The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-02-20

mon. II the wheat in the churches
should be put into a hopper, the first
turn Of the crank would make the
chaff fly, | tell you. Some of these
men are great sticklers for gospel
preaching They say: You stand
there in bands in surplice and gown
and preach-preach like an angel-and
we will stand out here and attend to
business. Don't mix things. Don't
get business and religion in the same
bucket. You attend to your matters,
and we will attend to ours" They do
not know that God sees every cheat
they have practiced in the last six
years; that he can look through the
iron wall of their fireproof safe; that
he has counted every dishonest dol
lar they have in their pocket, and that
a day of judgment will come. These
inconsistent Christian men will sit on
the Sabbath night in the house of God
singing at the close of the service
Rock of Ages Cleft for Me- and then
when the benediction is pronounced
shut the pew door and say as they go
out: Goodbye, religion. III be back
next Sunday
I think that the church of God and
the Sabbath are only an armory where
we are to get weapons. ! look upon
the church of Christ and the Sabbath
day as only the place and time where
and when we are to get armed for
Christian conflict, but the battlefield is
On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday. Friday and Saturday. st.
Martins" and "Lenox" and ''Old Hun
dred" do not amount to anything
unless they sing all the week. a SER
mon is useless unless we can take it
with us behind the pillow and the coun-
ter. The Sabbath day is worthless if it
lasts only twenty-four hours.
There are many Christians who say:
I'VE are willing to serve God, but we
do not want to do it in these spheres
about which we are talking. and it
seems SO insipid and monotonous. If
lived in the time of Luther if we had
been Paul's travelling companion, if
we could serve God on a great scale.
we would do it, but we can't in this
everyday life" There is, however, a
field of endurance and great achieve
ment, but it is in everyday life. There
are Alps to scale, there are Tablespoons
to swim, there are fires to brave, but
they are all around us now. This is
the hardest kind OF martyrdom to bear
1T took grace to lead Latimer and
Ridley through the fire triumphantly
when their armed enemies and their
friends We're looking on, but it re-
quires more grace now to brins men
through persecution when nobody is
looking on. could show you in this
city woman who has had rheumatism
for twenty years and has endured more
suffering and exhausted more grace
than would have made twenty martyrs
pass triumphantly through the fire.
If you are not faithful in a grand mis-
sion. If you cannot stand the bite of a
nudge, how could you endure the
breath of basilisk?
Do not think that any work God
gives you to do in the world is on too
small scale for you to do. The whole
universe is not ashamed to take care
of one little flower. Plato had fable
which l have now nearly forgotten,
but it ran something like this: He
said spirits of the other world came
back to this world to find a body and
find sphere Of work. One spirit came
and took the body of king and did
bic onofhor cDirit mo op1 took
the body of a poet and did his work;
after awhile Ulysses came, and he
said: why, all the fine bodies are
taken. and all the grand work is taken.
There is nothing left for me-" And
some one replied, "Ah, the best one
has been left for you" Ulysses said,
Whats that?" And the reply was,
1.-THE body of common man. doing
common work and for common re-
ward" A good fable for the world and
just as good fable for the church.
Whether we eat or drink or what
soeyer we do, let us do it to the glory
of God.
Again, we need to bring the religion
of Christ into our commonest trials.
rot severe lOSSeS, lOI UeIedNelI6nl, IOr
trouble that shocks like an earthquake
and that blasts like a storm, we pre-
scribe religious consolation; but, bust
ness man, for the small annoyances of
last week how much of the grace of
God did you apply? oh" you say,
these trials are too small for such APP
plication." My brother, they are shap-
ing your character they are souring
your temper, they are wearing out your
patience, and they are making you less
and less of man. l go into sculp-
tors studio and see him shaping a
statue. He has a chisel in one hand
and mallet in the other, and he gives
a very gentle stroke-click, click, click!
say, why don't you strike harder 2"
"Ob," he replies, that would shatter
the statue. | can't do it that way
must do it this way" So he works on,
and after awhile the features come
out, and everybody that enters the stu
dio is charmed and fascinated. Well.
God has your soul under process Of de-