Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1881-07-23


sight of the white cliffs of England, and
her feet touched the sandy beach, and
she was in the land of him she loved.
She had many miles to travel yet to
reach London. And these were the old
times when there were no railways, no
coaches, not even roads. Old, bad times,
when robbers lived in dusky woods, and
bad men watched from grim stone
castles, that they might rob and kill
lonely travellers. But she went Onwards.
London" she said, London, Beckett"
London was many miles away; but that
word opened up a way to her, went before
her, was coach and road and guide to
her. 1t was lamp to her feet. She
uttered it as she was setting out every
morning, and peasants tending their
cattle on the heath pointed in the direc-
ton London lay. The lamp went be-
fore her over hills and fields, woods and
streams, and brought her at last to the
gates of London town.
"LOndon, Beckett" she said, as she
passed through on the streets. From
street to street went this Eastern lady,
from street to street, and from house to
house, and still as she went she said,
London, q Beckett" Crowds gathered
about her on the streets, and some wOnd-
cred, and some Knocked, and some had
pity; but she made her appeals to the
very crowds as she said, "LOndOn, q
Beckett" The word was caught up by
those who heard it, and passed from lip
to lip, and from street to street, until it
filled the town, and searched out for her
Becket'S house and brought her to his
very door. And then her long toll was
ended. Beckett heard the we'll known
voice, and leaped and ran, and folded
her to his bosom, and took her into his
house, and made her his wife, and loved
her with all his love. His word had been
lamp to her feet and brought her to
his side. She became the mother of the
famous Archbishop of Canterbury.
That is how word may be lamp to
ones feet. And what want to tell you
now, is, that we also, like that Eastern
lady, have word that is lamp to the
feet.
greater than Gilbert Beckett went
to Jerusalem, and was prisoner there.
And before He passed from his captivity
He left word with those that loved Him
to be a lamp to their feet, to light up
their path, that they might follow Him,
and arrive at His home, and live with
Him forever. 1t is of this word
it is said: "Thy word is a lamp to
my feet" And surely if the mere
earthly word which that lady learn
ed from an English soldier could light
her steps from the farthest shores of the
Mediterranean Sea to London, the heav-
emily divine word we have received from
Jesus is better fitted to be light to us
for the paths which lead to Himself.
The word of Christ in the Bible is this
lamp. 1t is the lamp for our feet, to
point out the roads we should avoid, and
the roads we should walk on. 1t is a
lamp for the feet wherever you are,
whenever you are called to go, on what
ever errands, with whatever cOmpan-
ions, and to whatever place. On the
road to school, to church, to town or to
market. Alone, or with companions,
this is the one true lamp for the feet. 1t
Is the lamp God has given us, to shine
forward on every common path we are
called to work on here. And it is His
lamp to light up the great high road
from earth to heaven.
And this is no new lamp, new-made
for us, and for us only; but an old, we'll
known, well-used lamp, which men have
had, in one form or another, from the
very earliest times. 1t is as old as the
days when Gods Spirit first spoke to
men, and mans spirit answered.: Lord,
what wilt Thou have me to dO?' What
was it that lighted Abraham all the way
from Ur of the Chaldees to the land Of
promise? 1t was the word which God
spoke to him in Ur. What showed Moses
the way from Jethro's flocks in indian to
Egypt, and from Egypt. to the Red
Sea, and from the Red Sea to Mount
Pisgah? 1t was the word which
God taught him at the burning bush.
What led David from the sheep-fOlds to
the throne? He tells us in a Psalm:
"Thy word / hid in my heart, that ]
might not offend against Thee" 1t was
of this word, hid in his heart, he says