Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1903-10-16

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ave. through the sacred aisles OF the
church ltself7 Dare we do this even
though the earthly powers that be-
should unsheathe the ciitterirg sword
OF death and wave II over our heads
and the heads OF our loved ones2 when
Gelcyn de Muller was led forth 70 die.
be said. "Were the heavens pearl md
the earth globe OF gold. and were ]
the owner OF all. most cheerfuliy woulc
l give them all 20 live with my wife
and childrcn: yet dare not ana can
not renounce the truth" Would you
and |. II necessary. rather than re-
rcuncc the truth H. brave enough like
Muller. a Huns. Paul . Holm the
Baptist, TO have Our bleeding todies
laid as sacrifice upon truths ai.ar2
Great Ia Death.
But, though John the Baptist was
eat in life. he was also great in
death. Like the pioneer who enters the
American forests and cuts away the
| trees and pulls up the stumps aud
builds the home and plants the corn.
In order that his children may reap the
harvests after the father is gone. so
John the Baptist. not for himself, but
for those who should come after him.
lived his life and mt last laid IL down.
martyr His death was the begin
ming of n series OF martyrdoms as the
ambassadors death i'm Peking I'm the
uprising Of 1900 was the first signal to
the foreigners that they must battle
for their lives. Johns death was as
beneficent IN its results as that moth
er's death might bc which would bring
together the warning factions of her
family and reunite them beside the al
tar OF her caskct. a. ~
IF you follow the teachings Of the
Bible very carefully you will find there
was a war. q rivalry, jealousy, be
tween the followers Of Jesus Christ
and the followers Of John. There was
no war between John and Christ. No
sooner did sesus appear than John
bent the knee and rendered unto him
full and complete obedience. But
this obedience WINS not true In refer
ence TO the Jobannian school. In the
fourth chapter of John we ind that In
order to still this rivalry Christ with
his followers left the southern regions
or JudTa aud Travelled north md went
through Samaria. But no sooner was
John the Baptist dead than his dis
ciples took the headless trunk OF his
body and buried II and "wcnt and told
SeSts-" An. yes. by Johns death all
these factions were healed. The Jo-
banniun school became in toto the
school of the Nasarene." Ix il not q
blessed thought that II we live for
Christ this side OF the grave we may
still continue to live In influence for
Christ after we are dead? John the
Baptist. great before his sacrifice. John
the Baptist. great after he was mar
tyred,
Postkumsus Influence.
That postbumous influence is mighty
for good or evil we all know. We have
felt IL. In the village where my grand
father lived there labored for many
years q gospel minister. He never
seemed TO see any great results from
his ministry. Everybody loved him.
yet few confessed Christ under his
preaching while be was aliY. But DO
sooner was that good man dSud than a
mighty revival OF religion sprang up.
Ny father said that at one communion
800 people confessed Christ I'm the little
village church. And the remarkable
fact about that revival was that every
one of those new converts traced his
conversion directly 10 the teachings and
influence of the dead pastor. POSTUM
nous influence, Il mighty influence!
Gustavus Adolpbus dead at I.utzcn
more powerful I'm influence than Gus
tavus Adolphus when alive. John
Wyclif's ashes by the waters OF the
Avon were carried into the Severn and
by the Severn into the sea, so by the
stream OF death the good mans innu.
ence lives on by being mingled I'm the
great "sea OF humanity" Oh. yes, after
death we shall live on. A good iiifu-
ence. like that of John the Baptist.
shall never, never die.
But. though honor and extol the no.
bic characteristics of this great man,
there Is still another lesson we must
learn from the verse OF my text Christ
said. There hath not risen q greater
than John the Baptist" Oh, yes, that
! was true as far as IL went. True, II
you speak In reference TO those men
and women who lived before Jesus was
born. But there IL one part OF the
verse you must well bear In mind. II 10
the last part and goes thus: "Yet. not
withstanding this he that Is least In
the kingdom of heaven Is greater than
be-" What does that mean? Simply
this: II You and become part OF Jesus
Christ 81 we accept his atonement and
are cleanscd by his blood. we become
in sense greater, aye. fur greater
than the greatest man who ever Hired
who has not been sanctified by the Saw
ionr's sacrifice.
A Thoaaht illustrated.
Perhaps can illustrate the Bible
thought In simple way. A great wall
or fortress has to be built. The work
must be pushed One group Of work
men ascend the scnffolding and 10y on
one layer Of stone and then 60 to their
rest Another group lay another layer
Of stone upon the preceding layer and
then go to their rest And 20 the work
upon the wall grows higher and high
er. each group of workmen standing
upon loftier scaffoiding than that of
the preceding iaborers Well. the great
wall OF progress has been builded In
this way. Each generation represents
batch OF workmen. each layer Of
stone the completed work OF the pre-
ceding generation. The college boy of.
today knows more Of geography. more
OF chemistry. more OF astronomy. more
OF all the sciences. than the nblest man
living three centuries ago. Why? Be
oause be has absorbed the compact
knowledge OF the last 800 years. which
the great scholars of those three cen
turtles have laid at his feet
But us the wall Of mental and spr-
huai progress went on growing higher
and higher century after century sud
denly about LOO years ngo spiritually
It took a miraculous lift Christ's sac
rifice wns laid upon the top OF It, The
Calvary stones We're the layers of the
year 50 a. ID. Those stones will lift all
succeeding generations higher In knowl.
edge and IN possibilities. higher than
all sin and higher than al, future con
formations. I once heard n worldly
mau say: 'The best man that ever
lived never went to heaven on his own