The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-05-07

your path. and you look up to ind 1t
the aurora borealis, which Job dc
scribed 80 long ago as the bright
| light in the clouds and the splendor
that cometh out Of the north. As
YOU read on, there is darkness hul-
! ing in the heavens, and tho showers
break loose till the birds fly for hid
ing place and .he mountain torrents
in red fury foam over the rocky sllalv
ing; and with the same poet, exclalln,
Who can number the clouds in wis
dom, or who san stay the bottles OF
heaven" As you read on, you feel
yourself rolning i'll frosty climes, and,
i'll fancy, wading through tho SNOW,
you say With that same inspired VII
ter, Hast thou enterted into the
treasures of the snow And while
the sharp sleet drives into your face,
and the hail stings your cheek, you
quote him again; Hast thou seen
the treasures of the hail!" In the
Psalmist's writings I hear the voice
of the sea: Deep calleth unto deep;
and the roar of forests: The Lord
shuketh TIE Wilderness of hadesh;
and the loud peal of the black tenn
pest: The God OF glory thunder
eth;' and the rustic of the long silk
on the well-illed husks: The val
leys are covered with corn; and the
cry of the wild beasts: The young
lions roar after their prey; the hum
| of palm trees and cedars: The right
eous shall flourish like the palm-tree,
he shall grow like d cedar in Leba-
non;' the sough of wings and the
| swr. Of fins: Dominion OYER the
fowl of the air and the fish Of the
| sea-.
The truth of the gospel might have
| been presented III technical terms,
and by means of dry detnitio NJ,
but under these worlds would nc
have istenened or felt.
We walk forth in tine spring times
and everything brosthes ofthe Resm-
rection. Bright blossoms and spring
ing grass speak to us of the coming
up Of those whom we have loved,
when in the white robes of their Joy
and coronation they shall appear.
and when III the autumn Of the year
Nature breaches thousands OF funer-
al sermons from the text, I'VE all do
fade as leaf, and scatters her ele-
gies il our path, We cannot help but
think of sickness and the tomb. Even
winter. "beiny dead vet spsaketh.
The world will not be argued into
the right. It will be tenderly illus
trated into the right. Rel them
what religion is like When the
mother tried to tell her dying child
what heaven was, she compared it to
light. But that hurts my eyes,
said the dying girl. Then tie moth
er compared heaven to music. But
any sound hurts me; l AIN SO weak,
said the dying child. Then she was
told that heaven was like u mother
arms. "Oh take me there! she said.
If it is like mothers arms take me
there" The appropriate slmle had
been found at last.
Another contribution which the
natural world is making to the king
dom of Christ is the defense and aid
which the elements are compelled
to give to the Christian personally.
There is no law in nature but IS
sworn fol, tho Christian defense. In
Job this thought is presented as Il
bargain made between the inanlmatc
creation and the righteous man;
Thou shalt be in league with the
stones of the field" What a grand
thought that the hghtnings, and the
tempests, and the hail, and the frosts,
which are the enemies of unrlsht-
eousness, are all marshalled as the
Christians body guard. They fight
for hln. They strike with an arm of
tire,or clutch with their fingers of ice.
Everlasting peace is declared between
the tercest elements OF nature and
the good man. They may in their
fury seem to be indiscliminate, smlt-
in. down the righteous with the wick
cd, yet they cannot damage the Chris
tian $ soul, although theymay shrivel
tho body. The wintry blast that
howls about you. dwelling, YOU may
call your brother, and the south wind
coming up on a June day by way of a
flower garden, You call your sister
Though SO mighty In circumference
and diameter, the sun and the moon
have q special charge concerning YOU.
The sun shall not smite the by day,
nor the moon by night" Elements
and forces hidden il the earth nre
now harnessed and and at work IN
paoducing for you food tsnd clothing.
Some grain field that you never saws
presenting you this day with your
morning meal. The great earth and
the heavens are the busy loom at
work for you
Now I infer from this that the
study of natural objects will increase
our religious knowledge. Il David
and Job and John Paul could not If
ford TO let so without obselyatioa
| one passing cloud, or lift OF snow, OF
spring blossom, you cannot afford to
let them go without study. Men
of God most eminent III all ages
for faith and zeal, iudulged in such
obselvations-Payson and Baxter
and Dodridge and Hannah Moore.
| That man is not worthy the nane Of
! Christian who saunters listlessly
among these magnificent disclosures
OF divine power around, beneath and
| above US, stupid and uninstlucted.
They me not worthy to live in AIDES
ert, for that has its fountains and
palm-trees; nor in regions OF everlust-
ing ice, for there the stars kndle
! their lights, and amoras flash, and
the huge icebergs shiver in the morn
ing light, and Gods power sits upon
them as upon a great white throne.
Yet there are Christians III the
church who look upon all such ten