Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-10-07

Tor ten years asking IL ASK III at the
gate of every parable; amidst the ex-
element of every miracle; by the soli-
fairness of every patriarchal threshing-
floor, amidst the white faces of
Sennacherib's slain turned up into the
moonlight; amidst the flying chariots
of the Golden City. Ask who
Jesus Is. and keep on asking
it of every bible lily. of every
raven, of every star, of every crazed
brain cured, every blind man come to
sunlight, of every coin in fish's
mouth, of every loaf that got to be
five loaves, of every wrathful sea paci-
fed, of every pulseless arm stretched
forth in graduation; ask it of his
mother; of Augustus, of Herod, of the
Syrophenician woman; of the damsel
that woke up from the death-sleep, OF
Joseph, who had him buried, of tha
angel posted as sentinel at his tomb,
of the dumb earth, that shook, and
groaned, and Numbered when he died.
A missionary in France offered a BIZ
BILE in an humble dwelling. The man
took it, tore out a dozen pages, and
with them began to light his pipe.
Some years after the missionary hap
pened in the same house. The family
had just lost their son in the Crimean
war, and his bible had been sent back
home. The missionary took it up, and
saw that it was the very same bible
that he had left in the house, and from
which the leaves had been torn. The
dying soldier had written on one of the
leaves of the bible: Rejected and
scoffed at, but finally believed in and
saved" The bible may be used to
light the pipe of witticism by some,
but for us it is staff in life, pillow
in death, and our joy for eternity.
Walk all up and down this bible do
main! Try every path. Plunge in at
the prophecies, and come out at the
epistles. Go with the patriarchs, I'M
til you meet the evangelists. Rum
mage and ransack, as children who are
not satisfied when they come TO a new
every room, and into what every door
opens. Open every jewel-casl1et. Ex-
anime the slSy-lights. Forever be ask
ing questions. Put to higher use
than was intended the Oriental pro-
verb: Hold all the skirts of thy
mantle extended when heaven is rain
ing gold"
Passing from Bonn to Coblentz on
the Rhine, the scenery is compare
lively tame. But from Coblentz to
Mayence it is enchanting. You sit on
deck, and feel as il this last flash of
beauty must exhaust the scene; but in
moment there is a turn of the river,
which covers up the former view with
more luxuriant vineyards, and more
defiant castles, and holder bluffs, vine
wreathed, and grapes so ripe that if
the hills be touched, they would bleed
their rich life away into the
bowls of Bingen and Hockheimer.
Here and there, there are streams of
water melting into the river, like
smaller joys swallowed into the bosom
of great gladness And when night
begins to throw its black mantle over
the shoulder of the hills, and you are
approaching Decentralization at May
ence, the lights along the shore fairly
bewitch the scene with their beauty,
giving one a thrill that he feels but
once, yet that lasts him forever.
So this river of Gods word is not
straight stream, but winding
splendor-at every turn new wonders
TO attract, still ripper vintage pressing
to the brink, and crowded with castles
of strength (Stolzenfels and Johannis-
berger as nothing compared with the
strong tower into which the righteous
run and are saved), and our disem-
barkation at last, in the evening amidst
the lights that CLEAN from the shore of
heaven. The trouble is that the vast
majority of bible voyagers stop at
Coblentz, where the chief glories begin.
The sea of Gods word is not like
Gennesaret, twelve miles by six, but
boundless; and in any one direction
you can sail on forever. Why, then,
confihe yourself to a short psalm, or to
few verses of an epistle? The largest
fish are not near the shore. Hoist
all sail to the winds of heaven. Take
hold of both oars, and pull away. BE
like some of the whalers that went out
from New Bedford or Portsmouth to be
gone for two or three years Yea, cal
culate on lifetime voyage. You do
not want to land until you land in
heaven. Sail away, oh We mariners, for
eternity! Launch out into the deep.
The text is appropriate to all Chris
tians of shallow experience. Doubts
and fears have in our day been almost
elected to the parliament of Chris
tian graces. Some consider il bad
sign not to have any doubts. Doubts
and fears are not signs of health,
but testers and carbuncles. You
have valuable house or farm.
1t is suggested that the title is not
good. You employ counsel. You have
the deeds examined. You search the
record for mortgages, Judgments, and
liens. You are not satisfied until you
have certificate, signed by the great
seal of the State, assuring you that the
title is good. Yet how many leave
their title to heaven an undecided mat
teri Why do you not go to the records
and find out? Give yourself no rest,