Milford chronicle., 1903-08-07
TALNAGE
SERMON
By RsN
FaANK BE WIT TR1.sAAS2. D.D.,
PassoF Ge TpessRsa Psss PEeGhy-
taaiaA CaaaeaaAa GAiaago

AilcdEQt AUS. a---tu tulS 9tl Aupu Aue
preacher pays fitting tribute to the
consecrated mothers and daughters OF
America and pleads for wider and
more practical recognition Of their sery-
ices in church and religious work. The
text is Philippians iv, 3, Help those
women who labored with Inc in the gos-
pei"
The conspicuous places in the church
have always been filed by men. The
effective, personal work Of the church,
however, has TO a large extent been
done by women. Opening the scroll of
gospel triumphs. the names of the
greatest preachers and organizers havd
been men; but in the ordinary walks
of religious life the consecrated female
workers have always ounumbered the
consecrated male workers In the his
tory of the Christian church the women
members. as a class, have rarely failed
Christ in hours OF need.
Not she with traitorous kiss her Master
stung;
Not she denied him with unfaithful
tongue.
She when apostles fed could dangers
brave.
First at his cradle knelt. last at his grave.
The part woman has IN the gospel
campaign is that eulogized by military
historians and poets as that of the
man behind the gun" They declare
it was not the great leaders like Robert
E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson or U. S.
Grant and W. T. Sherman who bore
the chief brunt of the civil war. 1t
was the common soldier in the ranks.
1t was the artilleryman who lived in
the trenches day in and day out 1t
was the sentinel doing picket duty.
They declare that Colonel Theodore
Roosevelt had but little to do with the
capture of San Juan hill. 1t was tie
common soldier. who broke into a run
and swept up to the Spanish block
house And IT," said Colonel ROose-
welt, Il had not charged the enemy at
a dead run l would have been run
down by my own men. who were run
ming after me-" II was the man be-
hind the gun" who captured san Juan
hill, and he should have his share OF
the glory, which belongs not to Theo-
dore Roosevelt on any other officer
alone,
The Woman behind the Gospel Gun.
But, though in military parlance we
may talk about the ~man behind the
gum" we cannot In the church mill
tant. 1t is the woman behind the gos
pei gun" who for centuries upon cen
turtles has borne the greatest brunt OF
religious strife. 1t Is the woman be
hind the gospel gun" in the home, il
the church. on the street, in the cOun
try, in the city and in the foreign
missions who has carried the name OF
Jesus Christ all around the world. II
is the woman behind the gospel gun
who has won the greatest gospel vic
tories for our churches in the past
Therefore the purpose Of this sermon
is to make manly plea to the fathers
and husbands. brothers and SONS, OF
the families Of our churches TO take
their positions in religious work beside
their mothers and wives, sisters and
daughters.
Nearly every man in my audience
today is a believer in Jesus Christ. Il
is so with other churches Infidels and
agnostics are still numerous, unhap
PLY, but they are not In our churches
and the voice from the pulpit does moi
reach their ears. Ny ministry so fal
as preaching to inhdels and atheists
and agnOstlcs is concerned is practical
ly ended. Theodore Cuyler, the grand
old man Of the Brooklyn pulpit, lately
declared that In a ministry Of ovel
sixty years he had never yet preached
Il sermon upon the divine authenticity
Of the Scriptures. He believed that
almost every person with whom hk
work came in contact was not only d
believer in the Bible, but also in tho
divinity Of Jesus Christ / believe thai
Lr. Cuyler is right ! believe that ev
cry man IN church today is not only d
believer in Jesus Christ, but that he
also expects some day to receive Christ
as his Saviour and to be redeemed
from sin by the atonement of the cross
ChFist's Saving Power.
You show the fact involuntarily, al
most automatically. l can prove Il
you in very few words that you are {
bsllever in the saving power of a divin,
Christ How do you act? What do yoJ
say in a crisis? Supposing you were
swept OF the deck Of a transatlantic
steamer Ike Captain Courageous il
Eudyard Klpl!ng's story? What would
be the first cry which would involun
tarily come to your lips? Would you
not call out 1T the top of your voice
my God, help" Supposing you were
caught in a blizzard upon the western
prairie After you had for hours beer
founGcring around and around in the
ever deepening snow. would you not
with your benumbed faculties. moan
70 Christ, save me! o Christ. save
ne" When we were climbing ovei
the Johnstown ruins a few days after
the a--'ul Conemaugh food, Rev. DR.
Behle told me that during the pande
monium Of death a saloon keeper, as h,
was sweeping by, caught hold Of hi:
church's steeple As he hung there hC
was heard again and again to beseecl