Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-05-02

the haill" In the Psalmisrs writ.
ings / hear the voices of the sea:
"Doep calleth unto deep;" and the
roar OF forests: "The Lord shaketh
the wilderness of Kadesh;" and the
loud peal Of the black tempest: "The
God OF glory thundereth;" and the
rustic OF the long silk on the we'll filled
husks: "The valleys are covered with
corn" and the cry OF wild beasts "rhe
young lions roar after their prey;" The
hum Of palm.trees and ceddrs: "The
righteous shall flourish like a PALM tree,
he shall grow like ce lar in Lebanon -
the sough of wings and the swirl OF fins
"Dominion over the fowl OF the air an
the fish of the sea-"
The truths OF the gospel might hava
been presented in technical terms, and by
the means of dry definitions, but under
these the world would not have listened or
felt How could the safety OF trusting
upon Christ have been presented were it
not for the figure of rock. How could
the gladdentng effect OF the gospel
have been set forth, had not Zach .rias
thought of the dawn OF the morning, ex-
claiming: "rhe day-spring from on high
visited us to give light TO them tn It sit in
the darkness" How could the souls in
| tense longing for Christ have been pre-.
sented so well as by the emblem
of natural hunger and natural
thirst. AS the lake gathers into
| its bosom the shadows of hills arounl
and the CLEAN OF stars above, so, in these
! great deeps OF divine truth, all objects in
nature are grandly reflected We walk
forth in the springtime, and everything
breathes OF the Resurrection. Bright bios
som and springing 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
in the autumn OF the year Nature breaches
thousands of funeral sermons from the
text, ave all do fade "a a leaf" and scat
] tiers her elegies in our path, we cannot help
but think of sickness and the tomb Even
winter "being dead, yet speaketh."
The world will not be argued into
the right, 1t will be tenderly illustrated
into the right. Tell them what religion is
like. When the mother tried TO tell her dy-
ing child what heaven was, she compared
it to light. "But that hurts my eyes"
said the dying girl. Then the mother COM
pared heaven TO music. "But any sound
hurts me; am 50 weak" said the dyi ng
child. Then she was told that heaven was
! like mothers arms. "Oh, take me there ~
she said. IF it is like mothers arms, take
me therew The appropriate simile had
been found at last
Another contribution which the natural
world Is making to the king dom of Christ,
is the defence aud aid which the elements
are compelled ID give to the Christian per-
sonally. There is no law in nature but is
sworn for the Christians defence. In job
this thought is presented as bargain
made between the inanimate creation and
the righteous man: Thou shalt be in
| d ba ~ ha RaI, M
grand thought that the lightnings, and
the tempests, and the hail, and the frosts,
which are the enemies of unrighteousness.
are all marshdlled as the Christians body
guard. They fight for him. They strike
| with an arm OF fire, or clutch with
their fingers OF ice. Everlasting pea @
! is declared between the hercest
elements OF nature and the good man.
| They may in their fury seem 10
be indiscriminate, shifting down the right
eous with the wicked, yet they cannot dam
| age the Christians soul, although they
may shrivel his body. The wintry blast
that how.s about your dwelling, you may
call your brother, and the south wind com
ing up on June day by way OF flower.
| garden, you may call your sister. Though
so mighty in circumference and diameter,
the sun and the moon have a special charge
|
thee by day, nor the moon NY night" Ele-
ments and forces hidden In the earth are
now harness and at work in producing
for you food and clothing. Some grain
field that you never saw presented you
| this day with your morning meal
The great earth and the heavens are the
busy loom at work for you: and shooting
! light, and silvery stream, and sharp light
ming are only woven threads in the great
| loom, with Gods foot on the shuttle. The
! same Spirit that converted your soul has
also converted the elements from enmIty
toward you into inviolaole friendship, aud
furtherest star and deepest cavern, regions
OF everlasting cold as well as climes of
eternal summer. all have a mission OF good,
direct or indirect, for your spirit
Now infer from this that the study OF
natural objects will Increase our eligious
knowledge. II David and job and John
and Paul could not afford to let go without
observation one passing cloud, or rift OF
snow, or spring blossom, you cannot afforj
TO let them go without study. Men and
women OF God most eminent In all ages for
faith and zeal, INDUCED in such obser va-
tons Payson and Baxter and Doddridge
| and Hannah Mora That man Is not
worthy the name OF Christian who saun.
tiers listlessly among these magnificent dis
closures OF divine power around, beneath,
and above Is, stupid and uninstructed.
| They are not worthy to live in a desert for
that has its fountains and palm trees
nor in regions OF everlasting ice, for even
there the stars kindle their lights, and
auroras fash, and huge icebergs SILVER in
the morning light, and Gods power sits
upon them as upon great white throne.
! Yet there are Christians in the Church
who look upon all such tendencies OF mind
and heart as soft sentimentalities, and be.
cause they believed this printed Revela-
ton OF God are content to be infidels in re-
gard to all that has been written in this
great Book of the universe, written in
letters OF stars, in paragraphs OF constella-
lions, and illustrated with sunset and
thunder-cloud and spring morning.
oh for more sympathy with the natural
world, and then we should always have a
Bible open before us, and we could take a
lesson from the most fleeting circumstances,
as when a storm came down upon England
Oh rles Wesley sat in a room watching 1t
through an open window, and frightened
by the lightning and thunder a little bird
few in, and nestled in the bosom OF the
sacred poet, and as he gently stro1ed II and
felt the wild beating of its heart, he turned
to his desk and wrote that hymn which will
be sung while the world lasts:
/