The Bossier banner., 1886-09-09

RELIGIOUS SELECTIONS.

RELIGIOUS SELECTIONS.
The way in which some speak of
Jesus reduces all His suffering to
physical pain. Remember that, Gin
all poiuts," the Redeemer's so&1 was
tempted.
The Scripture is full of Christ
From Genesis to Revelation every
thing breathes of Him-not every
letter of every sentence, but the
spirit of every chapter is full of Christ.
It is the universal applicability of
Scripture which has made the infu-
ence of the Bible universal: this book
has held spell-bound the hearts of
nations in way in which no single
book has ever held men before.
We hear the voice of God as it was
once heard in the garden of Eden
whispering among the leaves; every
sound, once so discordant, becomes
music, the anthem of creation raised
up, as it were, with everlasting halle
lujahs to the eternal throne. Then it
is that man first knows his immor-
tality, and the soul knows what is
meant by infnitude and eternity;
not that infnitude which. can be
measured by miles, nor that eternity
which can be computed by hours;
but the eternity of emotion. Let q
man breathe but one hour of the char.
ity of God, and feel but one true
emotion of the reconciled heart, and
then he knows forever what is meant
by Immortality, and he can UNDER
stand the reality of his own.
The infinite significance of the life
of Christ is not exhausted by saying
that He was a perfect man. If Christ
had been only a faultless being, He
would never have set up in the world
a new type of character which, at the
end of two thousand years, is fresh
and life giving and inspiring STILL
He never would have regenerated the
world, He never would have 'tdrawn
all men unto Him" by being lifted up
self-sacrifce, making self-devotion
beautiful. In Christ the Divine and
human blended: immutability joined
itself to mutability. There was in
Him the Divine which remained fixed;
the human which was constantly de-
velvoping. One uniform fdea and
purpose characterized His whole life
with a Divine immutable unity
throughout, but it was subject to the
laws of human growth. For the soul
of Christ was not cast down upon this
world perfect thing at once. Spot
less?-yes. Faultless ?-yes Tempt
ed, yet in all points without sin p
yes. But perfection is more than
faultlessness. All Scripture comedies
in telling US that the ripe perfection
of His manhood was reached step by
step. There was a power and O. life
within Him which were to be develop
ed, which could only be developed,
like all human strength and goodness,
by toll of brain and heart. Life up
hill all the way; and every footprint
by which He climbed left behind for
us, petriied on the hard rock, and
indurated into history forever, to
show us when and where and how He
toiled and won.
The B1BLE.-The words which came
from Israels prophets have been the
ife-blood of the worlds devotions.-
The teachers, the psafmists, the
prophets, and the law-givers of this
nation spoke out truths that have
struck the keynote of the heart of
man; and this, not because they were
of Jewish, but just because they were
of universal application.
This collection of books has been
to the world what no other book has
ever been to q nation. States have
been founded on its principles
Kings rule by compact based on it.
Men hold it in their hands when
they prepare to give solemn evidence
affecting life, death or property; the
sick man is almost afraid to die unless
the book be within reach of his hands;
the battle-ship goes into action with
one on board whose Office is to ex-
ponnd it; it's prayers, it's psalms are
the language which we use when we
speak to God; eighteen centuries have
found no holier, no diviner language.
If ever there has been a prayer or a
hymn enshrined in the heart Of ma.
tion, you are sure to find it's basis in
the Bible. There is no new religious
idea given to the world but it is mere
ly the development of something
given in the Bible. The very trans
lation of it has fixed language and
settled the idioms of speech. Ger
many and England speak as they
speak because the Bible was trans
lated. It has made the most iNiterate
peasant more familiar with the histo-
~, customs and geography Of ancient
Palestine than with the localities of
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