The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-05-03

r ~. eAe aioresdlo gentleman TO Ch0 Scep tic.
The answer was: II have seen it all. and ]
tell you the Bible 10 true! Yes, ii 10 all true!"
The man b went to destroy came back to
defend. After what l myself saw during my
! recent absence, ! conclude that anyone who
can go through the Holy Land and remain
imbecile. God employed men to write
the Bible, but He took many Of
the same truths which they recorded,
and with His own almighty hand He
gouged them into rocks and drove them
down into dismal depths. and, as documents
are put in the corner stone OF . temple, so in
the very foundation of the earth He folded
up and placed records Of heavenly truth.
The earth's corner stone was laid, like that
OF other sacred ediices. in the name Of the
Father, and OF the Son, and OF the Holy
Ghost. The author OF revelation. standing
among the great strata, looked upon Moses
and said: "Let US record for future ages the
worlds history; you write il. there on papy-
rus; will write it here on the boulders."
Again, nature offers IN individual contri-
button to Christianity by. the illustration
writer's seized upon the advantages offered
by the natural world. Trees and rivers and
clouds and rocks broke forth into holy and
| enthusiastic ~utterances. Would Christ set
forth the strength Of faith, He points to the
sycamore. whose roots spread out and strike
down, and clinch themselves amid great
depths OF earth, and He said that faith was
strong enough to tear that up by the roots.
At Hawarden, England, Mr.. Gladstone,
while showing me his trees during o pro-
longsd walk through his magnificent park,
the hand, said: SIN your visit to the Holy
Land did you see any sycamore more impress.
sive than THAR" I confess that l had not.
Its branches were not moro remarkable than
It's roots. 1t was to such q tree as that 10.
sus pointed when He would illustrate the
| nnnon At faith tsV1 yn;~IA -~r uA- AL:-
sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the
root and be thou cast into the seq, and it
would obey you" One reason why Christ
has fascinated the world ms no other teacher,
is because instead Of using severe argument
He was always telling how something in the
natural world. oh these wonderful ''Iikes''
OF our Lord! Like a grain OF mustard seed.
Like a treasure hid in field. Like q mer-
chant seeking goodly pearls. Like unto a net
that was cast into the sea.
As you go through some chapters of Job
you feel as if it were o bright spring morning,
and, as you see the bright glittering drops
from the grass under your feet, you say with
the patriarch, "Who hath begotten the
drops of the dew?" And now, as you read on,
you seem in the silent midnight to behold
the waving OF a great light upon your path,
and you look up to find in the aurora boreal.
is, which Job described so long 6 as "the
bright light in the clouds and the splendor
that cometh out Of the NORTH" AS you read
on, there is darkness hunting in the heavens,
and the showers break loose until the birds
fly for hiding-places and the mountain tor.
ents in red fury ioam over the rocky shelving;
and with the same poet, you exclaim, who
can number the clouds in wisdom, or who can
stay the battles of heaven?" As you read on
you feel yourself coming in frosty chimes. and
in infancy, wading through the snow, you say,
with tho same inspired writer, "Hast thou
| QNforad inffN tho frooanrv IF cpnu9D- ArI
while the sharp slest drives in your face and
the hail stings you cheek, you quote
him again, Hast thou seen the treasures of
the hail?" In the Psalmiet's writings IIhear
the voices Of the sea: Deep calleth unto
shaiE,eth the Wilderness Of Kadesh;'; and the
loud peal Of the black tempest" The God of
glory thundereth:" and rustic of the long
silk on the well-flled husks: "The valleys
are covered with corn;" and the cry of wild
beasts: "The young lions roar after their
prey" tho hum OF palm.trees and cedars:
he shall grow like q cedar in Lebanon" the
sough OF wings and the swirl Of fms: "Do.
minion over the fowl of the air and the fish of
the sea-" The truths of the gospel might
have been presented in the technical terms,
and by the means OF dry definitions, but un-
or felt. How could the safety of trusting
upon Christ have been presented, were it not
for the figure of a rock? How could the
gladdeDing effect of the gospel have been set
forth, had not Zacharias thought
e e1 ahn de aTR. asy-st shs % 1rona o. bi &;
hath visited us to give light to them that
sit in darkness" How could the souls in
tense longing for Christ have been presented
SO we'll as by the emblem of natural hunger
and natural thirst? As the lake gathers in
to it's bosom the shadows of hills around,
nd %hn ~~~- 80 -l-~-f-- - -
great deeps OF divine truth, all objects in
nature ore grandly reflected. We walk forth
in the spring time, and everything breathes
OF tho Resurrection. Bright blossom and
%springing grass speak to us OF the coming up
OF those whom 70 have loved, when in the
shall appear. And when in the autumn of
the year nature breaches thousands OF funer-
al sermons from the text, I'VE oil do fade as
a leaf" and scatters her elegies In our path,
We cannot help but think of sickness and the
tomb. Even winter, "being dead, yet spenk-
right. It will be tenderjy illustrated into ths
right. Tell them what religion is like. When
the mother tried to tell her child what heav-
en- was, she compared 1t to light. "But that
hurts my eyes," said the dying girl. Then
the mother compared heaven to music. But
the dying child. Then she was told heaven
was like mothers arms. "Oh, TAKE me
therel'' she said. .NIi it is like mothers arms,
take me therel' The appropriate aimile had
been found at last.
Another contribution which the natural
the defense and aid which the elements are
compelled to give to the Christian PERSONAL
". There is no law in nature hut ia sworn
for the Christians defense. In Job this
thought il presented as . bargain made be-
tween the inanimate creation and the right
- >..- So M. - L. T. "a E
the stones Of the field" What a grand
thought that the lightnings, and the temp
ests, nj the hail and the frosts, which are
the enemies of unrighteousness, are NIL mar.
ahalled 20 the Christians b~ody-guard. They
fight for him. They strike with an arm Of
Are. or clutch with their fingers Of Toe. Ever
lasting peace 10 declared between the aercest
elements ofnaturs and the good man. They
may in their Jury seem to be indiscrlminate,
shifting down the righteous with the wicked,
yet they cannot damage the Christians
soul, although they may shrivel his body.
The wintry blast that howls about your
the sonth wind coming up on q June day
by way OF q flower garden you may 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
night Elements and forces hidden in the
earth are now harnessed and Mt work in
producing for you God and clothing. Some
grain field that you never saw presented you
this day with your morning meal. Thegreat
work for o and shooting light and siivery
stream, and sharp tightening are only woven
threads in the great loom, with God loo
on the shuttle. The same Spirit that coverted
your soul has also converted the elements
from emnity toward you into inviolable