The Monmouth inquirer., 1906-09-20


lives In the commandments of God, so
that they could not be tempted by any
temptations greater than they could
bear.
A Better Inheritance.
Do not tell me that when your Chris
tian father died he left you no inherit
ance. You say, when he died the
farm went to my elder. brother" But
your fathers greatest asset was not IN
his farm. You say, 'He had little
money-a few thousand dollars-but he
left all that to my mother and invalid
sister" But your fathers estate had
more than money. You inherited his
spiritual vineyard. You have inner
tied his example of a Christian life
well lived. You have inherited the ex-
ample of the joy and peace which come
to noble Christian man who, in every
word he speaks and In every deed he
does, speaks and lives for God. Am l
wrong in declaring that the vineyards
which have come to you are Inherited
vineyards? Your inherited spiritual
vineyards are as old as the prayers
your father made on the day he first
knelt at the communion Of the Lords
supper. They are as old as the pray
ers he made on the d.. - dedicated
you to God when you wore baptized at
the church affairs. Tkcy are as old as
the prayers he made FOR you at the
family altar on the day you left the
! old homestead They ;i.'e as old as the
blessing and benediction he gave when
he put his trembling hand upon your
head on the day he died, when he said,
My boy, gave you to God when you
We're born; give you to God now that
| must leave you to stand before the
judgment seat of Christ Oh, my
friends, what spiritual blessing has
been yours Your gospel vines were
not planted last week or last year
You have an inherited gospel vineyard
You have inherited those vineyards di-
rectly from your fathers and mothers
Christian lives and consecrated home.
You cannot if you would, and you
would not If you could, get away from
this vital, spiritual, life giving doc
trine.
We do not inherit our gospel vines
alone. We also inherit vast acreage
Of rich, uncultiyated soil, upon which
we should plant new vineyards and
enlarge our grape producing regions.
In other words, no child has right
to be content with the work which his
forefathers accomplished. Each new
generation has greater opportunities
for doing good than had the genera
lions which preceded it, Therefore it
is your duty and mine to be continu-
ally going ahead and doing larger and
grander and nobler work than did our
fathers and mothers. We should profit
by their mistakes as well as successes.
To speak fgurativeiy, by standing upon
their broad shoulders we should lift
our heads higher than they did There
fore we should have larger horizon
for our gospel vision. Let me Illus
trate my thought from the vineyard
industry of southern California.
Planting New Vineyards.
l am a vineyard grower. The time
of the annual inga thering of grapes is
past. You are also vineyard grower.
We have been close friends for years.
Having a few weeks to rest up before
the January and February pruning"
you come to make me visit. With
great pride take you through my
vineyards, to show you their richness.
l say: Yes, those are fine vines. My
father planted them fifty years ago.
He lived here and died here. These
vines were his one thought. He put
his best llfeblood into their develop
ment" On the way back to the house
we climb hill and point out 40 you
the extent of my property. do you
see all those vines at our feet? Well.
they are all mine. Do you see those
posts running down from yonder hills
clear into the center of the valley by
those broad fields? Well all that land
Is mine. Do you see those fields to the
east. and that jutting of rock yonder?
Well, fall that land is mine. There is
no soil In all this region which is richer
and better than those broad fields of
mine" "Oh," you say to me, "then
your father only cultivated small
part of his ranch The vines were only
planted in a small area of the land
which he owned"
YES" l reply. While father lived
the vineyard growers did not know as
much about grape raising as we do
now. Our forefathers did not have the
system we have. Wire fences were
not invented at that time, They did
not know as much about pruning and
cultivating. Besides that this country
was so sparsely settled fifty years ago
that it would have been impossible to
have gathered enough workmen at
one time to have picked the grapes on
the vines when they were ripe. That
work has. to be done very quickly.
Then. if my father had been able to
pick all these grapes there We're so few
people living In southern California at
that time that there would have been
no markets for. the grapes after they
had been picked. Thus my father only
planted a tenth part of his ranch into
vineyards" Then you say: But con-
ditions have changed. Why do you not
change? Why do you continue TO let