The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-01-24

4 out TINS miracle OF my text was IN the
Dackwoods, far away from the city, IN the
| lumber districts, where the students had
| gone 10 cut timber for the new theological
seminary. And II this sermon shall come,
az " viii come, like my other sermons for
| the last thirty years without missing a
week, let me say 20 those far away from
the house OF God and IN the mountain
districts that my text shows the divine
power IN the backwoods.
The Lord by every stream az He GER
tainly was by the Jordan, on every mount.
ain as surely az He was on Mount Zion,
on every lake as on TibcrIas, by every
rock as by the one whose gushing waters
slaked the thirst OF the marching Israeli
ties.
Do not feel lonely because your nearest
neighbor may be miles away, because the
width OF the continent may separate you
from the place where your cradle was
rocked and your fathers grave was dug.
Weakened though you may be by hons
roar or panther's scream, God will help
you, whether at TIE time the forest around
you raves in the midnight hurricane or you
suffer from something quite lnsgnihcant,
like the loss Of an axe head. Take your
Bible out under the trees, II the weather
viii permit, and after you have listened TO
the solo Of a bird in the tree tops or the
long meter psalm of the thunder, read
those words OF the Bible, which must have
been written out Of doors: "The trees of
the Lord are full OF sap, the cedars OF
Lebanon which He hath planted where
the birds make their nests; as for the
stork, the fir trees are her house. The high
hills are a refuge for the wild goats and
the rocks for the comics. Thou makest~
darkness, and 10 IL night, wherein all the
beasts OF the forest do creep forth. The
young lions roar after their prey and seek
their meat from God. The sun ariseth.
they gather themselves together and lay
them down in their dens. Man goeth
forth unto his work and TO his labor until
the evening o Lord, how manifold are
Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made
all. The earth is full OF Thy riches" How
do you like that sublime pastoral?
Ny subject also reminds US of the i'm.
p0rtance OF keeping our chief implement
for work in good order | think that young
theological student on the banks of Jor-
axe before he lifted it that day against a
tree. He could in a moment have found
out whether the helve and the head were
firmly fastened The simple fact was that
the axe was not in good order or the
strongest stroke that sent the edge into
the hard sycamore would not have left
the implement headless. SO God has given
every one OF us an axe with which 10 hew
Let us keep it in good order, having
been sharpened by Bible study and
strengthened by prayer. The reason we
sometimes fail in our work IL because we
have n duh axe or we do not know how
Alright 10 swing it. The head is not Alright
on the handle. At the time we want the
most skill for work and perfect equli-
brium we lose our head. We expend in
useless excitement the nervous energy that
we ought 10 have employed in direct,
work
Nnur IVA ,,av hn a non tVpp Or
yardstick or a scales or tongue which in
legislative hall or business circles or Sab
bath class or pulpit Is 10 speak for God
and righteousness, but the axe will not
be worth much until it has been sharp
ened on the grlndstonc OF afiliction.
Go right through the world and 60
right through all the past ages, and show
me one man or woman who has done any
thing for the world worth speaking of
whose axe was not ground on the revolv.
ing wheel Of mighty trouble. II was not
David, for he was dethroned and bounded
by undlial Absalom. Surely it was not
Paul, for he was shipwrecked and whipped
with thirty-nine stripes from rods OF elm
wood on his way to beheadment
Surely it was not Abraham Lincoln,
,alled by every vile name that human
md satanic turpitude could invent and de-
octed by cartoonists with more neanness
han any other man ever suffered, on the
way to meet bullet crashing through his
temples.
But have come TO the foot of the Alps.
which we must climb before we can see
he wide reach of my subject. See in all
his theme how the impossiblllties may
be turned into possibilities. That axe
mead was sunken in the muddlest river
hat could be found. The alarmed student
lf Elisha may know where 1t went down
and may dive for 1t and perhaps fetch II
lp but can the sunken axe head be lifted
without a hand thrust deep into the mud
,t the bottom of the river? No; that is
impossible | admit, so far as human pow
n Is concerned, 1t IL impossible, but with
God all things are possible. After the
rec branch was thrown upon the surface
If Jordan "the iron did swim"
Some one asks me, Did you ever see
ron swim" Yes, yes; many a time. | !
saw a soul hardened until nothing could !
make it harder. All styles ot sin had !
Dled that soul. 1t was petrlhed as TO all !
inc feeling. 1t had been hardening for |
thirty years. 1t had gone into the deep
,st depths. 1t had been given up As lost. !
The father had given 1t up. The mother, |
he last to do so, had given 1t up. But |
me day in answer to some prayer branch |
VI the disfoliaged tree OF Calvary was !
thrown into the dark and sullen stream, |
md the sunkeu soul responded TO ITS pow |
n and rose into the light, and, to the as |
onishmcnt of the church and the world, !
the iron did swim l have seen hun |
lrcds of cases like that. When the dying |
bandit on the cross beside Christ was con.
,erted When Jerry McAuley, a ruthan |
graduate of Sing Sing prison, was changed |
nto a great evangelist, so useful IN recla- |
nation OF wandering men and women that |
he merchant princes of New York estab- |
ishcd for HIM the Water street and Gre /
horne missions and mourncd at his burial, !
,mid the lamentations of city. When |
Newton. the blaSphcming sailor, under the |
power OF the truth was brought TO Christ |
md became one of the mlghhest preachers !
VI the gospel that England ever saw.
When John Bunyan, whose curses |
shocked even the protane of the fish mar |
lct. was so changed IN heart aud lie that |
le could write that wonderful dream, The !
Pilgrims Progress" IN such a way that un- !
counted thousands have found through 1t |
Inc road from the city OF destruction to |
he celestial city In all these cases | |
.hink iron was made 10 swim. | worship |
he God who can do the impossible.
N'uu have a wayward boy. Only God /
Knows hosy YOU have cried over him. You /
have tried everything for his reformation. |
Where Il he now-iu this city, IN this /
country. or has he crossed the sea! Oh. !
you say. Il do not know where he Is. lie !
went away in the sulks and did not say |
where he was going. You have about |
made ttp your mind that YOU will never |
near from him again. Pretty hard pay he
gives YOU for all your kindness and the |
nights YOU sat up with him when he was
sick Perhaps he struck YOU one day when |
YOU were TRYING 20 persuade him TO do bet
ter How different was the feeling OF that !
hard list against your face from his little