Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-03-16

the dam in front of the river he put dam
on the other side of the river, SO that, &C
cording to the text, the water halted and
reared and stood there, and not overlooking
the surrounding country. Oh, the complete
ness of everything that God does!
One would have thought that if tho
waters of Jordan had dropped until they
were only two or three feet deep the Israel
ties might have marched through it and
have come up on the other bank with their
clothes saturated and their garments like
those of men coming ashore from ship
wreck, and that would have been us Won
drrful deliverance, but God does some
thing better than that. When the priests
feet touched the waters of Jordan and they
were drawn OIL they might have thought
here would have been Il bed Of mud and
slime through which the army should pass.
Draw off The waters OF the Hudson or the
lhio. and there would be good many
lays. and perhaps many weeks, before the
,edment would dry up, and yet here, in an
instant Immediately, God provides a path
through the depths of Jordan; it is so dry
the passengers do not even get their feet
damp. OH the completeness Of everything
that God does Does he make a universe?
it is a perfect clock, running ever since it
WAS wound up, the fixed stars the pivot,,
the consultations the Intervening wheels,
and ponderous laws the weights and
mighty swinging pendulum, the stars in
| the great dome of night striking the mid
night, and the sun. with bra2en tongue,
tollng the hour OF noon
The widest comet has a chain of law
that it cannot break. The thistle down
! flying before the schoolboy's breath is con
| trollcd by the same law that controls the
| sun and the planets. The rosebush in your
window is governed by the same principle
! that governs the tree of the universe ON
which the stars are ripenng fruits, and on
| which God will one day put his hand and
! shake down the fruit-a perfect universe.
| No astronomy has ever proposed an amend
meut.
If God makes a Bible, it is a complete
| Bible Standing amid the dreadful and
delightful truths, you seem to be in the
| midst of an orchestra where the wailings
over sins, and the reioicings over pardon,
! and the martial strains OF victory make the
| chorus like an anthem of eternity. This
! book seems to You the ocean of truth, on
every wave of which Christ walks-some-
| times in the darkness Of prophecy, again in
| the splendors with which he walks on Gal
| lice. In this book apostle answers to proph-
et Paul to Isaiah, Revelation to Genesis
glorious light, turning midnight sorrow
into the midnoon joy, dispensing every fog
hushinS every tempest. Take this book;
it is the kiss of God on the soul of lost
man. Perfect Bible, complete Biblel No
man has ever proposed any improvement.
GOD p1.OVIDED A SAVIOUR.
God provided a Saviour. He is a com
| plete Saviour-God man-divinity and hu
manity united in the same person. He set
up the starry pillars of the universe and the
towers of light. lie planted the cetlars and
| the heavenly Lebanon. lie struck out of
the rock the rivers of life, singing under the
trees, singing under the thrones lie quar-.
ried the sardonyx and crystal, and the topaz
of the heavenly wall. He put down the
| jasper for the foundation and heaped up
the amethyst for the capital and swung the
| II gates, which are II pearls. In one instant
| he thought out Il universe, and yet he be
came a child, crying for his mother, feeling
along the sides of the manager, learning to
| walk
Omnipotence sheathed in the muscle and
flesh of chld's arm, omniscience strung
in the optic nerve Of II clild's eye, infinite
love beating in the child's heart, IL great
God appearing in the form of child |
year old, . years old, - years old. While
an the heavens We're ascribng to him glory
| and honor and power on earth men said,
"Who is this fellow" While all the heav-
emily hosts, with folded wing about their
faces bowed down before him crying, "Ho-
ly, IolY!' on earth they denounced him a.
a bias phemer and a sot. Rocked IN Il boa;
on Gennesaret, and yet he it is that un-
dirked the lightning from the stormcloud
and dismasted Lebanon of its forests and
holds the five oceans on the tip OF his fin
ger as leaf holds the randrop.
Oh, the complete Saviour, rubbing bis
hand over the place where we have the
pain, yet the stars of heaven the adjoining
gems of his right hand. Holding us in his
arms when we take our last view of oul
dead Sitting down with us on the tomb
stone, and while we plant roses there he
planting consolation in our heart, every
chapter stalk, every verse IA stem, every
word a rose a complete Saviour, a com
plete Bible, Il complete universe, a complete
Jordanic passage Everything chat Goo
does is complete,
Again, learn from this ,Jordanic passage
that between Us and every Canaan of success,
and prosperity there is a river that must be
passed. "Oh, how | would like some o
those grapes on the other side" said one o
the lsraelites to Joshua We'll" say.
Joshua, IF you want the grapes, why dom
you cross over and get them" There is
river of difficulty between us and every
thing that is worth haying-that whicl
costs nothing is worth nothing.
, God didn't intend this world for an cas-,
parlor, through which we are to be draw
in Il rocking chair, but we are to work on
passage, climb masts, fight battles, seal
, mountains and ford rivers. God makes ev
erythng valuable difficult to get at, for III
| same reason that he put the gold down il
: the mine and the pearl clear down in tn
sea-to make lis dig and dive for them
: We acknowledge this principle in worldl
f things; oh, that we were only wise enough
to acknowledge it in religious things
You have scores of illustrations unde
/, your own observation where men have ha'
+ the hardest lot and been trodden undo
e foot, and yet after aw bile had it easy. Nov
, their homes blossom and bloom with pic
t lures, and carpets that made foreign loom
laugh now embrace their feet. The sun
= mcr winds lit the tapestry about the win
/. dow gorgeous enough for Turkish sultan
= Impatient steeds paw and neigh ut tb
t door. their carriages moving through tn
| sea of New 1urk lie a very wave OF splel