The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-26

and custom, marriage and Ourlelf pecullari-
ties of dress, TUNES, sandals, crsplhg-plns'
amulets and girdles. and tinkling ornaments.
II you come to look at military arrange
ments. you will ind coats OF mail, and
iavelius and engines OF war, and circum-
valuation, and encampmeuts. Ii you look
for peculiar musical Instruments, you will
find psalterIes and shlgionoths, and rams
horns The ANTIQUARIAN will find in the
Rible curiosities In agriculture, and in
commerce, and in art, and In religion, that
will keep him absorbed a great while.
There are those who come to this Bible as
Won would TO cabinet Of curiosities, and
you pick up this and say, What q
strange sword that Isl, and W nat peeu.
liar hat thisis" and "WhAt an unlooked-for
lamp that isln and the Bible 10 such be-
comes a British museum.
Then there are others who find nothing In
the Bible, tut the poetry. Well, II you come
as a poet, you will find In this book fault
less rhythm, and bold imagery, ana start
ling antithesis and rapturous lyric, and
sweet pastoral, and instructive narrative,
and devotional psalm: thoughts pressed
III a style more solemn than that OF Mont
gomery, more bold than that Of Milton,
more terrible than that Of Dante, more nat
ural than that OF Watsworth, more impas-
stoned than that Of Pollock, more tender
thaa that of Cowper. more wierd
shan that Of Spenser. This great poem
onet, and weaves the flames of Judgment in
Its garland, pours eternal harmonies in its
rhythm. Everything this book touches
It makes beautiful, from the plain stones OF
the summer threshing-hoOr, and the daugh-
tiers of Nshot filling the trough for the
eamels, and the fish pools of Heshbon, up to
the Psalmst Or Alslny God with dIApason OF
storm and whirlwind, and Job leading forth
Orion, Arcturus, and the Pleiades 1t is a
wonderful poem, and great many people
read it as they do Thomas Moores "Lalla
Rookh," and Walter Scott's Lady Of the
Lake." and Tennyson's "Charge of the
Light Brigade They sit down, and are so
absorbed IN looking at the shells on the
shore that they forget 20 look of on the
great ocean on Gods mercy and salvation.
Then there are others who come to this
book as sceptics. They marshal passage
against passage, and try to get Matthew
and Luke III q quarrel, and would have
discrepancy between what Paul and James
say about faith and works; and they try
the acc unit of Moses concerning the crea-
ton b. modern decisions in science and re-
solve that in all questions between the scien-
tific explorer and the inspired writer they
will give the preference TO the geologlst.
These men-these spiders, | will say-suck
poison out of the sweetest flowers They
f. ten their iufidelity upon the truths which
have led thousands - heaven, and in their
ti- biIb-u NAslOu plOpLlCb soSALb W WIN
prophet, and evangelist with evangelist,
and apostle with apostle; and if they can
find some bad trait of character in man of
God mentiole cd in that Bible, these carriou
crows cav and flap their wings over the
carcass. Because they cannot understand
how ths whale swallowed Jonah. they at
tempt the more wonderful feat of swallow
ing the monster whale OF modern skspticism.
They do not believe it possible that the
Bible story should be true which says that
the dumb ass speke, while they themselves
prove the thing possible by their own utter
ances. | am amused beyond bounds when
! hear one Of these men talking about a
future life. Just ask a man who rejects
that Bible what heaven is, and hear him
befog your soul. He will tell you that
heaven is merely the development of the
internal resources of man; it is an effior-
escence Of the dynamic forces into a state
of ethereal and transcendental ucubration,
In close juxtapOzltion to the ever present
"was,n and the great ITO be" and the ever
lasting mo- Considering themselves wise,
they are fools for time, fools for eternity.
Then there is another class of persons
who come to the Bible as contro versialists.
They are enormous Presby terIans, OF fierce
Baptists, or violent Methodists. They cut
the Bible to suit their creed, instead OF cut
ting their creed to suit the Bible II the
scriptures think as they do. well; if not, 90
much the worse for the scriptures The
Bible is merely the milestone on which
they sharpen the dissecting-knife OF oontro-
versy. They come to it as a government In
time Of war comes TO armorles or arsenals
for weapons and munitions. They have de-
clared everlasting war against all other
sects. and they want 30 many broad-swords,
so many muskets, so many howitzers, 80
many columbiads, so much grape and can
lister, so many field-pieces with which to
"a tha Of Al
mean to get the victory. though the
heavens be darkened with the smoke
and the earth rent with the thunder.
What do they care about the religion of
the Lord Jesus Christi l have seen some
such men come back from an ecclesiastical
massacre as proud of their achievements as
an Indian warrior boasting of the number
OF scalps he has taken. l have more ad-
miration for a man who goes forth with bis
fists to get the championship than l have
for these theological pugilists who mako our
theological magazines ring with their war
cry. There are men who seem 20 think the
only use of the sword OF truth Is 10 stick
somebody. There Is one passage of the
scriptures that they like better than all
the others, and that is this: blessed be the
Lord which teacheth my hands TO war, and
my fingers to fight.n Woe to us IL we come
to Gods word as controversialists or as
Bceptics or as connoissenrs or as fault-fndeEs
or merely as poets!
Those only get into the heart OF Gods
truth who come seeking Christ. Welcome
all such They will find him coming out
from behind the curtain OF prophecy until
he stands IN the full light of New Testa-
ment disclosure, Jesus the Son of God, the
Saviour Of the world. They will find him
in genealogical table and in chronological
calculation, in poetic stanza and in historI-
cal narrative. in profound parable and in
aJartling miracle. They will see his foot on
every sea. and his tears in the drops Of dew
on Hermon, and hear his voice on the wind,
and behold his words all abloom in the
valley between Mount Olive and Jerusalem,
There are some men who come and walk
around the temple Of truth, and merely see
the outside. There are others who walk
into the porch, and then go away. There
are others who come in and look at the
pictures, but they know nothing about the
chief attractions Of the Bible. 1t is only the
man who comes and knocks at the gate,
saying, Il would see Jesus" For him the
glories Of that book open, and he goes in
and finds Christ. and with him peace
pardon, life, comfort and heaven. "All in
all is Jesus" in the Bible.
remark again that Christ is everything
In the great plan of redemption. We are
slaves; Christ gives deliYerance to the cap>
tive. We are thirsty; Christ is the river Of
salvation to slake our thirst. We are hun-
Rry. Christ saVa 'tT am the broad - rs. u