San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1886-04-01
THE BOOKS OF HUMAN LIFE.
In Outline efd Sermon By ne Rec. II. NJ.
DuBose, dt the N. n. Church on
T,iesJ1D Ma,ch o.

, DuBose, at The N. II, Church on
Tuesday March %,
. And saw the dead, small aud great Sand be
fore aod aud the books were opensd and anoth
or book was opened which l. the book Of lie an.
the dead were Judged out OF those things whicl
were written IN the book according 10 their works
Rev, 20xl2,
There are all kinds OF books, good books
, and bad, flooding the throughfares of life
running in mighty torrent from tho great
presses of the land. Our lives are in the
books they come out OF, not get in the
books. All tho thought and activity of TO-
day are expressed in books. This is empha
tically period in which II may be said,
mo man lives within himself Is nc
man, however removed from intellectual
and social activity who is not influenced by
books.
The dark stream of human sorrow Is
increased by the evil books OF to-
day. Many books arc never read. Nine
teen twentieths of the books commonly pub
lshed il read ut ALL exercise no intiu ence
on tho great current Of life-some are great
and good storehouses of knowledge.
The great books of the world are the
books least read; they hold communion
with but n few IA circle Of true hearts
and happier minds hold communion with
them. =
There is n book so full of progress and
full of hope, that remains closed to man
kind. II is not the blessed book of God
we don't refer to that. Another book that
is sealed-but few read this book-the book
of the human heart Your and my hearts
are books-great books, filed with stories
of sorrow and sins and gladness They are
read by none save God and ourselves. We
read them and God reads them, to others
they are sealed.
1t is these books we want to single out.
We want to see if we con divine something
that is in them. These are the the books
which when God shall call together the
mighty multitudes of every age, shall be
opened and read. Their pages will no
longer be closed except to God and ourselves
but shall be spread before the highest of all
Gods children. Sand the book was open
cd"
In that great day of the Lord that we
have called the Day of Judgment, when all
the children of God and of cid, shall meet to-
gether in one vast assembly to read the
books and to know their contents.
Archangel hands are welding pens of fire.
But we are not interested in those books.
In the great libraries of Gods truth we are
not interested. We arc interested in these
books-the books of our hidden lives, our
secret emotions and our sinful and holy
thoughts. The angels shall gather them up
out of cities of all the lands, out of the ca
verns OF the deep, from the stony sepulchres,
out of the bowels of earth, from its hidden
chambers they shall be gathered back.
There is enough to charm and please the
10 To
darker aspects of the picture, yet could add
to it as a whole, its dark side as well as light.
Graves open, rocks are rent asunder an
the mighty march is taken up. All men,
small and great, high and low, stand before
God unclothed- the God of oil the
universe, The hurrying crowd Of all the re-
susitatei dead are marshalel on tho pave
mont of God and the books are opened.
Let us See. The angel takes the first
book--a little book-and it is unseaied and
opened. II has but one tiny leaf, thin and
fragile ms the cobwebs of the morning. On
it is written the story of one sweet, one in
nocent life, that came like the sunbeam OF
the morning and went out like the dying
rose of the evening;-bu left book, the
story of the life of one sweet babe The
angels will want to read that book.
Another book is opened. 1t commences
with the same sweet story. Promises ano
proud hopes are written there. Suddenly
before the story is well begun, it is torn as
under and closed. 1t is impossible to oil
vino what that story would have been. Ii
is the story of a life that went out in the ros!
morning of childhood--of hopeful boyheod
and sweet girlhood. The angels will wan
to read it. The eyes of God will fall upoi
it with gladness the eyes of Christ beam
ing with love, he will say "Of such IS tho
kingdom of Heaven"
We have another book. The story goe
on until ii has well nigh reached the climax
J The story of life that came to close jus
, before it reached the meridian of its bright
ness.
, Another book is opened, book that j
finished but has no meaning. 1t begin
with the promise of grand story but l
, all contusion-no meaning toit all chaos
! Darkness no order of thought, no purpos
in it. Have you ever read that sort of
book ? They come from the presses of to
day sometimes, and when you take them N
and read them you do not know what the
E mean. Such book will be opened in God
Judgment, but the angels will read it and
will mean nothing. The vast majority o
strong, brave men in this world are Twin
purposeless lives, They are simply driftin
! down the river without purpose-in tn
f dark with blinded eyes, along the pages O
> the blank book of destiny. But the boo
will be uasealed but the book is read
The other books have been put in the Il
brary of God to be read, cherished, loved
e What will they do with itl
a Cast it out, let it perish in the dust un
. der mans feet! 1t means nothing, 1t
n worth nothing, cast it outl
q Another book. The angels found it i
: the ditch of filth, down in the desolatlon Q
the earth. 1t bears the marks of filthines
q upon the outside but it must be read
; Open it and read it. Here are half the page
blackened and colored, all through the boo
there is blaclSness, and confusion worse COL
founded Here is leaf over here staine
: with blood here is a leaf with catalogu
L of all the crimes and guilt, written with tn
z mans own hand-read it, it must be read
G the book shall be opened. The angels as
g ''What shall we do with it 2" The answc
d is "Bind it to the heart of its author an
S cast them into the lake of fire." If men VIII
y write evil books in this world are cast OF
# of society, how much more will God ca:
) out men who are making them with thei
J. lives.
J. But there is another book. Open il an
read it. 1t stands as the children of Go
stand-as the spirits of just men made pc
feet. 1t is completed. The story opene
=, is continued in the same grand strain. 1t
finished, and underneath is written one lint
1.-THE End" II is the life of one who live
a life consecrated TO God. The angels wi
want to hear that book. Read 1t, open
= and read it-and il is read.
What manner Of book are you writing
= What will you seal up when the Angel {
Death comes again at the dread hour of mi'