The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-04-30

oVun mAh' inou bnhlt Dc IN league Win
the stones Of the Aeld.p What grand
thought that the lightnings. and iths
tempests, and the hail, and the frosts,
which are the enemies Of unriRhteous-
ness, are all marshaled as the Christ
ian's body guard. They'hght for him.
They strike with an arm Of FIRE, or
clutch with their fingers Of ice. Ever
lasting peace Is declared between the
hercest elements Of nature and the good
Of man. They may In theirrfury seem
to be indiscriminate, shifting down the
righteous with the wicked, yet they
can not damage the Christians
soul, although they may shrivel
his body. The wintry blast that howls
about your dwelling, you may call your
brother, and the south wind coming UP
on June day by way Of fower-garden,
you may call your sister. Though SO
mighty In circumference and diameter,
the sun and the moon have a special
charge concerning you. "The sun
shall not smite thee by day, nor
the moon by night" Elements
and forces hidden in the earth
are now harnessed and at work In
producing for you food and clothing.
Some grain field that you never saw pre-
sented 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
sharplightning are only wovenin threads
in the great loom with Gods foot on the
shuttle. The same spirit thatconverted
your soul has also converted the ele-
ments from enmity toward you into in
violable friendship, and furthest star
and deepest cavern, regions Of everlast-
ing cold as we'll 10 climes OF eternal
summer, all have mission OF good,
direct or indirect for your spirit.
Now infer from this that the study
of natural objects will increase our re-
/ ligious 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 can not afford to let them 90 with
out study. Men and women OF God
most eminent In all ages for faith and
zeal, INDUCED in such observations
Payson and Baxter and Doddridge and
Hannah More. That man is not
worthy the name Of Christian who
saunters listlessly among these magnih-
cent disclosures Of divine power around,
beneath, and above us, stupid and
uninstructed. They are not worthy to
live in desert, for that has its foun-
tains and palm trees; nor in regions OF
everlasting Ice, for even there the stars
kindle their lights, and auroras fash,
and huge icebergs shiver in the morn
ing 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 because they believe this printed
Revelation OF God are content to be inf
dels in regard to all that has been writ
ten 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.
/ infer, also, the transcendent i'm
portance Of ChHst's religion. Nothing
is so far down, and nothing Is so high
up, and nothing so far out, but God
makes 1t pay tax TO the Christian re-
ligion. II snow and tempest and dragon
are expected TO praise God, suppose you
He expects no homage from your soul2
When God has written His truth upon
every thing around you, suppose you He
did not mean you to open your eyes and
read 1t?
Finally, learn from this subject
what an honorable position the Chris
tian occupies when nothing is SO great
and glorious In nature but II is made 10
edify, defend and instruct him. Hold
up your hands, 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 the next autumn's
glowing fruits, and next winters storms,
all seasons, all elements, zephyr and eu-
roclydon, roses breath and thundercloud,
cleaning light and thick darkness, are
sworn to defend you, and cohorts OF an
gels would fly 10 deliver you from peril,
and the great God would unsheathe his
sword and arm the universe in your
cause rather than that harm should
touch you with one Of Its lightest fn-
gers. "As the mountains around about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is around about
His people from this time forth for ever
more" .
o for more sympathy with the natural
world, and then we should always have
q Bible open before US, and we could
take lesson from the most feeting
circumstances, as when storm came
down upon England Charles Wesley sat
in room watching 1t through an open
window, and frightened BY the light
ming and the thunder little bird few
In and nestled In the bosom Of the
sacred poet and as he gently stroked It
and felt the wild beating Of Its heart,
he turned 10 his desk and wrote that
hymn which will be sung while the
world lasts: fD s G. EIia
Jesus lover Of my soul. ~
~ Lot me 70 thy bosom fy. ...r
While the blliows near me roll
while the tempest still ishigh;
Hide me, o my Saviour hide