The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1889-03-27

Lesson and Where IL May Bs Found-A
Learned and Concise Review OF the
| Same.
The lesson for Sunday. March 81. may be
found In Isaiah 80: Ito.
INTRODUCTORY.
There are special reasons why missions
airy lesson. distinctively such. may be found
Just now quite seasonable. for crisis OF
missions is right upon Us. But this lesson
Is evangeistic as well; il represents the
universal longing for redemption. AS next
Sundays Scripture portrays the welcomed
Christ, so this presents the anticipated. the
hoped-for Christ Matthew records Jesus
as saying Many prophets and righteous
men have desired to see those things which
| we see, and have not seen them: and to
hear those things which We hear. and have
not heard them" The lesson before us in
PRODUCES us to these days of hope and de-
Sire. Shall they enable US TO appreciate. as
We should. the day of grace In which we
live. while at the same time they slim ulate
our expectant souls for the days OF glory
yet to come?
LESSON PARAGRAPHS.
What OF 1t? Much. II Gods retributive
! judgments are fulfilled then may we expect
MS sentences OF mercy TO reach unto gra-
! cious execution. The mouth of the Lord
hath spoken both, and here almost in the
| same breath. Two Isaiahs forsoothl There
, theory but no grounds in the sentiments
expressed. II Isaiah spake by the Spirit OF
God then he could not put utter both wrath
Tor sin and love for righteousness. The
same hand that exalts aliases. and the same
| lips that tremble with tenderness make
| rocks to quake with the trumpeting OF the
| divine displeasure. Surely there is strong
| reinforcement in the exordium OF the pre-
ceding chapter. which forms. at one and the
same time. natural conclusion TO Isaiah
| "a and fitting introduction to Isaiah IS:
Seek ye out the book of the Lord and read:
no one OF these shall fail. none shall want
her mate, for my mouth hath commanded.
and his spirit it hath gathered them"
And now. following right upon these words
| OF woe. comes one of the sweetest chapters
OF all the sacred pages. So OF old came the
stern Woe unto thee. Chorazin; woe unto
! thee, Bethsaida; and Immediately after the
soothing Come unto me all yc that labor"
! Yes. and over in Revelation. right upon the
| dread sentence. The second woe is past
and behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
sound forth the great voice in heaven.
saying. The kingdoms OF this world are
become the kingdoms of the Lord and OF
his Christ. and he shall reign for ever and
| ever. And now was Jonathan Edwards
| out and awayfrom the Divine Spirit when
| he sought TO bring men 10 repentance and
| the Joy OF redemption by depicting the sim
| ner in the hands OF an angry Godf Hear
this extract from Lyman Beecher who had
been preaching long at East Hampton for
! feet TO anything / could do. / could not
write any sermons that would take hold.
Finally resolved 1 would preach the doc
trine of election..... The church was start
ed at last. They had not felt so much for
! twelfth month. Sinners. too. were stirred
up and there was winking and sneering.
| After meeting you could see them walking
! about In knots. swinging their arms. talk
ing and threatening they'd never go to that
! meeting againp But they did go. and the
next time gave them another. and then an
other. and another. eight sermons in sue
| cession." Presently we read, The Lord
was there; and the flood was rolling all
| around"
1t was rolling food OF salvation and JOY
! To such as this our lesson brings us. How
well it pictures the ineffabe blessedness OF
| those days when the Spirit is present with
reviving power and with every moment
seems to come foretaste of heaven The
! wilderness and the solitary place. the I'M
] ,peopled waste. leap for JOY for that is tho
| literal meaning Of the word glad" here.
| The desert manifests it's rejoicing with
| dances of delight and its fruitfulness can
only be compared with the clustered prodi-
gaity of the rose. Blossoms. JOY. singing
language seems TO fail the prophet in his
enraptured outlook upon the glory OF tho
Lord. and the focking imagery. even the
very mixture OF figures. is surprisingly
eloquent. when the excellency OF our
God" is upon us who has words to tell its
| righteousness? There were met up in the
| OtuLe OF Maine, our lrlenl across the way
| tells us, great houseful TO hear the word
! preached. The glory OF the Lord" was
there. and who could speak? The pastor
said Let those who are ready TO pray with
me for tho Holy Ghost come forward" Four
hundred responded. He could not pray;
nobody could. For hours all knelt weeping
in silent prayer. broken only by an occa-
sional utterance, others coming forward
from the audience. Need we say that the
blossoming OF that revival was "as the rose"
a IA "nlnrU nf
| lebanon"
BE strong then. fearful heart Fear not.
Behold the same God who comes with vcn-
geance to. his enemies will come with a
recompense OF salvation to his people. He
will come and save YOU" Indeed. that
very salvation was in itself a recompense
OF vengeance to the evil. 1t is God himself.
as an examination OF the original will show
us, who IL spoken of as both the retribu-
ton and the reward. The cloud that was
light by night unto fleeing Israel was dark
! ness and confusion to the pursuing hosts
OF Egypt. 1t behooves US TO get on the
right Side OF the cloud that the visitation of
| wrath may be changed for us to mercy.
! Rev. John Higgins. in his recent work on
! the Value and Success OF Foreign Mis-
sions." tells OF man who grossly attacked
and slandered devoted missionary OF the
| Pacific islands. But the same person after
ward addressed the servant of God whom
| he had assailed:
These newspaper articles were written
| by me. The regret and shame which has
since possessed me for having written them
will lose some of its bitterness since know
that you will rejoice that God. in the in
fnity OF HIS mercy. has during the past
year opened to me also door Of deliver
| ance and poured into the dark
prison house OF mind previously impene-
trablo to every good thought and hardened
to ali sympathy with every good work.
some rays Of the light of the everlasting
gospel which yourself and your fellow
laborers have toiled to spread abroad in
pagan lands"
Verify. "the eyes of the blind shall be
opened"
An hioh,cay shall be there" Where? In
the wilderness" in the desert" in the
"habitation OF dragons" 1t takes the eye
of faith TO descry highway amid such sur
roundings. Look at Marshall Pass. in Col
orado. Who but the stout-hearted. far
sighted engineer could have pictured n
roadway through such formidable fast.
nessesp Even now. as we look upon tho
| spiral windings OF the completed work 10
seems like yeritable hioh,cdy IN the air.
and we make the dizzy passage as in a
| dream. The Forum has said. regarding the
slums of our great cities. that ones first
thought upon entering their reeking wretch
edness is the utter impossibility OF anything
being done. and the second thought Is tho
| absolute necessity that something be done