The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-10-07
Thoughts for the Thoughtful.
RELIGIOUS SELECTIONS.

RELIGIOUS SELECTIONS.
It is not q clergyman's business to
think for his congregation; but to
help them Judge for themselves.
It was not the nails that pierced
His hands which wrung from Him the
exceeding bitter cry, but the iron that
had entered His soul.
God gava His revelation in parts,
piecemeal, as you teach a child to
spell word-letter by letter, syllable
by syllable, adding all at last togeth-
er. God hada Word to spell-His
own name. By degrees He did it; at
least it came entire: the Word was
made flesh.
At resin that deep, awful rest
which is the most endearing of all
the attributes of the life that shall be
the rest which is order instead of
overwhelmingly instead of chaotic
passions in jar and discord, and duty
instead of the conflict of self-will with
His loving will. It is a noble thought.
There is no doubt of what God
means in the Cross: He means love-
the measure of the meaning of mans
existence. Measure all by the Cross.
Do you live that the will of God may
be done-in you and by you, in life
and death? Then, and only then, the
Spirit of the Cross is in you. When
once man has learned that, the pow
er of the world is gone; and no man
need bid him, in denunciation or in
invitation, not to love the world. He
has got an ambition above the world.
He has planted his foot upon the
Rock, and when all else is gone he at
least abides forever.
"Your questions about eternity
and future state puzzle me-" says
Robertson. slime is but Ito us) the
succession of ideas, long or short, as
they are few or many; and eternity,
as we use the word, means nothing
more than the endlessnes of this sue
cession. This distinction made by
religious people between eternity and
time is an unthinking one. Eternity
seems to me word expressive of ne
cation; it does but deny termination
to that mental state which we call
time, for time is subjective thing;
existing, that is, in us, not externally
to us--a mode of our being"
Eternity means nothing by itself
It merely expresses the existence OF
the high and lofty One that inhabit-
eth it. We make fanciful distinc-
ton between eternity and time; there
is no real distinction. We are in
eternity at this moment. That has
begun to be with us which never
began with God. Our only measure
of time is by the succession of ideas.
If ideas flow fast, and many sights
and many thoughts pass by US, time
seems heightened. Ii we have the
simple routine of few engagements,
the same every day, with little varie-
ty, the years roll by us SO fast that we
cannot mark Them. It is not SO with
God. There is no succession of ideas
with Him. Every possible idea is
present with Him now. TWAS present
with Him ten thousand years ago.
Gods dwelling-place is that eternity
which has neither past nor future, but
one vast Unreasonable present.
The lest form in which Christian
gets the victory over death is by
means OF his resurrection. It seems
to have been this which was chiefly
alluded to by the apostle here; for he
says, "When this corruptible shall
have put on interruption then shall
come to pass the saying which is
written, Death is swallowed up in
victory" It is a rhetorical expression
rather than a sober truth when we
call anything, except the resource.
ton, victory over death. We may
conquer doubt and fear when are dy,
ing, but that is not conquering death.
It is like warrior crushed to death
by superior antagonist refusing to
yield groan, and bearing the glance
OF defiance to the last. You feel that
he is an unconquerable spirit, but he
is not the conqueror. And when you
see flesh melting away, and mental
power becoming infantine in its feeble.
ness. and lips scarcely able to articu.
late, is there left one moment a doubt
upon the mind as to who is the con
queror, in spite of all the mistaken
fortitude there may be-? The victory
is on the side of death, not on the
side of the dying.
| His second exclamation was, "My
God, my God, why hast Thou forsak.
en- nne% We will not dive into the
deep mysteries Of that expression
we will not pretend to be wiser than
what is written, endeavoring to COM
prehend where the human is mingled
with Divine-we will take the matter
| ois NV, ms - o4o-lr II - -. -