The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-28

Thank God" so much that l believe he
 has got me into the same glorious habit
 of thanking God for everything. And
 whereas I used to count my troubles and
 name them one by one, now under the in
 nuence of that sainted spirit, I have be-
 gun to count my blessings. And as my
 blessings are crowding me in multitude
 nous numbers, l am saying, Thank God"
 The Secret of His Strength.
 But. leaving aside these personal incl
 dents, we would take step forward and | analyze the direct cause of his work as | a temperance reformer. How did Francis | Murphy win thousands and tens of thou l sands to the better life? Through con- | tinually, emphatically and overwhelming | ly driving home to the sinful heart mans
 direct responsibility to God. He was say | ing: "Christ came to save you. Christ | will save you. Christ will save you now. | By his help will you come forward and | sign the pledge and make a covenant | with Christi" He did not bother much | about prohibitive laws. He did not work | much through legislative halls. But he | tried to bring the sinful heart of man ln
 close touch with loving and forgiving l Saviour.
 | Now. we have been hearing a great deal | about the. temperance work of this gay | We have heard about the prohibition
 movement and the anti-saloon movement
 and the women's temperance organlza- | tons and they are all good No one i wished all these different movements l sodspeed more than did Francis Murphy. l But though Francis Murphy was in sym | pathy with any movement that would help | stop the liquor evil, he put the chief en- 1 phasis of his labors of bringing the lh | dividual man in touch with Christ ana
 saving man as an individual and not in | inc bulk And Francis Murphy was right. 1 This world will never be saved from the ! curse of intoxicating drink through the i legislative halls of our state and natlondl ! capitals If it is to be saved at all II | must be saved by the saving power of l Christ and the influence of the pledge. Do | vou suppose you could make this Chris 1 tian nation merely by passing strict Sab
 batie laws or by building new churches | on every street corner? No. Temper-
 ance laws are right in themselves. But, | after all. the mightiest work of the tenn
 nerance reformers of the future Is to do | what John B. Cough did and Jerry Me | Aulev did and Samuel Hadley did and l Francis Murphy did. and that Is to bring | sinful man by the old fashioned pledge In | touch with the saving grace of our Lord | Jesus Christ.
 He Set Them to Work.
 Rut there is one more thought that | forces itself upon us. Francis Murphy 1 became the successful temperance re- ! former he was because no sooner did he
 win a convert and get man to sign the | nledce than at once he got that man on l his feet and brought him to the platform | and made him go to work and save other | drllnkards No sooner did Francis Mur- 1 phv get a gospel grip upon a man than l at once he pulled him upon his rect and made him go to work for temperance | not | divine lesson? Can we not learn that we are developed spiritually not more by
 what Christ does for us than by what we
 are willing to do for Christ?
 How many of those whom Francis | Murphy brought to Christ must have | been on the other side to greet him. Per | haps that welcome Is best pictured Tn | dream which his daughter had the night when he was about to pass away She dreamed she was looking up into the heavens. It was a beautiful clear night and the twnklng stars seemed to he eV- erywhere Every star seemed to her to represent the shining face of some i'm mortal whom her father had won to Christ. Oh. there were thousands and | tens of thousands of these smiling faces! And right in the center of all she saw her fathers face. It was lighted mp with the
 sweetest of smiles And there he was sur rounded by a constellation or shining faces each one a star in his crown. Have we met here simply to say few pleasant words about our departed loved | one? Nay. If I might not seem irrever- | ent I would say that.we should reel In thls | service as the disciIAs of old must have | felt when they were in the upper cham | Der in Jerusalem awaiting the coming Of | the Holy Spirit after the ascension of Christ from Mount Olivet. They were | not there to mourn their departed Master. | They were there to get inspiration Tor | their work So it should be with us when | any successful worker drops out Of the
 ranks. His labor is finished but the work | is not completed. Who will take 1t up and | carry it forward? May we consecrate our l lives to the great temperance work as | never before. May we say. "God helping | me, I will live for the purpose or saving | men clear down in the mire of sin, as | have never done before" Do you say | that? Then my friends, I think the spirit l of Francis Murphy is descending upon us Copyright, 1?o7 by Louis klopsch)