Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-08-30

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metals taken out Of It," What is true
Of the pottery industry and the steel
industry IL also true of the hot fires
which arc built about the sands and
tho sodas and the lines and salts Of
the glass Industries. These fires not
only make these substances molten,
but they also burn all the impurities
out Of them. Thus Christ purifies us
by the hot fires of trouble. He burns
us and keeps on burning us that we
may be like unto himself. So l begin
to see that when Christ says, IL am
come to send fire upon the EARTH he
may mean a fire that shall purge and
purify lis and make us fit for his COM
partnership in heaven.
The San Francisco Fire.
I have already mentioned the San
Francisco fire. l was In that city
while it was burning. I saw some Of
the buildings In flames and heard there
some Of the ~tottering walls being
dynamited. But the most impressive
place to me in all San Francisco was
where l stood amid the ~smoldering
walls of its UNANIMOUSLY famed China
town. A prominent San Francisco
minister was with me at the time. We
had not spoken for some time when
he said: SIS it not awful? And yet,
awful as 1t Is, you must bear In
mind one fact-this is the first time
for fifty years man has ever been able
to look upon Chinatown and call 1t
morally pure and clean" Friend, you
have been having n hard time Of late.
Your troubles have been coming thick
and fast. My, how quickly your
money went. Your baby! 1t seemed
she left you in the twinkllng Of an
eye. You are still pale and weak from
that last dangerous illness. You are
like Chinatown. The walls may seem
to he broken and blackened, but they
are clean walls. God has been purify
ing you by his hot fires of trouble. Tie
has been smelling the dross Of sin
out of your sinful heart. In the hot,
Kissing, seething furnaces of trouble
he has been making you like unto him
self and is encompassing you by his
arms of love. Hear We not his SEN
tence, II am come to send fire upon
the earth?'
But Gods fires do not allude only to
the flames of creation and Of purifica-
ton. Without doubt they allude to the
fires of battle and carnage as well. If
a human being will not be purified by
the hot furnaces of trouble, then he
must fight God and fight him to the
death. In the book of Eccleslastes we
read, There is n time to rend and a
time tosew, a time to keep silence and
a time to speak, a time to love and a
time to hate, q time Of war and Il time
Of peace" Yes, there is a time for
gospel carnage. And Christ further
more said, HE that is not with me is
against me, and he that %gathereth no
with me scattereth abroad" In other
words, you and I must be mustered
under Christ's standard and warm our
selves by the campfres or else we
must be enrolled among the cohorts Of
his enemies and have different counter
signs and different purposes for which
we fight. These fires Of my text are
the CONGREGATIONS of an invading army
upon the march, as well as the signal
flames which shall announce to the
world Il universal peace.
A Curse or . Blessing.
Now, var may be a curse or 1t may
be a blessing. 1t depends upon the
purposes or causes for which we fight.
And when l speak thus I have we'll in
mind the awful cost. "Give me the
money that has been spent in war"
said a noted speaker, land I will pur-
chase every foot Of land upon the
globe. l will clothe every man, woman
and child in an attire Of which kings
and queens would be proud. I will
build a schOolhouse on every hillside
and in every valley" That eulogy OF
the power Of peace was most beau
tifully said, but, though past wars
may have she'd rivers of blood, l do
not believe the awful gashes Of the
soldiers grave trenches were too deep
or too wide for the blessings which
many Of them brought to this suffering
world.
Were not the blessings which came
to mankind from the overthrow Of the
feudal system worth their sacrifices
of human life? What was the intrinsic
value Of a few thousand or even a few
million lives in comparison to the
freedom of the home and sanctity Of
our loved ones and the independence
of a mans life, whereby he could put
his arm about his daughter and say to
a petty king who claimed to be his
master: Hands off. She Is my child.
She Is mine?" Were not all the sac
rifices for religious freedom we'll
made? Would you put out the fires
which burned to death the mortal life
Of Ridley. Latimer, Huss, ~Savonarola.
IL in order to do it we had to go back
and grope about amid the superstitions
and the %tyrannies of the dark ages? 1t
is said when Gustavus Adolphus, the
great king of Sweden, was fighting his
last battle at Lutzen that amid the
rca and crash of carnage II little
frightened bird knew not where to go,
SO he alighted upon the shoulder OF
the mighty warrior. Gustavus reached
up and took the little fluttering heart
in his hand. Then he spoke a few
soothing words to the bird and hid it
away for protection inside of his own
rnior After Gustavus was slain and
the loving soldiers reyerently gathered
about the bleeding corpse it is said
4. A.