Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-06-18
come upon the school and that in tbs after.

five or six immortals that would be around
her. The ons teacher has no control over
her class. The other sits as with the strength
Of the Lord God Almighty.
Another word OF counsel / have to give
Be careful in Bible research. A great many
good books are now coming out. We can
not read half of them. At every revolution
of the printing press they are coming. They
cover our parlor tables, and are in our sit
ting rooms and libraries. Glorious books
they are. We thank God every day for the
work OF the Christian printing press. But I
have thought that perhaps the followers of
Christ sometimes allow this religious litera-
ture 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 experience?
Just calculate in your minds how much re-
ligious literature you Ia real during the
year and then how large a portion OF the
Word OF Col you have real, and then con-
trast the two and answer within your own
soul whether you are giving more attention
to tue books that were written by the hanI
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 tue waters are not SO fresh or spark
ling or heaithful as when You get thess very
waters at Saratoga and Sharou-yettipg
them right where they bubble from the
rock.
And have noticed the same thing in ro-
gard to the truth of the Gospel: while thers
is a good deal of refreshnent and health OF
the Gospel of God as 1t comes through cool
books, l find it is better when | come to the
eternal rock of Goi's Word AMI drink forth
that fountain that bubbles up fresh AMI
pure to the life and the reere5hment and the
health of the soul.
Read the Bible and it brings YOU into thu
association of the best people that ever Iivel.
You stand beside Moses aud learn mis- meek
ness, beside Job an learn his patience. be-
side Paul and catch something of his enJhus-
lasm, beside Christ and you feel His love.
Ami yet how stran ye it is that a great many
men have given their whole lives to the as
Sauitlng OF that book. l cannot understand
it. Tom Paine worked against that book as
enough he received large wages and was in.
splred by the very power of darkness. CON
tossing that all the time he was writing he
lid not have the Bible anywhere near him.
How many powerful intellects have endeav-
ared to destroy it. Hume, Bolingbroke,
Nolta1re have been after it. Ten thousand
men now are warning against tbs truth of
dod's Word. What do you think of them?
| think it is mean and will prove it. | will
prove it is the meanest thing that has ever
6een done in all the centuries.
There is a ship at sea AMI in trouble. The
aptam 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 taffraii? 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
inc tempest, and at the time we want help
lhe infidel comes and he takes hold of the
only compass and he tries to pitch it over
BOARD. 1t Is contemplate beyond everything
that is contemplate. Have you any better
light? Bring it on if you have. Have YOU
any better comfort to give us? Bring it on
il you lave. Have you any better hope2
Bring it on if you have, and then you may
have this Bible and l shall never want It
again.
But | can think of a meaner thing than
that, and that is an old man going along on
the mountains with a staff in one hand and
L lantern in the other. Darkness has CONS
On suddenly. He is very old, just able to
pick his way out amid the rocks and preci-
oices, 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"
YES" 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
iastardly, contemplate until there is no
depth of contempt beneath 1t. Ii you have
a better staff, give it to him. If you have a
better light, give it to him.
When God has put the staff of the Gospel
in our hands and the lamp of GODS Word to
light our feet, are you going to take from us
our only support and our only Illumination?
| love the sting of the wasp and the rattle
snake better than l do the man who wants
to clutch the Word of God from my grasp.
Cling to YOUR Biblel If this Bible should
be destroyed, if all the Bibles that have ever
been printed should be destroyed, we could
make up a 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 l would have
a Bible.
You see, my FRIENDS. l nave Dot tried :,
hide the fact that | have large expectation
of you who have entered the Christian life.
Do not be discouraged. Press on toward
the pri1e; God beside You and heaven before
you. Keep your courage up. Look in thirty
years from nov upon this church. Another
man in the pulpit. Other faces in the pews.
Another man leading the song. O5hers
carrying around the aims boxes of the
church. All changed. Thirty years nave
gone and look into thu faces of the people,
au1 | say: why, it seems to me | have
seen these people somewhere, but | cannot
exactly say where. On, yes. now L begin to
think. These were the converts IN 1872 and
1890. Why, how you have changelm
"Oh, yes" they say, 'of course we have
changed. Thirty years MAKES a great
change. I say How many wrinkles there
are in your faces!' Goa, yes" they say.
thirty years make great many wrinkles"
''1qve You kept the faitA?' Eyes, We have
kept the faith. " Where ara those peo1ie
who used to sit in the pew with youg" An
gonef' "rhen | say, well. l feel lonely;
come, let us sing one of the Old hymns VS.
used to sing thirty years ago. in 1892, on
communion day. Any OF you know the old
tune? Soma one hum it. Yes, that's it,
thatsit. Now, aitog sther, let us sing, just
as we did in 1892:
"There is a fountain filed with blood,
Drawn from Immlnue's veins;
And sinners p.unget beneath that food
Lose alt their guilty stains.
"The dyiny thie' rejoicet to see
Ina fol1tain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all ny sins away"