Milford chronicle., 1892-09-30

eoats.of mail and javelins and engines Of
war and decentralization and eneamp-
ments II you look for peculiar musical
Instruments, you will find psalteries and
shigionoths and rams horns. The anti
ouarian will find in the Bible curiosities
In agriculture. and in commerce, and in art,
and in religion that will keep him alb
sorbed great while. There are those who
come to this Bible as you would to a cabi-
net Of curiOsities and you pick up this and
say. what strange sword that isi' and
''What a peculiar hat this isr' and what
an unlocked for lamp that isr' and the
Bible to such becomes a British museum.
Then there are others who find nothing
in the Bible but the poetry. Well, If you
come as a poet, you will find in this book
faultless rhythm, and bold imagery, and
startling antithesis, and rapturous lyric,
and sweet pastoral and instructive narra-
tive, and devotional psalm; thoughts ex-
pressed in a style more solemn than that
of Montgomery, more bold than that OF
Milton, more terrible than that Of Dante,
more natural than that Of Wordsworth,
more impassioned than that Of Pollock
more tender than that Of Cowper more
weird shan than that of Spenser. This
great poem brings all the gems Of the
the flames of Judgment in its garland and
pours eternal harmonies in its rhymth.
Everything this book touches it makes
beautiful from the plain stones Of the
summer thrashing foor and the daughters
of Nahor filling the trough for the camels,
and the fish pools Of Heshbon, up to the
psalmist praising God with diapason Of
storm and whirlwind, and Job leading
forth Orion, Arcturus aud the Pleiades
It is a wonderful poem, and great many
people read it as they do Thomas MOore's
sI.alla Rookh," and Walter Scott's Lady
Of the Lake" and TennysOn's Charge Of
the Light Brigade" They sit down and
are so absorbed in looking at the shells on
the shore that they forget to look off on
the great ocean of Gods mercy and saliva
tion.
BLIND UNBELIEF Is SURE TO ERR.
Then there are others who come to this
book as skeptics They marshal passage
against pass,ge, aud try to get Matthew
and Luke IN Il quarrel, and would have
discrepancy between what Paul and James
say about faith and works, and they try
the account of Moses concerning the crea-
tion by modern decisions in science, and
resolve that in all questions between the
scientific explorer and the inspired writer
they will give the preference to the geOlo-
pist. These men-these spiders, | will say
suck poison out Of the sweetest flowers,
They fatten their infdelity upon the
truths which have led thousands to
heaven, and in their distorted vision
prophet seems to war with prophet, and
evangelist with evangelist, and apostle
with apostle, and if they can find some bad
trait of character in a man of God men
toned in that Bible these carrion crows
cav and flap their wings over the carcass.
/ Because they cannot understand how the
whale swallowed Jonah they attempt the
more wonderful feat of swallowing the
monster whale Of modern skeptieism.
They do not believe it possible that the
Bible story should be true which says that
the dumb ass spake, while they themselves
prove the thing possible by their own ut
terances.
lam amused beyond bounds when hear
one of these men talking about future
Efe. Just ask a man who rejects that
/ Bible what heaven is, and hear him heiog
YOUR soul. He will tell you that heaven is
merely the development OF the internal re-
/ sources Of man; it is an efilorescence Of
/ the dynamic forces into state Of ethereal
/ and transccndental ucubration, in close
Z
| and the great "to be-" and the everlasting
I no" Considering themselves wise, they
/ are fools for time, fools for eternity.
VAIN AND FOOLISH DISPUTES.
| Then there is another class Of persons
| who come to the Bible as contrOversialists.
/ They are enormous Presbyterians or fierce
| Baptists or violent Methodists. They cut
| the Bible to suit their creed instead Of cut
| ting their creed to suit The I}ihle II the
/ Scriptures think Gs they do, well; if not,
4 60 much the worse for the Scriptures. The
| Bible is merely the milestone on which
1 they sharpen the dissecting knife OF con-
| troversy. They come to 1t as q govern
meut in time of war comes to armOries
or arsenals for weapons and munitions
! They have declared everlasting war against
/ all other sectS, and they want so many
| broadswords. SO many muskets, so many
4 howitzers, 50 many columbiads, so much
grape and canister, so many heldpieces
1 with which to rake the field Of dispute,
for they mean to get the victory though the
heavens be darkened with the smoke ana
the earth rent with the thunder. What do
they care about the religion o. the Lord
Jesus CHRISTI
Ihave seen some such men come back
! from an ecclesiastical massacre as proud Of
their achievements as an Indian warrior
boasting of be number Of scalps he has
taken. Ihaye more admiration for man
who goes forth with his fists to get the
championship thin have for these theo-
logical pugilists who make our theological
magazines ring with their warcry. There
are men who seem to think the only use Of
the sword Of talth is TO stick somebody.
There is one passage of the Scriptures that
ihey like better than all others, and that is
this: blessed be the Lord which teacheth
my hands to war, and my fingers to fight!"
! Woe to us If we come to Gods word as
eOntroversialists, or as skeptics, or as con
noisseuIs, or as fault finders, or merely as
poets
Those only get into the heart Of Gods
truth who come seeking Christ. Wei
come all such! They will find him coming
out from behind the curtain Of prophecy
ntil he stands in the full light Of New
testament disclosure, Jesus, the Son Of
God, the Saviour of the world. They will
find him in genealogical table and in chro-
nological calculation, in poetic stanza and
in historical narrative, in profound para
Bile and in startling miracle They VIII
see his foot on every sea, and his tears IN
the Erops Of dew on lIermOH. and hear his
voice in the wind and byhod his words all
abloom in the valley between Mount OH
vet and Jerusalem.
There are some men ~ho come and walk
around the Temple Of Truth and merely
Gee the outside. There are others who
walk into the porch and then 20 away.
There are others who come in and look at
the pictures, but they .pow nothing about
the chief attractions Of The Biblc. IL is
only the man who comes aI.i knocks az
the gate, saying. Il would see jesus For
him the glories Of that book open, and be
goes in and finds Christ, and with hila
peace, pardon, life, comfort and heaven
Ian in all is Jesus IN the Bible,
HIS ALL sUFTIclENcY.
remark again that Christ is everything
in the great plan Of redemption. We ar,
slaves; Christ gives delivemnce TO the cap
tive. We are thirsty; Christ is the river
OF salvation to slake cur thirst We are
hungry: Je us says, 81 nm the bread Of