The Bossier banner., 1891-02-12

dead on the noor OF their mosques anu
1t is too late in the history
of the world for governments to allow
such things as the modern massacre OF
Damascus. For such murderous attacks
on Christian missionaries and Christian
disciples, the Gospel is not so appro-
pirate as bullets or sabers sharp and
heavy enough to cut though with one
stroke from crown of head to saddle.
But what most stirs my soul is neither
chariot, nor caravan, nor bazar, nor
palace, but blind man passing along
the street, small of stature and insig.
nificant of personal appearance. Oh,
yes, we have seen him before. He was
one of that cavalcade coming from
Jerusalem to Damascus to kill Chris
tians, and we saw him and his horse
tumble up there on the road some dis
tance out of the city, and he got up
blind. Yes, it is Saul of Tarsus now
going along this street called Straight.
He is led by his friends, for he can not
see his hand before his face. unto
the house of Judas: not Judas the
OoNs OuS - uOdo GuC SOONs Ah SbALSOAOA
part of this city one Ananias-not Ana
MAS the liar, but Ananias the Christian
lis told by the Lord togo to this house
of Judas on Straight street and put
his hands on the blind eyes of Saul,
that his sight might return. "Oh." said
Ananias, Il do not go; that Saul is a
terrible fellow. He kills Christians,
and he will kill me-" 60" said the
Lord, and Ananias went. There sits in
blindness that tremendous prosecutor.
He was a great nature crushed. He had
started for the city of Damascus for
the one purpose of assassinating
Christ's followers. but since that
fall from his horse he has entirely
changed. Ananias steps up to the sight
less man, puts his right thumb on one
eye, and the left thumb on the other
eye, and, in an outburst of sympathy and
love and faith, says: Brother Saul!
Brother Saul! the Lord, even as Jesus
that appeared unto thee in the way as
thou camest, has sent me that thou
mayst receive thy sight and be filed
with the Holy Ghost" Instantly some
thing like scales fell from the blind
mans eyes, and he arose from that
seat the mightiest evangel of all
the ages, Sir William Hamilton for
metaphysical analysis a John Mil
ton for sublimity of thought, White
field for popular eloquenee, a John
Howard for widespread philanthrophy,
but more than all of them put together
inspired, thunderbolted, multipotent,
apostolic. Did Judas, the kind host OF
the blind man, or Ananias the visitor,
see scales drop from tho sighasss eyes?
/ think not. But Paul knew they had
fallen, and that is all that happens to
any of us when we are converted. The
binding scales drop from our eyes, and
we see things differently.
A Christian woman, missionary among
a most degraded tribe, whose religion
was never to wash or improve personal
appearance, was trying to persuade one
of those heather women not only oil
need of change of heart, but change oi
habits, which would result in change OF
appearance, but the effort failed until
the missionary had placed in hel
own hallway looking glass
and when the barbaric woman
passing through the hall, saw
herself in the mirror for the
first time, she exclaimed: 'Can 1t be
possible look like that?" and, appalled,
at her own appearance, she renounced
her old religion and asked to be in
instructed in the Christian religion
And so we feel that we are all right
in our sinful and unchanged condition
until the scales fall from our eyes, ant
in the looking-glass of Gods word WI
see ourselves as We really are, unit
Divine grace transforms us.
There are many people in this hous,
to-day as blind as Paul was befor,
Ananias touched his eyes. And Their
are many here from whose eyes tn,
scales have already fallen. You see al
subjects and all things differently-Go,
and Christ, and eternity, and your owl
immortal spirit. Sometimes the scale
do not all fall at once. When was
boy, at Mount Pleasant, one Sunda
afternoon, reading "Doddridge's Ris
and Progress of Religion in tn
Soul" that afternoon some @
the scales fell from my eyes and
saw little. After had been in tn
ministry about year, one Sunday aft
ernoon, in the village parsonage, read
ing the Bible story of the Syro
Phenician's faith, other scales fell fror
my eyes and / saw better. Two Sunda
evenings ago, while preparing for th
evening service in New York, pickle
up book that I did not remember t
have seen before, and after had read
page about reconsecration to God
think the remaining scales fell from m
eyes. Shall not our visit to Damascu
to-day result, like Paurs visit in visio
to the blind, and increased vision fo
those who saw some what before?
1 was reading of pain ter's child VIII
became blind in in fancy. But, afte
the child was nearly grown, surgC.o
removed the blindness. When toll
that this could be done, the child
chief thought, her mother being dead
was she would be able to see her father
who had watched over her with grea
tenderness. When sight came she wa
in raptures, and ran her hands over he