Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-09-30

---------.-s----.- -
APOSTLE. and Il they eau ind 80 ne bad trait
OF character In man OF God mentioned IN
that Bible these carrion crows cav aui Hap
thair wings over the carcass. Because they
cannot understand now the whale swat
lowed Jonah they attempt thu more won
derful feat of swallowing thu monster whale
of modern skepticism They do not believe
It possible that tho Bb.e story should b'
true which says that the du ND ass sp1Se,
wolfe they themselves prove the thing pos
sibls by their own uttsrances.
am amused beyond bounds when hear
one Of these men talking about future
life. Just ask man who rejects that Biols
what heaven is ami hear him befog your
soul. He will tell you that heaven is
merely the development Of the internal re-
sources of a man: Il is an efiorsscence OF the
dynamic forces into state Of ethereal ana
transcendental lucubration, IL close juxta-
position to the ever present was" and th'
great ito be- and tho everlasting mo
Considering themselves wise, they are fools
for time, fools for eternity.
Then there is another class of persons who
come 20 the Bible as controversialists. They
are enormous Pres 1yterians or fierce Bap-
fists or violent Methodists. They cut the
their Greet 10 suit the Bible II thu Scrip
lures think as they do well; if not so much
the WORSE for the Scriptures Tie Bible is
merely the milestone on which they sharpen
ths dissectng knife of controversy. They
come TO it as a government in time OF war
c)mes to armories or arsenals for weapons
aud munitions. They have declared ever
lasting war against all other sscts, and they
want SO many broadsworis, 50 many mus
kets, so many howitzsrs, 50 many colum-
biads, so much grape and canister, so many
leldpieces with which to rake the field OF
dispute, for they man tn get the victory
though the heavens be darkensd with the
smoke aud tue earJn rent wl5n tae thunter.
What do they care about the religion OF
the Lord Jesus Christ.
have seen some sucl men CONF back
from an ecclesiastical massacre as proui OF
their achievements as an Indian warrior
Boosting of the number o. SC lips he has
taken. have more admiration for a man
who goes forth with his fists TO get the cham
pionship than l have for these theological
pugilists who make our theoloyicl maya
zines ring with their warcry There are men
who seem to think the only use of the sword
Of truth is to stick somebody. There is one
passage of the Scriptures that they like bet
ter than all others. and that is this: "Bles ed
be the Lord which teacheth my hanis TO war
ani my fingers to fight" Woe tousi if we
come TO Gods word as controversialists, or
rs skeptics, or as connoisseurs, or as fault
fin iers, or merely as poets
Let us go forth aud gather the trophies
FOR Jesus. From Golcon1a mines we gather
.he diamonds, from Ceylon banks we gather
;he pearls from all ~ and kingdoms we
gather precious stones, and we bring the
Offering burdens and put them down at
tde feet OF Jesus and say: IAN these are
Thine. Thou art worthy" We go forth
again for mora trophies, aud into one sheaf
we gather all the scepters of the earth. Of all
royalties and dominions, an then we bring
The sheaf OF scepters and put it down at the
.eat OF Jesus and say. Thou art King OF
kings. and these Thou has conquered"
And then we go forth again to gatasr mora
trophies aud we bid the redeemed Of all
ages. the sons and dau yhters of the Lord AL.
mighty, to come. We ask them to come and
offer their Thanksgiving, an thu hosts OF
heaven bring crown AMI palm and scepter
and here by these bleeding feet, AMI by this
riven side and by this wounded heart cry,
blessing and honor and glory aud power
be unto Him that stitch upon the throne and
and unto the Lamb forever and forever"
Tell me Of tear that He did not weep Of a
burden that He did not carry, OF a battle
that He did not fight of victory that He
did not achieve. "Al in all is Jesus in the
great plan of redemption.
] remark again. Christ is everything 10
the Christian in time of trouble Who has
cscaued troubles We must all stoop down
aad drink out Of the bitter lake. The moss
has no time 20 grow on the buckets that
come out of toe hearts well dripping with
tears. Great trials are upon our trace as
certain as greyhound PACK on the scent OF
deer. From our hearts in every direction
there are thousand chords reaching out
binding Us to loved ones, AMI ever AMI anon
some of these tendrls snap. The winds that
cross this sea of lifs are not all a0att Inc
clouds that cross our SKY are not teatnery
anl afar, strayiny like flOcIs O. sheep on
heavenly pastures, but wrathtul ana somOer
and cleaning with terror they wrap the
mountains in fire, AMI come down buying
with ia sir thunders through every gorge.
The richest fruits OF blessing have a pricSly
she'll Life here is no. lying at anchor; 1t IS
weatherng a gale. It is not sleeping IN a
soldiers tent with our arms stacked; 1t IS
pavonet charge. We stumble over grave
stones. and we drive on with our wleal deep
in the old rut of graves. Trouble has
wrinkled your brow an 1t has frosted your
head Falling in this battle OF lie. Is taers
no angel to bind our wounds? hatn Uol
made this world with so many things ID
hurt and none to heal' For this snake
bite of sorrow, is there no herb growing by
ali the brooks 70 heal tue poison? Blessed
be God that in the Gospel we find the anti
dotei Christ has bottled an OCEAN OF tears.
How many thorns He hath plucked out OF
human agonvi ...-.-..-
On H knows too well wlat 1t Is to carry
a cross. not to help US carry ours! hs knows
too we'll what il Is to climb tho mountain,
not TO help US up the steep He knows too
vel what it is TO be persscdte1, not to help
those who are imposed upol. He knows TOO
well what 1t is to be SICK not to help those
who suffer. Aye, He knows too well whatlt
il to die, 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 woun lei
brow we are sure Thy knowest 1t all.
On. when those into whose bosom we used
10 breathe our sorrows are snatcae1 from
n. blessei be God the heart Of Jesus still
hat. and when all other lights go out an
the world gets dark then we see coming out
from behind a cloud something 50 bright
and cheering. we know it 70 be the morning
star of the souls deliverance. The hand Oh
care NAV make you stagger, or the hand Oh
persecution may beat you down, or the hand
o. disappointment may beat you BACK out
there is a hand, aud it is 80 kind, ana IL Is q
gentle. that il wipeth all tears from al
faces.