The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1892-10-13

afarQai nzrLnOlle5 IN It's LIZ
Everything tbs book touches IL MAKES
beauri.ul. from the plain stones OF the sum
Nor thrasainz floor, and the daughters OF
Major filing the trough for the camels, ana
the fish po1ls of Hesn bon. up to the psairnist
praisinr God with diapason OF storm ana
wbirlwinl. and Job leading forth Orion'
Arcturus and the Pleiades 1t is wonder
full poem, and a great many people read ~
as tbev do Thomas Moore's Italia Rookh,
and Walter Scott's Lady Of the Lake, =" and
Tsnnyson's "Chargs OF the Light Brigade;
They sit down. and are so ABSORBED IN looH-
ing at the shells on the shore that they lot
GET to look off on the great ocean Oh Gous
mercy and salvation. L.. .I,;-
Then there are others who come to TINS
booS as skeptlcs. They marshal pasSaS-
AGAINST passage, and try TO get Matthe" ahe
Luke in quarrel, ana "9u'o nav o-
creuancy between what Paul ana james
saws about faith and works, and they Try
The account of Moses concerning the cFe3-
tio,, NV rnofern decisions in science, and re-
solve that in all duesti )ns between the scian-
ti6c EXPLORER AMI the inspired writer they
will give the preferences to tue geo'oSisl'
These men these spiders, WIN say
suck poison out OF the s"esOs9C ~ -.
Tnsv fatten their inf ieIity upon the
fruths when have led thousands 70
baavan and in their distorted vision
nronhet seams to war with prophet, anu
ssy,angelist, with evangelist, and apostle with
oroztle and If they can find some bad TRAIT
nj character in man OF God menuoned III
that Bible taese carrlon crows cav ana nap
tneir wings over the carcass. Because they
cannot understand how t1e wnale s"al-
lowed Jonah they attempt the more Won
daranl feat of swallowing the monster wnale
- modern skepticisn. They do not believe
If POSSIBLE that the Bible story snould Do
tr7Ie which saws that the dumb ass spaSe,
while they themselves prove the tnlnS pos
sible bv their own utterances.
T am amused beyond bounds when l hear
one Of these men talking about future
life Just ask man who REJECTS tla0 Dlo-e
what heaven is. and hear him Detog your
souI He viii tell you that heaven is
rnare1v the development of the internal re-
sources of a man; it is an efhOrescence OF tne
dynamic forces into a state OF etnefeai anu
tTanscsndental lucuDration, IN close ]u2ta-
position TO the ever present was anu tue
great ''to be- and che everlasting 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 contrOyersialists. They
are enormous PreS9vterians or fierce Bap-
lists or violent Methodists. They cut the
Bible to suit their creed instead of cutting
their creed to suit the Bible L the Scrip
lures think as they do WE'LL if not, 50 much
Jne worse LOT Tue locFlDJuFeS. L ue DlOiS IL
merely the milestone on which they sharpen
the dissecting knife of controversy. They
come to it as government in time of war
comes TO armories or arsenals for weapons
and munitions. They have declared ever
lasting war against all other scots, and they
want so many broadswor1s, 50 many mus
latg so many howitzers so many colum-
oiads so much grape and canister, 50 many
feldpieces with which to rake the field of
dispute, for they mean to get the victory
though the heavens be darkened with tins
smoke and the eartn rent with the thunder.
What 90 they care about the religion OF
the Lord Jesus Christ
have sean some sucn men come back
from an ecclesiastical massacre as proud of
their achievements as an Indian warrior
boasting OF the number Of scllps ne has
taken. | have more admiration for man
VINO goes torch with his fists to get the cham
pionshio than ! have for these theological
pugilistS VINO make our theological maya
zines ring with their wercry. 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
FAR then ALI 81 h.ssa s,ssJlf,f III y it1 IL war
and my fingers to tight" Woe to US if we
come to Gods word as controversiaiists, or
as sseptics, or as connoisseurs, or as fault
fin iers, or merely as poetsi
Let us go forth and gather the trophies
for Jesus. From Golconda mines we gather
the diamonds, from Ceylon banks we gather
the pearls, from all lands and king iotns we
gather precious stones, ana we Uring the
gttering burdens and put them down ar
I tae feet of Jesus and say: "All these are
Thine. Thou art worthy" We 90 forth
again for more trophies, and into one sneaf
we gather all the scepters of the earth, of all
royalties and dOminions, ami then we bring
the sheaf VI sceptsrs and put 1t down at the
feet OF Jesus and say. Thou art King OF
kings, and THESE Thou has conquered"
And then we go forth again TO gather more
trophies, and we bid the redeemed of all
a es, the sons and dau shters of the Lord Al.
mighty, TO come. We ask them to come and
offer their thanksgivn IS, and the hosts of
heaven bring crown and pam and scepter.
and here by these bleeding feet, and by this
riven SIDE and by tnis wounded heart CRY,
'B .esslng and honor and glory an power
be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and
and unto the Lamb forever and toreverw
Tell me OF tear that He did not weep. of a
burden that He did not carry, of battle
that he did not fight, of a victory that He
old not achieve. "AIl in all is Jesus in the
great plan of redemption.
1 remark again, Christ is everything to
the Christian in time Of trouble. Who has
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 OIL Ile heATCs well dripping WIN
tears. Great trials are upon our track as
certain as greyhound pack on the scent of
deer. From our hearts in every direction
there are a thousand chords reaching out
binding US to loved ones, AMI ever ana anon
some Of these tendrils snap. The winds that
cross this sea of life are not all abaft. The
clouds that cross our sky are not feathery
an alar, straying like floc5s OF sheep on
heavenly pastures, but wratntui aud somber
and cleaning with terror they wrap the
mountains in fire, and come down baying
with their rhunders through every gorge.
The richest fruits Of blessing have a prickly
she'll Life here is not lying at anchor; it is
weatheuug 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 wheel 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 poisone Blessed
be God that in the Gospel we find the anti
dotel Christ has bottled an OCEAN of tears.
How many thorns He hath plucked out of
human agony
Oh, He knows too well what it is to carry
a cross, not TO help us carry ours! He knows
too well what it is to climb the mountain,
not to help US up the steep. He knows too