The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-07-23

i
aDur Father VIII fch artin Heaven.n Such
trembling ones are still under the spirit Of
bondage, which causes them to fear, as
condemned persons. dread the exeeutioner
They stand like Israel trembling at the foot
of Sinai; they have not come unto Mount
Zion and the blood of splinkling, which
speaketh better things thansthat of Abel
| God is still to them exceeding terrible, so
that they fe ar and quake Even though
they are His CHI ildren, they are not able to
lift up their faces unto their own Father.
| They haunt the outer courts of the sanct-
uary, but into the most holy place they
do not dare to enter: they see the smoke of
1 the burnt offering, but they have not
/ learned to feed upon it, and so to have happy
communion with God. These people may
be safe, but they are not happy: they may
be saved from sin, but not from sorrow.
Faith, if it were stronger, would effectual-
ly slay and bury servile fear.
i WHAT IT IS TO DELIGHT IN GOD.
/ Let us mediate while upon what is
here meant by dsligh biting in the Almighty.
The man who experiences this delight is
/ glad that there is God. That atheistic
philosophy which makes the whole world
| to be chance production which grew of
| itself, or developed itself by some innate
/ force, is very dreary piece of fiction to
j the man whoadelights himself in the AL
mighty. Itremble at any teaching, re-
| ligious or scientific, which seems to plaza
God further off thauwe have believed Him
to be. To draw Him nearer to me, and
myself nearer to Him, is the innerinoss
i longing of my soul. Do you not feel the
i same? know you do if you have a child
/ like spirit towards Him. Wedelight to see
God in the shadow of every passing cloud,
in the coloring of every opening flower, in
the glitter of every dewdrop, in the twink
i ling of every star. The Lord is personally
at work in all til processes Of nature, and
natural laws are simply the Lords usual
method of operation. Our God is so near
US that in Him we live, and move, and
have our being. Beloved, the thought of
God is to the souls Of those who klow and
love Him the most delightful that can cIoss
the mind. To put God away from US is
injury to our happiness, as well as trea-
son to our duty: but to get nearer and
| clearer views of His omnipresence, His
omniscience, His omnipotence, is to in
crease theioy Of our hearts "a 4.
Practically put, this delight in the AL
| mighty shows itself in the Christian WREN
nothing else remains 10 him. II he be
4 stripped of everything, he cries: (" The
Lord is my portion" When the cupboard
| Is bare, and the garments are worn out,
and poverty stares the man in the face he
says: "My God is such satisfactory and
all-suffioient portion that / am rich and
L sod hill 10 4, &.
ing but my God" The same is true when
such man is surrounded with every
earthly comfort, for he still feels:. 1.-THE
Lord is my portion.D@ The saint begs
vehemently of his God that hesn1ay not
have his portion in this life. II God were
to multiply his stores beyond his power to
count them, he would be dissatisfied unless
in all these he saw his Fathers covenant
love. One saint, who suddenly became
poor, was still as, happy as ever, for he
said: "When had abundance, | saw God
in all things, and now that have lost my
property see all things in Col. These
re equally blessed states of mind. It
were well to combine them, and see God in
all things, and all things in God, at the
same time So it should be with the be-
Iliever. "Why," saith he, 'sthese earthly
comforts never were nv DELIGHTS.
these were not my daily mama, but only.
little stay-bys for the time; sips of Sweet
ness while L pass through the barren
Wilderness" The Lord was and is nv
chief portion, my well of comfort, the rock
of my salvation. II we make props of our
outward joys, we shall fall when they are
taken away; bus if we rest wholly upon
the foundation of Divine love, altogether
apart from external things, we shall never
be moved. Happy is the Christian who
can practically enjoy delight in tbs AL
mighty by making Him to be his all in ali,
all the day, and every day. aa *H
delight myself in the Lord.v This will
give you pleasure in the midst of pain Do
you know what it is to have many aches
and sufgerings, and perhaps a throbhine
head, and yet to feel that you have anoth-
er self which has no pains, because it
dwells in God, where all is calm and quiet?
| You felt that it would be a great mercy to
be released from this painful life; and yet
youha not raised the question with your
God, but have waited His good pleasure.
/ Faith has made you feel: wherever l
am, whatever feel SC. long asGod is near
me, and His sweet love fills my bosom, I
will greatly rejoice and triumph in the God
of my salvation"
This will show itself in your life, for it
4 will be pleasure to do anything to exalt
the name of God. 1t win gid your ordi-
nary conversation with Heavenly SPLEEN
dor, if in it you adorn the doctrine of God
your Saviour in all things You will march
to Heaven beneath the spell of celestial
music, and the bliss of the glorified win
stimulate your spirits, when you can feel
thatallis for God, and that God is ali in
all to you. This is to delight yourself in
the Almighty. God give us TO get into that
state, and to keep there till we leap to
Heaven, aud are, in that state.
THE NAME ALMIGHTY.
/ call your attention to the special name
4 by which Eliphaz describes the ever
blessed God; he says Delight myself in.
the .Al'aighty." Isl not singular that he
should choose term descriptive of ON
nipotence as the paramount cause of the
believers delight? God is love, and can
4 readily understand how one might delight
himself in God under that aspect; but the