The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-03-13

does.
One would have thought that. If the
waters of Jordan had dropped until they
were only two or three feet deep, the
Israelites might have marched through 1t,
and have come up on the other bank
with their clothes saturated and their gar
ments like those Of men coming ashore
from shipwreck, and that would have been
as wonderful a deliverance; but God does
something better than that When the
priests feet touched the waters of Jordan,
and they were drawn off, they might have
thought there would have been bed or
mud and slime through which the army
should pass. Draw off the water OF the
Hudson or the Ohio, and there would be a
good many days, and perhaps many weeks
before the sediment would dry up ana yeI
here, in an instant, Immediately, GOO pro-
vides path through the depths OF Jor~
dan: it Is so dry, the passengers
do not even get their feet damp.
o. the completeness Of every
thing that God does. Does he
make a universel-it is perfect clock, run
ming ever since lt was wound M. the liked
stars the pivots the consultations, the in>
termoving wheels. and ponderous laws the
weights and mighty swinging pendulum; the
stars in the great dome Of night, striking
the midnight and the sun with brazen
tongue, toling the hour OF noon. The
widest comet has a chain of law that il
cannot DTehE. L NE hulsI4cuONh u1iuk B6-
fore the school boys breath, is controlled
by the same law that controls the sun and
the planets. The rose bush in your window
Is governed by the same principle that
governs the tree OF the universe on which
the stars are ripenIng 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 Gamend.
ment.
II God makes a Bible it is q complete
Bible. Standing amid the dreadful and
delightful truths, you seem to be in the
midst of an orchestra where the wailings
over aims. and the rejoicings 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 be walks on Cali
lee. In this book apostle answers to prophet,
Paul to Isaiah, Revelation to Genesis-glori-
Gus light, turning midnight sorrow into the
midnoon joy, dispensing every fog, hushing
every tempest. Take this book; 1t is the
kiss Of God on the soul of lost man. Perfect
Bible, complete Biblel No man has ever
proposed any improvements.
God provided q Savior: he is a complete
Savior-God-man- and human
lily united in the same person. He set up the
starry pillars of the universe and the towers
emily Lebanon. He struck out OF the rock
the rivers of life, singing under trees, sing
ing under the thrones. He Quarried the
nardonyx and crystal, and the topaz Of the
heavenly wall. He put down the jasper
for the foundation, and heaped up the anne
shystfor the capital, and swung the twelve
gates which are tW Give pearls. In one in
slant he thought out universe; and yet be
became a child, crying for his mother,
feeling along the sides Of the man
ger learning to walk. OmDipotence
sheathed in the muscle and flesh of a child's
arm; omniscience strung in the optic nerve
Of a ehilds eye; infinite love beating in
ehild's heart; q great God appearing In the
form Of a child one year old, five years old,
fifteen years old. While all the heavens
were ascribing to him glory and honor and
power on earth men said, "Who is this fell
lowr While all the heavenly hosts, with
folded wing about their faces. bowed down
before him, crying Holy, holym on earth
they denounced him as blasphemer and q
sot. Rocked IN a boat on Gennesaret,
and yet he it is that undirked the light
ming from the storm cloud, and dismast-
ed Lebanon OF its forests, and holds the
five oceans on the tip of his finger, as a leaf
holds the raindrop. o, the complete Savior,
rubbing his hand over the place where we
have the pain, yet the stars of heaven the
adjoining gems Of his right hand. Holding
OF our dead. Sitting down with us on the
tombstone, and while we plant roses there,
he planting consolation in our heart, every
chapter a stalk, every verse a stem, every
word rose. A complete Savior, a com
plete Bible. a complete universe, a complete
Jordanic passage. Everything that God
does is complete.
Again, l learn from this Jordanic passage
that between us and every Canaan of sue
cess and prosperity there is n river that
must be passed. 30, how i would like some
of those grapes on the other siden' said some
of the Israelites to Joshua. We'll" says
Joshua, 'tf you want the grapes, why don't
you cross over and get themp There is a
river of difficulty between us and every
thing that ia worth having; that which costs
nothing is worth nothing. God didn't in
tend this world for an easy parlor, through
which we are to be drawn in a rocking
chair, but we are to work our passage
climb masts, fight battles, scale mountains,
and ford rivers. God makes everything
valuable difficult to get at, for the same
reason that he put the gold down in the
mine, and the pearl clear down In the sea,
60 make us dig and dive for them. We ac-
knowledge this principle in the worldly
things; y, that we were only wise enough
70 acknowledge it In religious things!
You have scores of illustrations under
your own observation where men have had
che hardest lot, and been troddea under
foot, and yet after awhile had 1t easy. Now
their homes blossom and bloom with plot
ures, and carpets that made foreign looms
laugh now embrace their feet; the summer
winds lift the tapestry about the window
gorgeous enough for Turkish sultan; I'M
patient steeds paw and neigh at the door.
their carriage moving through the sea Of
New York life very wave OF splendor.
Who is It? Why, ii is boy that came to
New York with a dollar in bis pocket, and
all bis estate slung over his shoulder Ia q
cotton handkerchief. All that silver on
the dancing span is petrified sweatdrops;
that beautiful dress is the faded calico over
which God put his hand of perfection, turn
ing 1t to Turkish satin or Italian silk those
diamonds are the tears which suffering froze
as they fell. o, there is q river of difficulty
between US and every earthly achievement.
You know that. You admit that.
You know this is so with regard to the
acquisition of knowledge The anoients
used 10 say that Vulcan struck Jupiter on
the head, and the goddess of wisdom jumped
out. illustrating the truth that wisdom
comes by hard knocks. There was river
or difficulty between Shakespeare, the boy
holding the horses at the door of the Lon
don theater and that Shakespeare, the great
dramatist, winning the applause of all au-
diences by his tragedies. There was river
between Benjamin Franklin, with loaf of
bread under his arm, walking the streets Of
Philadelphia, and that same Benjamin