Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-07-02

Il ietGIl NlCtDi y ot14 oA Ala
evil associations. A man is no better than
the company he keeps. TO among those
who are better than you are AMI you will be
made better. Go ar.org those Who ara worse
then yo. are and you will be made worse
Ny next word OF counsel is that you be
actively employed. 1 see a great many
Christians with doubts and perplexlties, and
thew seem to be proud OF them. Their entire
Christian LIFE is made up of gloom, aud they
>err. 70 cultivate that spiritual desponiancy,
vhen | will undertake 10 saw that in nina
cases out or ten spiritual despendency ls a
Judgment Of God upon idieness. Who are
the happy people Il The church today The
busy people. Show ME the man who processes
Che religion Of Jesus Christ and Is idle. and
will show you an unhappy man. The very
first prescription that | give to q man when
l find him full Of doubts and fears about his
euernar interest i. 70 go 10 work Tor God.
Ten thotsani voices are lifted up asking for
! your help. Go and help.
have another word OF counsel to give
those who have just entered Christian life.
and that is, be faithful i'll prayer. You
might as we'll, business men, start out in the
morning without food and expect to be strong
ali that day-Vou might as well abstain
from food all the week and expect to be
strong physically, as 20 De strong without
prayer. The crly way to get any strength
lnco the soul is by prayer, and the only
difference between that Christian that is
worth anything and that who is worth
OhHAA 49," $780, - =
pray and the other does.
And the rnly difference between this
Christian, who is getting along very fast in
Tie holy life, and this, who Is only getting
along JoieraoIv, Is that the nrsr prays more
than the last. -Iou can graduate a mans
progress n religion by the amount of
prayer; not by the number of hours, per
hap., but by the earnest supplication that
he puts up to God. There is no exception to
the rule. Show me Il Christian man who
naC1aetS this kind Of 1ntV and will show
you one who Is inconsistent. Show HE Il
man who prayS. and his strength and his
power cannot bc exaggerated. Why, just
gt.f to a man this power of prayer aud you
give him almost oLnni potenc-.
This afternoon you Will see two Sabbath
school teachers. That one does not gain the
attention Of her class. This one does, What
is the difference between them, their intel
lncts being about equal. The first thought
only of her own apparel. The other came
from great prostration before God in earnest
supplica,ion, asking that Gods mercy might
come upon the school AMI that in the after
noon She might gain the attention OF those
five OF SIX in,mortals that wouid be around
her. The one teacher has no control over
her class. The other sits as with the strength
of the Lord God Almighty
Another word OF counsel [ have to give
Be careful in Bible research. a great many
good books are now coming out. We can.
not read half of them. At every revolution
of the printing press they are coming. They
cover our parlor tables, and are in our sit-
ting rooms and libraries. Glorious books
they are. We thank God every day for the
work of the Christian printing press. But [
have thought that perhaps the followers OF
Christ sometimes allow this religious iitera-
ture to take their attention trOn Coils
Word, and that there MAY not be as much
Bible reading as there ought to be.
How Is that with your own experienced
Just calculate in your minis how mu,I ii r.
hgious literature you have ia during thu
year and then how large a portion of the
Word of God you have rea1 /, ami then con-
trast the two and answer within your own
soul whether you are giving more attention
to the books that were written by the hand
of man or that written by the hand of Got.
Now, you GO to the drug store and you sc,
the mineral waters, but you have noticed
that the waters are not SO fresh or spark
ling or healthful as when you get these very
waters at Saratoga and Sharon-getting
them right where they bubble from the
rock.
And | have noticed the same thing in re
gard to the truth of the Gospel; whilekhera
IS d good deal of refreshment aud health Of
the GoSpe! of God as it comes through goo |
books. l find it is better when [ coma to the
eternal rock of Gods Word and drink forth
that fountain that bubbles up fresh an
pure to the life and the refreshment and the
health Of the soul.
Read the Bible and it brings you into tn
association of the best people that ever live l.
You stand beside Moses and learn MS meak
ness. beside Joh and learn his patience, be.
side Paul and catch something Of his enthus
iasm, beside Christ and you feel His love
And yet how strange it is that a great many
men have given their whole lives to the as
saulting of that book. | cannot understand
it. Tom Paine worked againstthat book a,
though he received large wages and was i'll
spired by the very power of darkness, con
Tossing that all the time he was writing h
did not have the Bible anywhere near him
How many powerful inteilects have endeav
ored to destroy it. Hume, ~Bolingbroke
.NOltalre have been after it. Ten thousant
men now are warning against the truth o
Gods Word What do you think of them
a ! think it is mean and will prove it. | viii
prove it is the meanest thing that has eve
been done in all the centuries.
:. There is a ship at sea and in trouble. Tht
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 TIN
midst of all the trouble, you PICK up the onl
compass that is on board and pltcn it owe
, the ~tatfrall? Oh. YOU say, that is dastardly
:, But Is it as mean as this? Here Is the vesst
h of the world going on with sixteen hundre
:, millions OF passengers. tossed and driven il
:. the tempest, and at the time We want nell
the lntidel comes and he takes mold Of tn
+ only compass and he tries 10 pitch it over
1 board. 1t Is contenptiole beyond everythin.
that Is contemplate. Have you any bette
+ 'light' Bring 1t on, If you have. Have yo
any better comfort to give u.s. Bring it o
:, if you have. Have you any better hope
: Bring it on if you have, and then YOU ma
:. have this Bible and | snail never want
- again.
- But | can think of a Ineauer thing tna,
!, that, and that is an old man going along 0;
:. the mountains with a staff in one hand an
? u lantern III the, other. Darkness has com
. on suddenly. He is very old. just able I
pick his way out amid the rocks aud prec
:, pices. leaning Oh his staff with one hand an
~ guiding himself with the light in the other
= You come up and say. Father, you seem
j., be lost. You are a long way from home.
=, Yes he replies. And then You take>h.r
i ly the hand and lead him home. That
very kind OF you. But suppose instead {
that you should snatch the staff from h
r. nanuS ana nurI 1t over the rocEs. anu snatc
p the lantern and blow it out: That would
h dastardly. contemplate until there Is ,
> depth OF contempt beneath 1t. II You ia,
y a better staff. give it TO him. If you have
II better light, give 1t TO him.
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