Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1908-03-07

+, md the women OF the outside! There
Is beautiful story told that after the
! prussians had defeated the Austrians
IN The battle Of Sadowa a young Aus.
TRAN officer was found mortally wound
ed, lying In u wet ditch He begged
/ the Prussians not to move him, but let
/ him lie there and die IN peace As
/ physical dissolution was so near. the
conquerors granted his request But
/ after death. when the Prussians lifted
I the dead body TO carry II away for
I burial. they found concealed under the
dead mans clothes the standard Of lis
regiment Yes, the dead hero did
everything 10 protect the flag OF his
rountry from being desecrated 10y the
hands of his enemies. So may we do
everything TO protect our standards OF
+ the cross from the contempt OF the
/ world May we so live that the men
and the women of the outside world
Will say the church Of God is the dear
est and best and the most loving place
/ TO live this side of heaven. May we
never open our lips but in praise OF
I Gods goodness and the goodness OF
the members OF the household OF faith.
+ May we learn loyalty To Christ and
loyalty 10 Christ's followers
The Wrong Seed.
The next great mistake In our splr-
/ itua sowing is that we do not use the
right kind OF seed. We do not use the
\ spiritual seed that will bring forth the
I greatest harvest | am not asserting
that some Of us do not use good seed.
I But we do not use the one great seed
which will always insure US the great
est returns for our spiritual sowing.
/ Let me illustrate my thought by com
monplace comparisons.
When was a resident Of Chicago.
passed two or three summers among
the Michigan hills. While there be-
came quite intimate with gentleman
Who owned an enormous peach or
chard one day he told ne the history
Of his life: 81 inherited this land from
! ny father For years he was the
largest producer Of wheat In this re-
giou. But after | grew up 10 be
man commenced to Ice dillgent stu
dent of the reports of the agricultural
/ department at Washington The more
studied the science Of agriculture
and the formation Of this soil the more
| came to the conclusion that could
quadruplc the value OF my land II
would cease planting wheat and turn
my acres into peach orchards All the
Old settlers around here laughed at me.
They said my father knew more In
ten minutes than knew In ten years.
They said would ruin myself fnan-
cially. But | went ahead | believed
those agricultural reports from Wash
ington. and though II took me many
years 10 develop a good orchard yet
US the result AIN today making each
year five times the amount Of money
my father made or the same land
/ The wheat crop was all right in Its
way. hut that mans father did not
plant the seed that brought the maxi
mum return from his farm The sou
did. aud that is the whole story III Il
j nutshell
Now am not here to state that
your lie is a useless life You are uot
u liar o. thief Or draukaId u u
libertiue Perhaps you give away
hundreds OF dollars annually 10 help
the poor and the sick. But | ask you
TO consider whether you plant the best
seed To- obtain the spiritual harvests.
/ Christian work means more than sim
ply giving bread to the hungry, clothes
10 the naked ana medicine TO the sick
i Christian work emphatically means
the seed planting OF Jesus christ In
the hearts az your fellow men II you
will only bring the divine personality
of Christ In touch with your fellow
men he Will lift men up out OF their
sins and make men Ike unto himself.
Oh. friend from now let the chief pur-
pose Of your life be to get the grea test
spiritual harvest by seeking chiefly 10
plant the spirit of Jesus Christ In the
hearts Of your fellow men. Consider
your ways. Ye have sown much. but
bring in little" VIII you not ponder
well upon his promlsef He tells US
what he can do II we only plant him
Alright And /. If be lifted up. will
draw all men unto me"
Barrenness Of Soil
But ! am not more impressed with
the poorness OF the seed which We go
| forth to plant In our spiritual fields
than | am with the rockiness and bar
renness OF the soil In which we are
dropping this seed. care not how
good the seed may be. II the soil is
barren there is no use In planting any
seed there. For instance. the soil lin
Ing the banks OF the river Nile Is the
richest In the world ON II you can
grow two or three crops of wheat each
year. But II you turn your back upon
the river Nile and travel i've. ten miles
over the Sahara sands you can have
the land for nothing. for il Is a bar
rem land. The water will run through
It as through sieve. Besides that. no
water can be drawn SO far away from
the Nile to irrigate the desert even