The Opelousas courier., 1892-11-05

crepancy between what Paul and James
says about faith and WORKS, and they try
the account Of Moses concerning the crea-
ton by moiern decisions in science. AMI re.
fn5ge ea taa6 e all aa guest sa5 ms ins bntEss Wr taa se snsy
will give the preference to the ,geologist.
These men - these spiders, I will say -
suck poison out of the sweetest flowers.
Tney fatten thar inf lefty upon the
truths which have led thousands to
heaven, and in their distorted vision
prophet seems to war with prophet, and
apostle, n II Gney can nnd soma "a Lralb
OF character in a man Of God mentioned in
that Bible these carr:on crows cav AMI nap
their wings over the carcass. Because they
cannot understand how tae w1aIe swat
lowed Jonah they attempt tne more won
derful feat of swallowing the monster whale
of modern skepticism. They do no. believe
it possible that the Bible story should bs
true which says that thu du nh ass spake,
while they themselves prove the thing pos
sible by their own ~utterancas.
I am amused beyond bounds waen hear
one of these men talking about a future
life. Just ask a man who rejects that Biole
vhat heaven is, AMI hear him befog your
soul. He will tell you thai heaven IS
merely the development Of tbs internal re-
sources of a man: it is an efdorasceaca OF the
DYNAMIC forces into a state OF ethereal ana
tra~nscendental lucuoration, in close Jux5a-
~Dosition to the ever re3enr was" and tina
great ITO be" and the everlasting no.
Considering themselves wise, they are fools
for time, fools for eternity.
Then there is another class OF persons who
come to the Bible as controversialists. They
are enormous Pres5yterians or fierce Bap-
fists Or violent Methodists. They cut the
Bible to suit their creed instead of cutting
tneir creed to suit the Bible. Il the Scrip
lures think as they do, well; if not, so much
the worse for the Scriptures. Toe Bible is
merely the milestone on which they sharpen
ths dissecting knife of controversy. They
come to it as a government in time OF war
comes to armorles or arSenais for weapons
and munitions. They have declared ever
lasting war against all other sects, aaLthey
want so many broadswords, so manySmus-
kets, so many howitzers, SO many colun-
biads, SO much grape AMI canister, SO many
fieldpieces with which to rake the field OF
dispute, for they mean to get the victory
though the heavens be darkened with the
smoke and the earth rent with the thun Ter.
What do they care about the religion Of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
have seen some such men coms back
from an ecclesiastical massacre as proui of
their achievements as an Indian warrior
boasting of the number Of scalps he has
taken. ! have moro admiration for a man
who goes forth with his fists to get the cham
pionship than ] have for these theological
pugilists who make our theological maya
zines ring with their warcry. There are men
of truth is 70 stick somebody. There is one
passage Of the Scriptures that they like bet
ter than al others. and that is this: BLESSED
be the Lon which teacheth my hands to war
and my fingers to fight" Woe to us it we
come to Gods word as controversialists, or
as skepSics, or as connoisseurs, or as fault
finders, or merely as poets!
Let usago forth and gather the trophies
sor Jesus From Golconda mines we gather
the diamonds, from Ceylon banks we gather
the pearls, from all lands and kingdoms we
gather precious stones. n we bring the
glittering burdens and put them down at
the feet OF Jesus and say: "Al these are
Thine. Thou art worthy" We go forth
again for more trophies, and into one saeaf
We gather all the scepters of the earth. of all
royalties and dominions, and then we bring
feet OF Jesus and say. "Thou art King Of
kings. and these Thou has conquered"
Andt then We goforth again to gather more
trophies, and we bid the redeemed of all
ases, the sons and daughters of the Lord Al
mighty, to come. We ask them to come and
offer their Thanksgiving, and the hosts OF
heaven bring crown and palm and scepter.
ALI HGE0 uy tQ6SG Dte0tliHg ISGl, am ny L1lS
riyen side, and by this wounded heart cry,
Blessing and honor and glory AMI power
be unto Him that sitteth Upon the throne and
and unto the Lamb forever and foreverw
Tell me OF a tear that He did not weep, OF a
burden that He did not carry, of a battle
that He did not fight, of a victory that He
did not achieve. "All in all is jesus in the
great plan of redemption.
l remark again, Christ is everything to
tho Eltysicfion in tirao nf fa~nt.htn Whn hn1
escaped trouble? We must all stoop down
and drink out Of the bitter lake. The moss
has no time to grow on the buckets that
come out Of the hearts well dripping with
tears. Great trials are upon our track as
certain as greyhound pack on the scent Of
deer. From u hearts in every direction
there are a thousand chords reaching out
some of these tendrils snap. The winds that
cross this ssa Of life are not all abaft. The
clouds that cross our sky ara not feathery
and afar, straying like hocss OF sheep Or
heavenly pastures, but wrathful and somber
and cleaning with terror they wrap the
mountains in fire, and come down baying
with their thunders through every gorge.
Therichest fruits of blessing have a prickly
she'll. Life here is not lying at anchor; it is
weathering a gale. 1t is not sleeping in a
soldiers tent with our arms stacked; it is a
paYonet charge. We stumble over grave
stones, and we drive on with our whesl deep
in the old rut OF graves. Trouble has
wrinkled your brow, an ! it has frosted your
head. Falling in this battle of life, is there
no angel to bind our wounds? Hath God
made this world with SO many things to
hurt and none to heal? For this snake.
bite of sorrow, is there no herb growing by
all the brooks to heal the poison? Blessed
be God that in the Gospel we find the anti
\ 4 - rSy-.-L L. k~-AAf1l - A-a--
How many thorns He hath piucked out of
human agonyf
On, He knows too we'll wnat it is TO carry
a cross, not to help US carry oursl Hs knows
too well what it is to climb the mountain,
not to help US up the steep. He knows too
well what it is to be prosecuted, not to help
those who are imposed upon. He knows too
we'll what 1t is to be sick, not to help thoss
who suffer. Aye. He knows too well whatit
is to ale, not to help us in our last extremity.
Blessed Jesus, Thou knowest it all. Seeing
Thy wounded side, and Thy wounded hand,
and Thy wounded feet, and Thy wounded
brow, we are sure Thy knowest it all.
On, when those into whose bosom we used
to breathe our sorrows are snatched from
us, blessed be God, ths hsareof Jesus still
beats. and when all other lights go out and
tine world gets dark, then we see coming out
from behind 8 cloud something so bright
and cheering, we know it to bs tbs morning
star OF the souls deliverancel The hand Of
care may make you stagger, or the hand OF
persecution may beat you down, or the hand
o. disappointment may bsat you back, but
there is o hand, and it is SO kind, and 1t is so
gentle, that it wipeth ell tears from all
faces.
Il is stated as a curious fact that SUI
eide is more prevalent in warm than
cool weather. Extreme heat breeds DO.
melancholy and desperation.
I notice that an amateur fisherman can