush With true dramatic pow
or the master has surrounded that
voting girl with all the horrors of
Ncronian persecution. There in tie
background of the picture is the am
phithcater in which wild beasts arr
tearing the martyrs 70 pieces and
crunchinG the bones Of the slair
There are the torches made ont OF the
living bodies Of men and women. COW
cred with pitch, who are dying for
their belief in the lowly Nazarenp.
There arc the grim faced Roman sol
diers There is the pleading lover. rs
well as the pleading mother and ia
Their, begging the young girl to re-
nounce her belief In her Saviour. And
tHGit VIC NphuS LitlHtAi cNdL'AS W
tween the altar Of heather God and
the solemn upright cross. upon which
is hanging the bruised body Of dead
Christ.
That picture may be dfa matte and
powerful; but. oh, my brother, there is
a trucr scene being enacted here to-
day. AS | speak the words of my
text your own eternal redemption, 4
we'll as that of all your loved ones. Is
pleading with you. They are plcadir:
with you to stop worshiping at the
altar Of Caesar, which is the altar Of
sin. They are pleading with you be
cause you do not cease to bow be-
fore sins altar you shall surely die
But If you Will in the few years that
are left on earth bow before the cross
and accept Christ as your Saviour You
shall eternally live. And If you here
and now consecrate your life Alright to
the Divine Masters service your loved
ones, by hearing the gospel message
from your life, may eternally live also.
May the Holy Spirit lead every one Of
US to make the right prepare tons foY
the imminent journey through the
dark valley of the shadow Of death
copyright. 1902, by Louis Klopsch.l