The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-04-26

prepared the Book for all classes of people.
For instance, little children would read the
Bible, and God knew that, so he allows
Matthew and Luke to write sweet sto-
ries about Christ with the doctors of the
law, and Christ at the well, and Christ at
the cross, so that any little child can I'M
derstand them. Then God knew that the
aged people would want to read the book,
and so he allows Solomon to compact
world of wisdom in that Book of Proverbs.
God knew that the historian would want
to read it, and so he allows Moses to give
the plain statement of the Pentateuch.
God knew that the poet would want to
read it, and so he allows Job to picture
the Heavens as a curtain; and Isaiah the
mountains as weighed in balance,
and the waters as held in the
hollow of the Omnipotent hand; and
God touched David until, in the lat
ter part of the Psalms, he gathers a
great choir standing in galleries above
each other-beasts and men in the first
gallery; above them hills and mountains;
above them, fire and hail and tempest;
above them, sun, moon and stars
of light; and then, on the high
est gallery, arrays the hosts of
great choir, reaching from the depths of
earth to the heights of Heaven, like the
leader of great orchestra, he lifts his
hands, crying "Praise We the Lord. Let
every thing that hath breath praise We the
Lord" and all earthly creatures in their
song, and mountains with their waving
cedars, and tempests in their thunder and
rafting hail, and stars on all their tremb-
ling harps of light, and angels on their
thrones, respond in magnificent acclaim:
"Praise We the Lord. Let every thing that
hath breath praise the Lord" God knew
that the pensive and complain ing world
would want to read it, and so he inspires
jeremiah to write: ooh, that my head
were waters and mine eyes fountains of
tears" God knew that the lovers the
wild, the romantic, and the strange would
want to read it, so he lets Ezekiel
write of mysterious rolls, and winged
creatures, and flying wheels of fire. God
prepared it for all zones-for the arctic
and the tropics as we'll as for the temper
ate zone. -blooded Greenlanders
would find much to interest them, and the
tanned inhabitants at the equator would
find his passionate nature boil with the
vehemence of heavenly truth. The Arab
ian would read it on his dromedary, and
the Laplander seated on the swift sled,
and the herdsman of Holland guarding
the cattle in the grass, and the Swiss girl
reclining amid Alpine crags. Oh, when l
see that the Bible is suited in style, exact
ly suited to all ages, to all conditions, to
all lands,I can not help repeating the con-
clusion of my text: "The statues of the
Lord are right"
I remark again, the Bible is right in its
doctrines. Man sinner, Christ Saviour
the two doctrines. Man must come
down-his pride, his righteousness,
his worldliness. Christ, the anointed,
must go up. If it had not been for the
setting forth of the atonement, Moses
would never have described the creation;
prophets would not have predicted; apos-
ties would not have preached. 1t seems
to me as if Jesus, in the Bible, were stand
ing ON the platform in great amphithea-
ter, and as if the prophets were behind
him, throwing light forward on His sacred
person; and as if the apostles and evan
gelists stood before Him, like foot-lights
throwing up their light into His blessed
countenance; and then as if all the earth
and Heaven were the applauding auditory
l.
and Sinai, but makes all mountains bow
down to Calvary. The focks led
over the Judean hills were emblems
of ''the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world" and the lion leap
ing out of its lair was an emblem of "the
lion of Judah's tribe" I will, in my next
breath, reeite to you the most wonderful
sentence ever written: "This is a faithful
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners" No wonder that when Jesus
was born in Bethlehem Heaven SYM
pathized with earth, and wave of joy
dashed clear over the battlements and
dripped upon the shepherds in the words
''Glory to God in the highest, and ON earth
peace, good will toward men," In my
next sentence every word weighs ton:
s'God so loved the world that he gave his
| only begotten son, that whatsoever be-
lieyeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." Show me any other
book with such q doctrine-so high, so
deep, SO vast.
Again, the Bible is right in its effects.
| do not care where you put the Bible, il
just suits the place. You put it in the
hand of man seriously concerned about
his soul. / see people often giving to the
| SCI ious soul this and that book. 1t may be
very well; but there is no book like the
Bible. He reads the commandments, and
pleads to the indictment "guilty" He
takes up the Psalms of David and says
''They just describe my feelings" He flies
to good works. Paul starts him out of that
by the announcement: IA man is not
| justified by works" He falls back in his
| encouragement. The Bible starts him up
| with the sentence; Remember Lots wife
Grieve not the Spirit. Flee the wrath tc
come" Then the man in despair begins to
cry out: "What shall do? Where shall
go?" and voice reaches him, saying:
"Come unto me, all We who are weary and
heavy laden, and l will give you rest
| Take this Bible, and place it in the
| hands of men in trouble? Is there any.
| body here in trouble? All! might better
ask, are there any here who have never
| been in trouble? Put this Bible in the
hands of the troubled. You find that as
some of the best berries grow on the
sharpest thorns, so some of the sweetest
consultations of the Gospel grow on the
| most singing affections. You thought
that death had grasped your child. Oh
no; it was only the heavenly shepherd