Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-10-07


the Bible TO such becomes British Museum.
Then there are others WAC Fl Id nothing in
the Bible bat the poetry. Well, IL you come
as poet, you viii find In this book faultless
rhythm, and bold imagery, and startling
antithesis and rapturous lyric, and sweet
votional psalm; thoughts expressed 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 lmpassloned than
that OF Pollock, more ten Ter than that OF
Cowper, more weird than that OF Sponsor.
This great poem brings all toe gems OF the
earth into its coronet, and it waves the
flames Of judgment in its garland and pours
eternal harmonies in its rhythm.
Everything this book touches IL makes
beautiful, from the plain stones OF the sum-
Iner thrashing floor, and the daughters OF
Major filling the trough for the camels, and
the fish pools Of Keshbon, up TO the Psairnlst
praising God with diapason OF storm and
whirlwind, aud Job leaiing :orth Orion,
Arcturus and the Pleiades. Il is a wonder
as they do Thomas Moore's "Lalla Rookh."
and Walter SCOTS Lady OF the Lake, and
Tennysor's charge OF the Light Brigade"
They sit down, and ara so absorbed in look
Ing at the shells on the shore that they for.
get to look OFF on the great ocean OF Gods
mercy and salvation.
Then there are others who come to this
book as skeptlcs. They marshal passag-
against passage, and try TO get Matthew ane
Luke in a quarrel, and would have dis1
crepancy between what Paut and James
says about faith and works, and they try
the account of Moses concerning the crea-
ton by mo1ern scisions in science. and re-
solve that in all questions between the scien-
tific explorer and the inspired writer they
will give the preference to the geoio2lst
These men - these spiders, l. VIII say -
suck poison out of the sweetest flowers.
They fatten their inf leIity 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 dnd some bad trait
Of character in a man OF God mentioned IN
that Bible these carrion crows cav and flap
their wings over the carcass. Because they
cannot understand how tae whale swal-
lowed Jonah they attempt the more Won
derful feat Of swallowing the monster wnae
Of modern skepticisn. They do not believe
it possible that the Bible story should be
true which says that the du NIB ass spake,
while they themselves prove the thing pos
sible by their own utteranceS.
I am amused beyond bounds when hear
one Of these men talking about a future
life Just ask man who rejects that Biole
what heaven is, and hear him befog your
soul. He will tell you that heaven IS
merely the development of the internal re-
sources of man: it is an eHorescence OF the
dynamic forces into a state OF ethereal and
transcendental lucubration, in close Juxta-
position to the ever present 'was' and the
great ito be-" and the everlasting "no.
Considering themselves wise, they are fools
for time, fools for eternity.
Then there is another class Of persons who
come to the Bible as controversialists. They
are enormous Presbyterians or fierce Bap-
fists or violent Methodists. They cut the
Tn fhnfr 81
their creed to suit the Bible. It the Scrip
lures think rs they do well; if not so much
the worse for the Scriptures. The Bible is
merely the milestone on which they sharpen
the dissecting knife of controversy. They
come to it as a government in time of war
comes to armCfIeS or arSenals for weapons
and munitions. They have dec AIRED ever
lasting war against ali other sects and they
want so many broadswords. 50 many mus
kets, so many howitzers so many colum-
biads, so much grape and canister, so many
heldDleceS with which to rake the field of
dispute, Tor they mean to get the victory
though the heavens be darkened with tbs
smoke and the earth rent with the thunder.
What do they care about the religion of
the Lord Jesus Christ
L have seen some such men come back
from an ecclesiastical massacre as proud of
their achievements as all Indian warrior
boastlng OF the number Of SC alps he has
taken. L have more admiration for q man
WIZ goes lOTCl Win MS nSCS TO get the cham
pionship than I have for these theological
puglllsts 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
passage Of the Scriptures that they like bet
ter 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 controversalists, or
as skeptics, or connoisseurs, or as fault
finders, or merely as poets!
Let us go forth and gather the trophies
for Jesus. From Golconda mines We gather
the diamonds, from Csylon banks we ga Their
the pearls, from all lands and kingdoms we
gather precious stones, and we bring the
glittering burdens and put them down at
the feet OF Jesus and say: "All these are
Thine. Thou art worthy" We go forth
again for more trophies, and into one sheaf
we gather all the sceDters of the earth, of all
the sheaf Of sceDters and put it down at the
feet of Jesus and say, "Thou art King of
kings, and these Thou has conquered"
And then we go forth again to gather more
trophies and we bid the redeemed Of all
ages, the sons and daughters Of the Lord AL
offer their thanksgivings, and the hosts of
heaven bring crown and palm and scspter.
and here by these bleeding feet, and by this
riven side, and by this wounded heart cry,
blessing and honor and glory and power
be unto Him that stitch upon the throne and
and unto the Lamb forever and foreverw
Tell me OF a 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 "Ail in all is Jesus in the
great plan of redemption
l remark again, Christ is everything to
the Christian in time of trouble. Who has
escaped trouble? We must all stoop down
a Of fho la6 e.