A Reminiscence
I remember blaming my mother for sending me to church on the Sabbath. On one occasion the preacher had to send some one into the gallery to wake me up. I thought it was hard to have to work in the field all the week, and then be obliged to go to church and hear a sermon I didn't understand. I thought I wouldn't go to church any more when I got away from home; but I had got so in the habit of going that I couldn't stay away. After one or two Sabbaths, back again to the house of God I went. There I first found Christ, and I have often said since:
"Mother, I thank you for making me go to the house of God when I didn't want to go."
Transplanting the Lily
"It is easy to go when the time comes. There are no ropes thrown out to pull us ashore; there are no ladders let down to pull us up. Christ comes and takes us by the hand, and says:
"'You have had enough of this. Come up higher!'
"Do you hurt a lily when you pluck it? Is there any rudeness when Jesus touches the cheek, and the red rose of health whitens into the lily of immortal purity and gladness?"—Talmage.
Election
How many men fold their arms and say:
"If I am one of the elect, I will be saved, and if I ain't, I won't. No use of your bothering about it."