Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-01-26

talked TO his audience in parable, We
will not draw our Illustrations from the |
Incidents of daily life and Introduce
those fresh illustrations into our prac-
teal sermons. as Christ did when he
talked about the thieves on the Jericho
road, or about the woman who lost n
part Of her wedding dowry. But we
will Eniher our materials from past
ages and from the writer's OF old and
from the sins Of the jewish people and
not from the sins of the American poo
pie, who live at our very door" There
are many doing this The result is there
are hundreds Of preachers who do not
WELD any modern "slingS.' They do
not preach rs Christ would have them
preach. They arc ready tn talk about
the lily OF the valley and the rose OF
Sharon and the grapes of Eschol but
they arc not willing to utter a philippe
against commercial sins in our own
day. against the groccryman who has
false weights for his pound Of sugar
and tea as well as against the wealthy
millionaire who ia living double life
and IS breaking the marital vows which
he once made TO the young girl when
the twain ut the marriage altar became
one
David Might Have Failed.
What we say about church work We
say about every other kind of work.
Young man. do not do a thing as Il law
yer or doctor or merchant merely be
cause other lawyers or doctors or mcr-
chants have been accustomed In the
past TO do that thing and in that way.
1t was the novelty of onslaught which
David used TINT was able to overthrow
the mighty Philistinc. If you are going
to make 4 success in life you must
have independent ways of doing your
work You must get out Of the ruts.
Do not use Saul's sword to fight Your
Goliath merely because all other sol
dicrs arc using swords To- fight their
Goliaths. Develop your craftsmanship
by swinging your natural Sings. pa
vid fighting his battles in an original
way was conQuoror, David using
Sauls armor would have been fail
tlre.
'
man who * going out ia tight the bat
ties Of life. He must he careful about
the quality and temper Of his weapons.
If we should discard the obsolete Wcap-
ons with which our ancestors fought
their battles how much more should
all Of us refuse Ia 20 forth to battle
in life with the glittcring blades If sin
in our hands which again and again
lave proved imputcut when the heat
of the struggle * on. We have often
read of the durlS in chivalri" times In
those mortal comhatS the tluonosS Of
blades decided whether the coulbaiant~
should live or die We have read that
when some combatantS We're just at
| the critical stage of tho duel II blade
| had snapped. Thon there was lunge
| with sword. and tho man who once
| held the false blade in his hand drop
ped al the feet Of his adversary blood
| soaked corpse. When we take the
blades of sin we have false weapons in
our hands. In the heat of lifc's battles
these blades of sin will fail Us every
time.
| The sword of Sin.
| Perhaps i'avid WAS tempted to ilst
Saul's sword. as some of us are tempt
ed ut times 10 go forth to fight the bat
ties of life with the weapons of sin il
our hands Mcthinks can SEQ IN,
shepherd boy take the icweled blade
from the hands of the kings armorcr
His face ilusloS with pleasure. his oy'
flashes. he runs his Thumb along til,
keen edge OF the blade, and he looks Il
ia" ieW"leu Hit. what" says he ii
tho king going - let me have his owl
Swordt' But then David pushes i
aside and says. "Hcttor sling thar
this cumbersome blade" So Satai
places The sword Of sin in our hands
We look ut il. II seems To- No :; jew
clcd blade. We say 10 ourselves 1T i
only The sword OF Just one lie II /
only the sword Of just one lhcft O
one deceit or ON" sim We know W
can win victory with one blow iron
that sword Then we cannot bear I
lay it aside But today let lis pus
away that sword If sin at once
will break in our hands as sure as W
live and II will leave us Ut the mere
of our foes.
well Says some one you hav
hcrn trlliil" us what Kind of weapon
not Ia use. Now Tell us the kind we "a
60 forth II fight Gods battles viii
How do We know With what David
sling We are TO fight: How did Dnvi
know? What was his best sling" Wei
my friends. | am not here IL tell you
particular sling. but | am here to to
you how you can find out about ths
sling. AS rule the sling which 20
are to nse in the battle Of life is the on
tina, you can WELD the easiest.
Let me illustrate my thought IN
simple way: When yon were IL littl
child the first intellectual passion you
E parents recognized in you was vol,
, love for music. If some one sat dow
| 10 play at the pinno and You We're or.
l ing YOU Immediately ceased to cry
! soon as You We're able YOU climbed ~
= ON the music stool and began to pic
! BY fingers. For hours and hours 20
can sit and listen to music. People So
4 you aye a born musician. II | were yo
: | Wo, Ill develop that talent for Chris
:, | would 20 and sing and play in ever
: sickroom | could enter. ] would go
=. hospital and mission hall and churC
a choir loft To sing and TO play is Il