Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-04-28

long silk on the well filled husks- he val
leys are covered with corn;" and the cry of
wild1beasts: .The young lions roaI'after their
prey;p the hum OF palm trees aud cedars:
''Therighteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
he shall grow like csiar 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 truthsof the gospel might have 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 the figure OF a
rocki How could the gladdening effect of
the gospel have been set forth, had not
Zacharias thought Of the dawn of the mora
ing, exclaiming: "The day spring from on
high hath visited us to give light to them
that sit in darkness How could the souls
intense longing for Christ have been present
ed so well as by the emblem of natural hun
ger and natural thirst As the lake gathers
into its bosom the shadow of hills around,
and the CLEAN of stars above, SO, in these
great deeps of divine truth, all objects in ma
ture are grandly reflected. We walk forth
in the spring time, and everything breathes
of the Resurrection. Bright blossom and
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 ma
ture breaches thousands of funeral sermons
from the text, 1--WE all do fade as a leaf"
and scatters her elegies in our path, we can
not help but think of sickness and the tomb
Even winter, ''being dead, yet speaketh."
"a will NOT la nad ipfr 4 ha rio
1t will be tenderly illustrated into the right |
Tell 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 the mother compared heaven to music
"But any sound hurts me; am so weak"
said the dying child Then she was told that
heaven was like mothers arms. ooh, take
me there!" she said. 'If it is like mothers
arms, take me thereW The appropriate
simile had been found at last
NATURES LAWS DEFEND THE CHRISTIAN.
Another contribution which the natural
world is making to the kingdom 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 for the
Christians defense. In Job this thought is
presented as a bargain made between the in
animate creation and the righteous man;
Thou shalt be in league with che stones of
the field" What grand thought that the
lightnings, and the tempests, and the hail,
and the frosts, which are the enemies OF I'M
Righteousness, are all marshaled as the Chris
tian's bodyguard. They fight for him. They
strike with an arm of fire or clutch with their
fingers Of ice. Everlasting peace is declared
between the fiercest elements of nature and
the good man. They may in their fury seem
to be indiscriminate, shifting down the
righteous with the wicked, ye hey cam
not damage the Christians soul, although
they may shrivel his body. The wintry blast
that bowls about your dwelling you may
call your brother, and the south wind com
ing up on June day by way of flower gar
den, you may call your sister. Though so
mighty in circumference and diameter, the
sun and the moon have a special charge con-
corning you 1.-THE sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night" Elements
and forces hidden in the earth are now har-
messed 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 slvery stream, and
sharp lightning are only woven threads in
the great loom, with Gods foot on the shut
tie. The same spirit that converted your soul
has also converted the elements from enmity
toward you into inviolable friendship, and
furthest star and deepest cavern, regions of
everlasting cold as well as climes of eternal
summer, all have mission of good, direct or
indirect, for your spirit
THE STUDY OF NATURE ASSISTS RELIGIOUS
THOUGHTS.
Now infer from this that the study of
natural objects will increase our religious
knowledge If David and Job and John and
Paul could not afford to let go without obser-
walton one passing cloud, or rift of snow, or
spring blossom, you cannot afford to let them
go without study. Men and women of God
most eminent in all ages for faith and zeal
INDUCED in such ervations-Payson and
Baxter and Doddridge and Hannah More.
That man is not worthy the name of Chris
tian who saunters listlessly among these mag
uiflcent disclosures of divine power around, be-
meath and above us, stupid and uninstructed
They are not worthy to live in 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 flash,
and huge icebergs SILVER in the morning light,
q
great white throne. Yet there are Christians
in the church who look upon all such tenden-
ces Of mind and heart as soft sentimental
ties, and because they believe this printed
revelation of God are content to be infdels in
regard to all that has been written in this
great book of the universe, written in letters
of stars. in paragraphs Of consultations, and
illustrated with sunset and thunder cloud and
spring morning.
HONORABLE POSITION OF THE CHRISTIAN.
/ infer, also, the transcendent Importance
of Christ's religion. Nothing is so far down,
and nothing is 80 high up, and nothing so far
out but God makes it pay tax to the Christian
religion. If snow and tempest and dragon
are expected to praise God, suppose you he
expects no homage from your soulG When
God has written his truth upon everything
around you, suppose you he did not mean you
to open your eyes and read It'll
Finally, learn from this subject what an
honorable position the Christian occupies
when nothing is so great Hpd glorious in ma
ture but it is made to edify, defend and in
struct him. Hold up your heads, sons and
daughters Of the Lord Almighty, that may
see how you bear your honors. Though now
you may think yourself unbefriended, this
springs soft wind, and next summers harvest
of barley, and next autumn's glowing fruits,
and next winters storms, all seasons, all ele
ments, zephyr and euroclydon, roses breath
and thundercloud, cleaning light and thick
darkness, are sworn to defend you, and CO.
horts of angels would fly to deliver you from
peril, and the great God would unsheath his
sword and arm the universe in your cause
rather than that harm should touch you with
one Of its lightest fingers "As the mount
aims around about Jerusalem, so the Lord is
around about his people from this time forth