Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-06-13

his patience. besi lie Paul and catch some
thing Of his enthusiasm, beside Christ
ana you Zee his love. And yet how
strange i! j. hat a great many men have
given their whole lives to the assaulting
Of that book. | cannot understand it.
Tom Paine worked against Cat look as
though he received large wages and was
inspired by the very powers Of darkne-s.
, tonfessing that all the time he was writ
ing he did not have the Bible anywhere
near him. How many powerful intel
lects have endeayorel to destroy it.
Hume. Bolingbroke, Voltaire have been
after it. Ten thousand men now are
warning against the truth of Gods 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 been
done i'll all the centuries.
There is ship at sea and in trouble
The captain 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
taffrail: 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 the tempest, and at the
time we want help the infidel comes and
he takes hold Of the only compass and
he tries to pitch it overheard. 1t is con-
temptible beyond everything that is con-
temptible. Have you any better light?
Bring it on if you have. Have you any
better comfort to give us? Bring it on
if you have. Have you any better hope?
Bring it on if you have, and then you
may have this Bible and shall never
want it again.
LEAN on THE STAFF OF THE GOSPEL.
But | can think of a meaner thing than
that, and that is an old man going along
on the mountains with staff in one hand
and lantern in the other. Darkness
has come on suddenly. He is very old,
just able to pick his way out amid the
rocks and precipices, leaning on his staff
with one hand and guiding himself with
say: Father, you seem to be lost You
are 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 tile lantern and blow it out? That
would be dastardly, contemplate until
there is no depth of contempt beneath
it. If you have better staff, give it to
him. If you have better light, give it
to him.
When God has put the staff of the
Gospel in our bands and the lamp of
Gods Word to light our feet, are you
going to take from US our only sup
port and our only illumination? l love
the sting of the wasp and the rattlesnake
better than do the man who wants to
clutch the Word of God from my grasp.
There are people here who have been
reading it good while. 1t is precious
book to their souls. 1t Las been so in
times of darkness and trouble. There
was soldier who fell in battle, and after
he had fallen he said in feeble voice to
his comrade, "Give me a drop" His
comrade replied, "There is not a particle
of water in my canteen." "Oh," he said,
81 didn't mean that. Look in my KNAPP
sack and you will find Bible there.
Get out that old Bible and just give me a
drop out of that" And his comrade
found the Bible and read few passages.
The dying soldier said, "Oh, George,
there is nothing like that, is there, for a
dying soldier!'
Cling to your Bible. If this Bible
should be destroyed, if all the Bibles
that have ever been printed should be
destroyed, we could make up 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 Bible.
You see, my friends, have not tried
to hide the fact that have large expec-
tation Of you who have entered the
Christian life. Do not be discouraged.
Press on toward the prize; God beside
you and heaven before you. Keep your
courage up. Look in thirty years from
now upon this church. Another man in
the pulpit. Other faces in the pews. An
other man leading the song. Others car
rying around the aims boxes of the
church. All changed. Thirty years
have gone and l look into the faces of
the people, and | say: "Why, it seems to
me have seen these people somewhere,
but | cannot exactly say where. Oh, yes,
now l begin to think. These were the
converts in 1892 and 1890. Why, how
you have changedw
"Oh, yes" they say, "of course we
have changed. Thirty years makes a
great change" say, How many
wrinkles there are in your faces" "Oh,
yes" they say, thirty years make a
great many wrinkles" Have you kept
the faithy' "Yes, we have kept the
faith" "Where are those people who
used to sit in the pew with your "All
gone" Then / say, "Well, | feel
lonely; come, let us sing one of the old
hymns we used TO sing thirty years ago,
in 1892, on communion day. Any of you
know the old tune? Some one hum it.
Yes, that's it, that'sit. Now, altogether,
let us sing, just as we did in 1892;
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that food
Lose aTtheir guilty stains.
THE dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may |, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away"