The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-10-01

seen some such men come back from an
ecclesiastical massacre as proud of their
achievements as an Indian warrior
boasting of the number of scalps he has
taken. l have more admiration for a
man who goes forth with his fists to get
the championship than I have for these
theological pugilists who make our theo-
logical magazines ring with their war
cry. 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 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 controversialists, or skeptics,
or as connoisseurs, or as fault finders,
or merely as poets!
Those only get into the heart of Gods
truth who come seeking Christ. Well
come llsuch! They will find Him COM
ing out from behind the curtain of
prophecy, until 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 gen
ealogical table and in chronological
calculation, in poetic stanza and in his
torical narrative, in profound parable
and in startling miracle. They will
see His foot on every sea, and His tears
in the drops of dew on Hermon, and
hear His voice in the wind and behold His
words all abloom in the valley between
are some men who come and walk
around the Temple Of Truth and merely
see the outside. There are others who
walk into the porch and then go away.
There are others who come in and look
at the pictures, but they knothing about
the chief attractions of the Bible. 1t
is only the man who comes and knocks
at the gate, saying: 81 would see
Jesus" For him the glories of that
book open, and he goes in and finds
Christ, and with Him peace, pardon,
life, comfort and Heaven. Gall in all
is Jesus in the Bible. %
/ remark again that Christ is every
thing in the great plan of redemption.
We are slaves; Christ gives deliverance
to the captive. We are thirsty; Christ
is the river of salvation to slack our
thirst We are hungry; Jesus says, Il
am the bread of life.'' We are con-
demned to die; Christ says, "Save that
man from going down to the pit; I am
the ransom" We are tossed on sea
of troubles; Jesus comes over it, saying,
SIT is I, be not afraid" We are in
darkness; Jesus says, Il am the bright
and morning star" We are sick;
Jesus is the balm of Gilead. We
are dead; hear the shrouds rend and
the grave hillocks heave as he cries, 81
am the res direction and the life; he
that believeth in Me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live" We want justi-
fcation: ''Being justified through our
Lord Jesus Christi We want to exer-
else faith: ''Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved"
want to get from under condemnation:
';sThere is now, therefore, no condemna,
ton to them who are in Christ Jesus"
The cross-He carried it. The flames Of
hell-He suffered them. The shame
He endured it. The crown-He won it.
Heights of Heaven sing it, and worlds
of light all round the heavens cry,
GLORY, glory!"
Let us go forth and gather the
trophies for Jesus. From Golconda
nine we gather the diamonds, from
Ceylon banks we gather the pearls. from
all lands and kingdoms we gather
precious stones, and we bring the gilt.
tering burdens and put them down at
411 ~ I'D tsA11
are Thine. Thou art worthy" We &c
forth again for more trophies, and into
one sheaf we gather all the scepters OF
the earth, of all royalties and dominions,
and then we bring the sheaf of scepters
and put it down at the feet of Jesus, and
say, ''Thou art king of kings, and these
Thou hast conquered" And then
we go forth again to gather
more trophies, and we bid the re-
tiers of the Lord Almighty, to come. We
ask them to come and offer their thanks
givings, and the hosts of Heaven bring
crown, and palm, and scepter, and here
by these bleeding feet and by this river
side, and by this wounded heart, cry:
blessing, and honor, and glory, and
power be unto Him that stitch upon
the throne and unto the Lamb forever
and forever!" 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 victory that He did not
achieve. ''All in all for Jesus" in the
plan of redemption.
remark again, Christ is everything
to the Christian in time of trouble Who
has escaped trouble? Wemust all stoop
down and drink out of the bitter lake.
The moss has no time to grow on the
buckets that come up out of the hearts
well, dripping with tears. Great trials
are upon our track as certain as grey
hound pack on the scent of deer
From our hearts in every direc-
ton there are thousand chords
reaching out binding us to loved
ones, and ever and 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 and afar, straying like focks
of sheep on heavenly pasture; but
wrathful and somber, and cleaning