Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-08-29

TINE. CONNECTED via t1e Herlt s alr-
solulon. lie shall sd ons foot ga the
sea and the o<her Ca the aarta.
Gave mc the history Ct yoar foot and
I VIII give yea the history Of your life
time. Ten me Up what steps 70 bath
gons. doE4 hat deeEvities, and "a
what rossis 1nd Ia what directions, and
1 Wiu anew more about yea Llln
want ~ know. None u Us could endure
ths scrutiny. Cur feet not always ln
paths Il God. Sometimes ia paihs x
w0rldiuess Our feet, q divine and
glorious machinery Tor usefulness and
work, - often making ullssters, SO often
going il tna wrong directloB. God
knowing every step, The patriarch say
ing. Thou ssttesr print on the heels u
my feet Crimes vi the hand. crlnes
Of the tongue, crimes Of the eye, crimes
Of the ear not worse than the crimes Ok
tie foot. Oh. We want the wings or
humility 70 cover the feet. Ought No
not % 20 into self abegnation before tho
all searching, al serGtiniklng, all Try
ing eye OF Iiods The seraphs do. How
much more We. with twain he COW
cred the feet.
TIE BONDAGE OF SIN.
All this talk about the dignity Of hn-
man nature Is braggadOciO and SIN.
Our nature started ar the hand Of God
regal. bat it has been pauperized. There
Is a well Ia Belgium which once had
very pare water, and It was stoutly
ulasoned with stone and brick; but that
we'll aftOrward became the center OF the
battle Of " aterloo. AT the opening Of
the battle the soldiers with their sabers
compelled the gardener, William Won
Kylsom, 70 draw water out of the well
for them. aud it was very pure water.
But the battle ragged, and three hun
dred dead aud half dead were flung into
the well for quick and easy burial, SO
that the we'll Of refreshment became the
Well Of death. and long after people
looked down into the well, and they saw
the bleached skulls, but no water. So
the human soul was we'll Of good, but
the armies Of sin have fought around 1t,
and fought across it and been slain, and
1t has become well Of skeletons. Dead
hopes, dead resolutions, dead oppOrtuni
ties, dead ambitions. An abandoned
well unless Christ shall reopen and pu-
rify and i'll it as the well of Belgium
never was. Unclaan, unclean.
Another seraphic posture in the text,
with twain he covered the face" That
means reverence Cfodward. Never so
much irrsverence abroad in the world
IS today. You see il in the defaced
statuary, IN the cutting out of figures
from fine paintings, IN the chipping Of
monuments for a mementO, in the fact
that military guard must stand at the
graves Of Grant and Garfield, and that
old shade trees must be cut down for
frewood. though fifty George 2. Morrises
beg the woodmen 10 spare the tree, apd
that calls a corpse a cadaver, and that
speaks of death as going over 10 the ma
jority, and substitutes for the reverent
terms, father and mother, 1.-THE old
man and "the old woman" and finds
nothing impressive in the ruins of Baal-
bee or the columns Of Karnac, and sees
no difference in the Sabbath from any
other days except it allows more dis
sipation, ard reads the Bible in what
Is called higher criticism, making it
not the Word of God, but a good book
with some fine things IN it. Irreverence
never so much abroad. How many take
the name of God in vain, how many
trivial things said about the Almighty.
Not willing 70 have God in the world,
they roll up an idea of sentimentality
ana humanitarianism and impudence
and imhecility and call il God. No
wings OF reverence over the face. no
taking OF of shoes on holy ground. You
can tell from the way they talk they
could have made a better world than
this, and that the God Of the Bible
shocks every sense Of propriety. They
talk of the love Of God in a way that
shows you they believe it does not make
any difference how bad man Is here,
he will come Ia at the shining gate.
Thoy talk oI the love Of God in such a
way which shows You they think it is a
general jail delivery For oil the aban-
doned and the scoundrelism Of the uni
verse. Nopunishment hereafter for any
wrong done here.
TEE LOVE or GOD.
The Bible gives Us two descriptions of
God. and they are just opposite. AID
they are both true. In one place the
Bible says God is love. In another
place the Bible says God is a consuming
FIRE. Tho explanation is plain as plain
can be. God through Christ il love-
God ont Of Christ is FIRE. To win the
one aud TO escape the other we have
only 70 throw ourselves body, mind and
soul into Christ's keeping. mo" Gays
Irraverence. Il want no atonement, l
want no pardon. want no Intervention
/ will 20 up and face God. and I viii
challenge him, and viii defy him, and
viii ask him what he wants to DO with
me-" SO the finite confronts the inf
mite. so a tack hammer tries 10 break a
thunderboit. so the breath OF human
nostrils deiies Size everlasting God. while
the hieraTchs If heaven bow tho head
and bend the knee ~ the Kings chariot
goes by. and the archangel turns away
because be cannot endure the splendor,
and the chorus Of all the empires Of
heaven comes in with fun diapason,
Holy. holy holv,"
Reverence FOR sham, reverence for the
od merely hecasse it IL old, reverence
for stupidity however learned. rever-
eucs For incapacity. however finely in
augurafea / have none. But we want
more reverence FOR God. more reverence
for the sacrameuts. more reverence for
the Bible. m0re reverence for the pure
more reverence for the good. Rever-