The Opelousas courier., 1891-03-07

find out the number of business men who
have been strengthened by the promises of
Tod, n the people who have been fed by
the ravens when other resources gave out,
and the men and women who. going into this
battle, armed only with needle, or saw, OF ak,
or yardstick, or pen, or type, or shovel, or
sheelast, have gained a victory that made
the heavens resound. With all the
Of God promised for every exigency no one
need be left in the lnrch.
| like the faith displayed years ago in
Drury Lane, London, in a humble home
where every particle of food had given out,
and a kindly soul entered with tea and other
table supplies, and found a kettle on the fire
ready for the tea. The benevolent lady said,
How is it that you have uhe kettle ready for
the tea Waen you mad no tea in the house"
An the daughter in the home said: Moth
er would have me put the kettle on the fire,
and when | said What is the use of doing
SO. when we have nothing in the houseg she
aid My child, God will provide. Thirty
wears He has already provided for NE
through all my pain and helplessness. and
He will net leave me to starve at last. He
will send US help, though we do not see how
We nave been waiting all the day for some
thing to come, but until we saw you we
knew not how it was to Gomez Such things
the world may call condolences, butt call
them almighty deliverances, and, though
you do not hear of them, they are occurring
every hour Of every day and in all parts of
Cilristandon.
But the word Come" applied to those who
need so1ace will amount to nothing unless It
be uttered by some one who has experienced
that solace. That spreads the responsibility
Of giving this Gospel call among a great
many. Those who ave lost property ami
been consoled by religion in that trial are the
1,o1 +o xo-I4n +I-1o --l~ 1,-o f~11oI ~ 1,.eA
ness. Those who have lost their health and
been consoled by religion are the ones to in
yite those who are in poor health. Those
who have had ~bereavenents and been con-
soled i'll those bereavementS are the ones to
svmpathize with those who lave lost father
or mother or companion or child or friend.
What multitIIdes of us are alive to-day, and
in good health, and buoyant in this life, who
would have been broken down or dead long
ago but for the sustaining and cheering help
of our holy religionl So we say "Come!
empty. The supply is not exhausted. There
is lust as much mercy and coincidence ana
soothing power in God as before the first
grave was dug, or the first tear started, or
the first heart broken, or the first accident
happened, or the first fortune vanished.
Those of us who have felt the consolatory
power of religion have a right to speak out
of our own experiences, and say Conner
What dismal work of coincidence the
world makes when it attempts to condolet
The plaster they spread does not stick. The
broken bones under their bandage do not
knit. A farmer was lost in the snow storm
on a prairie Of the far West. Night coming
on, and after he was almost frantic from not
knowing which way to go, his sleigh struck
a rnt OF another sleigh, and he said, II will
follow this rut, and it will take me out to
safety He fastened on until he heard the
bells of the preceding horses, but, coming up,
he found that that man was also lost, and, as
Is the tendency of those who are thus con-
fused in the forest or on the moors, they
were both moving in a circle, and the runner
of the one lost sleigh was following the rum
ner of the other lost sleigh round and round.
At last it occurred to them to look at the
north star, which was peeping through the
night, and by the direction of that star they
got home again. Those who follow the adj
vice of this world in time of p~erplexity are
in a fearful round; for it is one bewildered
soul following another bewildered soul, and
only those who have in such time got their
eye on the morning star of our Christian
faith can find their way out, or be strong
enough to lead others with an all persuasive
invitation.
'tBut,' says some one, ''you Christian peo-
pie keep telling usto Come yet you do not
t-4G tt1 INV W NbAiIOs A1GAG NAolN O JIG NV
be true OF this occasion. Come believiDgi
Come repentingi Come praying! After all
that God has been doing for six thousand
years, sometimes through patriarcbs and
sometimes through prophets, and at last
through the elimination of all tragedies on
Golgotha, can any one think that God will
not welcome your comingfs Will a father at
vast outlay construct a mansion for his son,
n lay out parks white with statues, and
green with foliage, INT all a-sparkle with
fountains, and then not allow his son TO live
in the house or walk in ~thg;parks? Has God
built this house of Gospel mercy and will He
then refuse entrance to His children? VIII a
Government at great expense build life say
ing stations all along the coast, and boats that
can hover unhurt like a petrol over the wild
est surge, and then when the lifeboat has
reached the wreck Of a ship in the ofing not
allow the drowning to seize the lifeline or take
the boat for the shore in safety? Shall God
provide at the cost of His only Sons assas-
sination escape for a sinking world, and then
turn a deaf ear to the cry that comes up from
the breakers?
But you say, there are so many things
I have to believe, and so Snany things in the
shape of a creed that I have to adopt, that I
am kept back No mol You need believe
but two ~things-namely, 5that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners, and that
you are one of them. But You say, II do
believe both of those thingsp' Do you really
believe them with all your hearth Yes"
Why, then, you have passed from death into
life. Why, then, you are a SON or a daughter
of the Lord Almighty. Why, then, you are
an heir or an heiress of an inheritance that
will declare dividends from now until long
after the stars fedead. Hallelujah! Primes
of God, why do you not come and take your
e~oronet? Princess of the Lord Almighty,
why do you not mount your throne? Pass
up into the light. Your boat is anchored,
why do you not go ashore? just plant your
feet hard down, and you will feel under them
the Rock of Ages.
Ichallenge the universe for one instance in
which a man in the right spirit appealed for
tire salvation of the Gospel and did not get
ii. Man alivei are you going to let all the
years of your life go W al with you without
your having this great peace, this glorious
hope, this bright expectancy? Are you GO
ing to let the pearl of great price lie in the
dust at your feet because you are too indo-
lent or too proud to stoopadown and pick it
up? VIII you wear the chain of evil habit
when near by you is the hammer that could
with one stroke snap the shacklea VIII you
stay in the prison of sin when here is a Cos
pei key that could unlock your incarcera-
tion2 No, mol As the one word sComei'
has sometimes brought many souls to Christ,
I will try the experiment. of pilling up into a
mountain and then sending down in an avail
ancfe of power many OF these Gospel
sComes.'' Come thou and all thy house
into the ark Come unto Me all ye who
labor and are heavy laden and I will give you
rest:i' Come, for all things are now ready
ssThe Spirit and the Bride say Come and
and let him that heareth Say Come and LET
him that is athirst GOMEZ
The stroke OF one bell in q tower may be
sweet, but a score Of bells well tuned, and
rightly lifted, and skillfully swung in one
great chime I'll the heavens with music
almost celestial. And no one who has heard
Az ~,S~Lkz oL.;p,ar IN, fha Aaxs,orc oF hu,etar