tle church of Smyrna. It had to be so.
For the divine sifting process, which is natural selection on its
highest plane, has not ceased to work. It must and shall still go
on; it cannot be otherwise. Has the great principle ceased to be
true in modern history that "though the number of the children of
Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved?"

But do not be discouraged. Preach Christ and a heroic Christianity.
Do not be afraid to demand great things of your people. Remember
that Ananias was encouraged to go to Paul because the Lord would
show Paul how great things he should suffer for the name of Jesus.
This is what appeals to the heroic in every man, and we do not make
nearly enough use of it. And the heroic Christ and his heroic
Christianity will draw every heroic soul in the community to
himself. They may not be very heroic looking. You may be in some
hill town in old Massachusetts "Nurse of heroes." Pardon me, I do
not intend to be invidious. Heroism is cosmopolitan. One of the
pillars of your church may be the school-teacher of the little red
school-house at the fork of the roads, in the yard ornamented with
alders, mulleins, and sumachs. She boards around, and is clad in
anything but silks and sealskins. But she trains well her band of
hardy little fellows, who will later fear the multitude as little as
they now mind the Berkshire winds. And from the pittance she
receives for training these rebellious urchins into heroic men she
is supporting an old mother somewhere, or helping a brother to an
education. And your deacon will be some farmer, perhaps uncouth in
appearance and rough of dress, and certainly blunt in his scanty
speech. He'll not flatter you nor your sermons; and until you've
lived with him for years you will not know what a great heart there
is in that rugged frame, and what wealth of affection in that silent
hand-shake. And there is his wife. She is round and ample, and
certainly does not look especially solemn or pious. She is aunt and
mother to the whole community, the joy of all the children, nurse of
the sick, and comfort of the dying. She is doing the work of ten at
home, and of a host in the village. And your right-hand man is
great Onesiphorus from the mill down in the valley, fighting an
uphill battle to keep the wolf from the door, while he and his wife
deny themselves everything, that their flock of children may have
better training for fighting God's battles than they eve