News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1892-06-16
as with the strength of the Lord God

,.
as with the strength of the Lord God
Almighty.
4 minister comes into the pulpit He
has a magnificent sermon, all the SEN
fences rounded according to the laws of
rhetoric and fine sermonizing, and the
/ truth makes no impression ON the hearts
| of men. People go away and say, every
beautiful wasn't it?' A plain man comes
into the pulpit. He has been on his knees
before God asking for an especial mes
sage that day, and the hearts of men
| open to the plain truth, the broken SEN
| fences strike into their consciences, and
though the people may dispense at the
close of the services seemingly without
having received any impression, that
night voices will be lifted in some house
hold, ''Men and brethren, what shall we
do to be saved?' Oh, this power of
prayer! Pray! Pray
DRINK OF THE WATER OF KNOWLEDGE,
Another word of counsel have to give.
Be faithful in Bible research. a great
| Italy SOOO UOOhS diO INV NO41il4iSo Jul
We cannot read half of them. AT every
revolution of the printing press they are
coming. They cover our parlor tables,
and are in our sitting rooms and libra
ries. Glorious books they are. We
thank God every day for the work of the
Christian printing press. But l have
thought that perhaps the followers of
Christ sometimes allow this religious lit
erature to take their attention from
Gods Word, and that there may not be
as much Bible reading as there ought
to be.
How is that with your own expert
ence? just calculate in your minds how
much religious literature you have read
during the year and then how large
portion of the Word of God you have
read and then contrast the two and an
Ewer within your own soul whether you
are giving more attention to the books
that were written by the hand of man or
that written by the hand of God. Now,
you go to the drug store and you get the
mineral waters, but you have noticed
that the waters are not so fresh OF
sparkling or healthful as when you get
these very waters at Saratoga and
Sharon-getting them right where they
! bubble from the rock.
And I have noticed the same thing in
regard to the truth of the Gospel; while
there is a good deal of refreshment and
! health of the Gospel of God as it comes
| through good books, find it is better
when | come to the eternal rock of Gods
Word and drink from that fountain that
bubbles up fresh and pure to the life
and the refreshment and the health of
the soul.
Read the Bible and it brings you into
the association of the best people that
ever lived. You stand beside Moses and
learn his meekness, beside Job and learn
his patience, beside Paul and catch some
thing of his enthusiasm, beside Christ
and you feel his love. And yet how
strange it is that II great many men have
given their whole lives to the assaulting
of that book. ! cannot understand it.
Tom Paine worked against that book as
though he received large wages and was
inspired by the very powers of darkness,
confessing that all the time he was writ
ing he did not have the Bible anywhere
lects have endeavored to destroy it.
Hume, Bolingbroke, Voltaire have been
after it. Ten thousand men now are
warning against the truth of Gods Word.
What do you think of them? | think it
is mean and VIII prove it. will prove
it is the meanest thing that has ever been
done in all the centuries.
There is u ship at sea and in trouble.
The captain and the crew are at their
wits end. You are on board. You are
an Old seaman You come up and give
some good counsel, which is kindly
taken. That is all right. But suppose,
instead of doing that, in the midst of all
the trouble you pick up the only compass
that is on board and pitch it over the
tatfrailt Oh, you say that is dastardly.
But is it as mean as this? Here is the
vessel of the world going on with sixteen
hundred millions of passengers, tossed
and driven IN the tempest, and at the
time we want help the infidel comes and
he takes hold of the only compass and
he tries to pitch it overheard. It is con
temptble beyond everything that is con-
temptible. Fave you any better light?
Bring it on if you have. Have you any
better comfort to give US? Bring it on
if you have. Have you any better hope?
Bring it on if you have, and then you
may have this Bible and | shall never
want it again.
LEAN ON THE STAFF OF THE GOSPEL.
But l can think of meaner thing than
that, and that is an old man going along
ON the mountains with staff in one hand
and a lantern in the other. Darkness
has come ON suddenly. He is very old,
just able to pick his way out amid the
rocks and precipices, leaning on his staff
with one hand and guiding himself with
the light in the other. You come up and
say: Father, you seem to be lost. You
are a long way from home" Eyes" he
replies. And then you take him by the
hand and lead him home. That is very
kind of you. But suppose instead of
that you should snatch the staff from his
hands and hurl it over the rocks, and
snatch the lantern and blow it out? That
would be dastardly, contemplate until
there is no depth of contempt beneath
it. Ii you have a better staff, give it to
him. If you have better light, give it
to him.
When God has put the staff of the
Gospel in our bands and the lamp of
Gods Word to light our feet, are you
going to take from us our only sup
port and our only illumination? love |
the sting of the wasp and the rattlesnake
better than do the man who wants to |
clutch the Word of God from my grasp
There are people here who have been |
reading it good while. 1t is precious
book to their souls. 1t has been so in |
times of darkness and trouble. There |
was soldier who fell in battle, and after |
he had fallen he said in feeble voice to |
his comrade, GIVE me a drop" His |
comrade replied, ''There is not a particle |
of water in my canteen." ooh he said, |
II didn't mean that. Look in my knas,-
sack and you will find Bible there. |
Get out that old Bible and just give me a |
drop out of that" And his comrade |
found the Bible and read few passages.
The dying soldier said, 'Oh, George, |
there is nothing like that, is there, for a
dying SOLDIER
Cling to your Bible! If this Bible |
should be destroyed, if all the Bibles |
that have ever been printed should be |
destroyed, we could make up Bible |
right out of this audience. From that
Christian mans experience | take one |
cluster of promises, and from that old |
Christian mans experience another, | |
put them all together, and | think | |
would have Bible.
You see my friends 7 have NOT +r;a1 |