1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CLOTURE. 



()47 



-iiiiil tlic men would (hi more wtn'k. and God's 

 hlcssiiifi would follow in every drpaitnicnt of 

 railroad work if it docs not follow now. Ac- 

 eidcnrs and loss of life would !)(• a\<'rt('d, and 

 llic pi'aec of inintl that follows a oousoicnco 

 at peace with its ^Faker would gi\'e an en- 

 joyment that is woi'th more than all else in 

 this world besides.* 



On aecount of the .Sunday--ehool picnic to be 

 held to-day. our regulai- weekly Thursday eve- 

 ning nu'eting of the Endeavoi' society was 

 changed to last evening. This appointment 

 was matle without considering that the last 

 Wednesday evening of every mouth is the reg- 

 ular tinu' for a union prayer-mei'ting of all the 

 churches of ^lediiui. It was not discovered 

 until it was too late to have either of the 

 a|)iJointments changed, and therefore i)art of us 

 must go to one meeting and part to another. 

 Toward the close of flie Eiuleavor meeting, 

 however, I suggested that we atljonrn and all 

 go over to the^ union prayer-meeting at the 

 Disciple church. By the way, there Is some- 

 thing fresh and reviving about the Disciples 

 and the Disciple church. I have sometimes 

 thought that their services were a little nu)re in 

 the line of every-day exjjei'iences than most of 

 the other churches; and their hymns, some 

 way, seem to wake one up, and give him a feel- 

 ing of enthusiasm that he does not always find. 

 You know, of course, without my telling you, 

 that I am an earnest advocate of union nu'et- 

 ings. •• By this shall ye be known of all men 

 that ye have love one to another." If our 

 churches could not act in accordance with the 

 above, what a sad thing it would be! So 

 many were coming in toward the close of the 

 meeting, the leader was again induced to men- 

 tion the subject. It was something like this: 

 The way to get good ourselves is to be busy 

 doing good toothers. I told the friends briefly 

 ■of my experience in fighting profanity among 

 the railroaders. The leader remarked that it 

 was di'inoralizing, and almost dangerous, to 

 hear such constant blasphemy. By the way, 

 here is a point I havi' not emphasized. I know 

 by experience that it is terribly demoralizing to 

 be obliged to be present where such talk is going 

 on. Why, I am really ashamed to confess that, 

 aftei- the conflicts I "have been telling yon of, 

 sometimes, when tiicd out and sorely vexi'd at 

 somi'thing, these foul words intrude theinsidves 

 n|)on my thoughts, and I can hardly resist the 

 temptation of thinking how some of those hor- 

 rid oatlis would tit under peculiarly trying cii'- 

 cumstaiici's. Unless you ar<' f(jrtiti."d by con- 

 stant and earnest prayer, and unless you fight 

 with all your might and mental strength 

 against it. your peace of mind will be in danger 

 by simply binng obliged to/iea/'such blaspliemy. 

 Somebody suggested that our Medina boys, 

 numy of them unused to such talk, wei'e obliged 

 to hear it. And another suggested that the con- 

 tagion had already got into our streets, and was 

 jjossibly kt'cping away young converts from the 

 regidar appointed meetings. Then came u|) 

 the subject of our text: vShall we be nu)re puic 

 in heart liy keej^ing awa.\ fi'om these places, 

 and closing our ears to what is going on? Tiien 

 suggestions came, that I siiould k'eepon laboring 

 anning these ix'ople, while others should slay 

 away. The meeting was (jrolonged beyond the 



*Tiie time lias come sooner than I expected. Snice 

 the al)<)ve was put in type, I am told that in the 

 iieishlioriiif-- town of Lo(H, this county, there is a 

 ti-.uifiof men and teams with a lioss wh(» is aClu-isti.in 

 man. This boss told them, when lliey liired oiU, 

 that (here was to be alisolulely no sweariufi'. The 

 fraiiK- is doinff e.xeelleiit work, and theio has lieen no 

 trouhle ill lieepiiiK out bad words entirely. They 

 simply Ktartid right, witli a Christian man to watch 

 over them. May God l)e praised for it. 



usual closing hour. The real point of our text 

 was the mattei' under discussion: Shall we go 

 right into the clamoi' and turmoil and wicked- 

 ness of the great business woi'lil, or shall we 

 keep ourselves pure in heart by holding aloof? 

 The answei- that conn's to nu' is something like 

 this: The one who goes among these nnni and 

 undertakes this work should be fortified and 

 clad in th(> Chi'istian arnujr, by an hom'st and 

 sincere purpose to do these nnm good, and 

 he should be fortilied by earnest prayer in 

 his closet by himsidf. He should go with the 

 love of God tilling his heart to overHowing: and 

 he should |)i'ay meanwhile to be kept from 

 vSatan"s strange power over those who even 

 hcur blasphemv against (Jttd. Unless one has 

 this preparaticin lie should keep away from 

 scenes of this kind as much as possible. To go 

 out of idle curiosity, and because one has heard 

 of their goings-on, is dangerous; but to shirk 

 duty, or to neglect necet^xanj huslnesfi. because 

 we are thi'own in contact with such scenes, 

 would b(> foUv. (hid's grace is amply sufficient 

 to sustain his devoted followers through any 

 such trial. I have told you of my many oft- 

 recurring temptations. Now. when I am en- 

 gaged in revival work— when I am pleading for 

 souls— then mv hear't is filled with that gift of 

 the Holy S|iii-it w liich is so abundantly promised, 

 and I am out of danger. Satan's old tempta- 

 tions and allurenumts sink into nothingness. 

 And right here lies the secret of being delivered, 

 I think, all at once from the great besetting 

 sins. When the heart is full of love to Christ, 

 Satan can find lu) lodging-place, and can make 

 no headway. At just this jioint in our meeting, 

 when I was praying that God might put into 

 my heart some of these bright promises in the 

 shape of a pertinent text, the organist, who is 

 one of the leaders in the Endeavor society of the 

 Disciple church, suggested the old familiar 

 hymn, 



" Am I a soldier of the cross? " 



All at once it was taken up as the audience 

 realized that h(>re was the true solution of our' 

 discussion, and the plain and unmistakable 

 hand of God pointing us to duty. As I look 

 over the words I discover thev were written by 

 Dr. Isaac Watts in 1720. The tune. Mount 

 I^isgah. was one I liave heard my father sing 

 over and over again, away back in the days of 

 childhood. Memory came rushing fast as I 

 listened. My poor old father, as I well remem- 

 ber, was sorely bes(>t at times by Satan: and 

 the reason why he loved these words was be- 

 cause thev canie to him bidding him gird up his 

 loins and '>«(;• the cross. Here are the words: 

 and I am also happy to be able to give you the. 

 '•air" of the music. This was engraved spe- 

 cially for the occasion by one of our own peoi)h'. 

 The plan is one of his own originating: 



Am I a soldier of lln^ cross— 



A foU'werof tlie l.amli,— 

 And shall 1 fear to own his cause, 



Or blush til speak his naiuey 



Must I be carried to the skies 



On tlowerv beds of ease. 

 While others fouRht to win the prize, 



And sailed throujih bloody seas ? 



