Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-10-15

earth into. lL3 cOfOQet. 0ul Az "cosSo eno
flames OF judgment in its garland and pours
eternal harmonies in its rhythm
Everything this book touches &c makes
beautiful, from the plain stones OF the sum-
mer thrasning floor, and the daughters OF
Major flling the trough for the camela and
the fish pools Of Heshbon. up to the psalmist
praising God with diapason of storm and
whirlwin1, and Job lea ling forth Orion,
Arcturus and the Pleiades. 1t is a wonder
full poem, and a great many people read It
as they do Thomas Moore's "Lalla Rookh."
and Walter SCOTS Lady Of the Lake" and
Tennyson's Charge OF the Light Brigade"
They sit down, and are SO absorbed In lock
Ing at the shells on the shore that they for
get TO look Of on the great ocean OF Gods
mercy and salvation.
Then there are others who come to this
booE as skeptics. Iney marshal passag-
against passage, and try TO get Matthew ane
Like in a quarrel, and would have a disd
crepancy between what Pau and James
says ABOUT faith and works, and they try
the account Of Moses concerning the crea-
ton By mo Tern decisions in science. and re-
solve that in all questions between the scien-
INC explorer auI ru- inspIrea "riu-r oney
will give tue prefer.nc, TO tns geologist.
These men - these spiders, l Will say -
suck poison out Of the sweetest flowers.
Iney fatten their inf lelity upon the
truths which have LED thousands to
heaven, ami in their dlstortet vision
propher seems to war With prophet, and
evangelist with EVANGELIST and APOSTLE with
apJsrie. ana II lnev can IN 50 M oa1 uraiu
Oh character il Il man o. CD meltione1 In
that Bible t1ese carr!ca Cows cav AMI hap
tneir wings over the carCAss. Because tney
cannot UNDERSTAND how Lac waa!s swat
loved Jonah tnev atteupt tne more Won
derful feat OF swallowing tna monster whale
Of molern sgeptic.S Ii. theydo no. b.lleVe
it. possible that the BiDie sorry sioltt b,
true which says that tne N no ass spake,
w lie they tnenae4V13 lrb!t rue thtn5 pos
s.bl. by their own U.Gsfauces.
[ am amused uevont J1untS "nen / near
one OF tn .se men taiGltG about q futlro
life. ia, ask a man WAC rejects that biols
what heaven is, An hear him bafog you"
soul. He tvtii tell you taa- heaven Is
merely the development OF the internal re-
sources Of a man: it is al eflorascenca OF the
DYNAMIC forces into ! s1t1- Ok ethereal ana
tranScenlentat .u:uort:lDa, Ill ciose 1u1Ca-
position to the ever present was" and the
Igreac ITO be- and the everlasting mo. d.
Considering themselves wise, they are fools
for time, fools for eternity.
Then there is another class OF persons who
come to the Bible as controverslalists. They
are enormous Presovterians or fierce Bap.
lists Or violent Methodists. They cut the
Bible to suit their creed instead OF cutting
their cree / to suit the Bible. II the Scrip
lures think as they do, well: if not, so mucn
the worse for the Scriptures. Toe Bible is
merely the milestone on which they sharpen
the cissecting knife OF controversy. They
come to it as a government in time OF war
comes to armories or arsenals for weapons
and munitions. They have declared ever
lasting war against all other sects, and they
wact SO many brOadswOrds, SO many mus
kets. SO many hOwltZerS, SO many colun-
biads, 50 much grape am canister. SO many
fieldp!eceS with which to rake the fell Of
dispute, for they mean to get the victory
though the heavens be darAened with the
smoke and the earth rent with the thun1er.
What do they care about the religion Of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
/ have seen some such men come back
from an ecclesiastical massacre as proud Of
their achievements as an Indian warrior
Boosting OF the number Of sc alps he has
taken. l have more admiration for q man
VINO goes forth with his 1sts to get the cham
pionship than l have for these theological
pugllists who make our theological maya
zines ring with their warcry. There are men
who seem to think the only use of the sword
Of truth is to stick somebody. There is one
passa2e OF the Scriptures that they like bet
ter than all others. aud that is this: ''Biess ed
be the Lord which teacheth my hands to war
ami my fingers to fight" Woe to US if we
coIne 20 Gods word as controversialists, or
as sheptics, or as connoissaurs, or as fault
H'"SA' AhSiSAJ oS poCto.
Let us go forth and gather the trophies
Tor Jesus. From Golconda mines we gather
the diamonds, from Ceylon banks we gather
the pearls, from all lands and kingdoms we
gather precious stones. and we bring the
gllttering burdens and put them down at
tce feet of Jesus and say: IAN these are
Thine. Thou art worthy" We go forth
again for more trophies, and into one sheat
we gather all the scepters Of the earth, OF all
Qualities and dominions, and then we bring
the sneaf OF scepters and pu. 1t dow at the
feet OF Jesus and say, Thou art King Of
kings. and these Thou has conquered
n then we goforth again to gather more
trophies, and we bid the redeemed Of all
a-es, the sons and daughters of the Lord Al
mighty, to come. We ask them to come and
offer their thanksgivings, and the hosts of
heaven bring crown and palm and scepter.
AMI here by these bleeding feet, ami by this
rlven side, end by this wounded heart crv.
Blessing and honor and glory an power
he unto Him that stitch upon the throne and
ant unto toe Lamb forever and forever ~
fel! me o. a tear that He did not weep, of a
burden that He did not carry, OF a battle
that He did not fight, OF a victory that He
,itnot achieve. "All in all is Jesus in the
great plan Of redemption.
| remark again, Christ is everything to
the Christian in time of trouble. Who has
escaped trouble? We must all stoop down
and drink out OF the bitter lake. The mos:
ia9 ~ tIiitS ~ grow on tue buckets mat
come out OF tue hearts well dripping with
tears. Great trials are upon our track as
certain as greyhound PACK on the scent OF
dec. From our hearts in every direction
t.sere are q thousand chords reaching GU,
binding Us 10 loved ones, and ever n amor
so'ne OF these tendrils snap. The winds tina,
c.o5> this SEA OF life are not all aoaft. TIL.
clouds that cross our SKY are not feathery
aal aIar, seraylnE Ike hocls OK sheep on
heavenly pastures, but wrathfui and sombel
ana glearnlng with terror they wrap the
mountains III nre, AMI come down baying
vain their thunders through every gorge.
.hcrlcleSt fruits OF blessing have a prickly
sheii. Life here is not lying at anchor it is
weathering q gale. 1t is not sleeping in a
soldiers tent with our arms stacked: it is q
tayonet charge. We stumble over grave
stones, and we drive on with our wheel deer
i'll the old rut OF graves. Trouble ha.
Nrinkied your brow. AM 1t has frosted youl
. L head. Falling in this battle Of life, is there
no angel TO btni our wounds. Hath Go.
naia this world with 50 many thin IS Z
hurt and none 70 heal? For this snake
bite o. sorrow. Is there no herb growing b,
NIL the brooks to heal the poison Blessel
o. God that in the Gospel we find the anti
Gotel Christ has bottled an OCEAN of tears
How MANY tnOruS He hath nluokai on. n