The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-03-14

! Matted ana reared anu StOOu lueTe, duu HOI
! overlooking the surrounding country. Oh,
the completeness of everything that God
| does!
One would have thought that. if the wa
ters of Jordan had dropped until they were
only two or three feet deep, the lsraelites
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 as won
derful a deliverance; but God does some.
thing better than that. When the priests
| feet touched the waters of Jordan and they
We're drawn off they might have thought
! there would have been a bed OF mud and
| slime through which the army should pass.
! Draw off the water of the Hudson or the
| Ohio, and there would be good many
| days, and perhaps many weeks, before the
sediment would dry up; and yet here, in an
| instant, Immediately, God provides 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 universe!
| 1t is a perfect clock, running ever since 1T
! was wound up, the fixed stars, the plvots
| the consultations. the intermovlng 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 brazen tongue, toll
! ing the hour of noon, The widest comet
| The thstledown flying before the school
| boys breath is controlled by the same law
| that controls the sun and the planets Inc
| 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 per-
feet universe. No astronomy has ever pro-
posed an amendment.
Bible. Standing amid the dreadful and
delightful truths YOU seem to be i'll the midst
of an orchestra whore the wailings over SINS
and the rejoicing over pardon and the ma
tcrial 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-sometimes in the
darkness of prophecy, again in the splendors
with which he walks on Galilce. In this
book apostle answers to prophet, Paul to
Isaiah, Revclati ton to Genesis-slorious
light, turning midnight sorrow into midnoon
joy dispensing every fog, hushlng every
tempest Take this book, it is the kiss OF
God on the soul of lost man. Perfect BIZ
bic, complete Bible! No man has ever pro-
posed any Improvement.
God provided a Savior. He is a complete
Savior-God-man. divinity and humanity
united III the same person. He set up the
starry pillars of the universe and the tow
ers of light He planted the cedars and the
heavenly Lebanon He struck out of the
rock the rivers Of life, singing under the
trees. singing under the thrones. He
topaz of the heavenly wall. He put down
the jasper for the foundation. and heapcd
mp the amethyst for the capital and swung
the twelve gates which are twelve pearls.
In one instant he thought out Il universe;
and yet he became a child. crying for his
mother. feeling along the sides of the man
ger learning to walk. Omnipotence sheathed
in the muscle and flesh of a child's arm;
omniscience strung in the optic nerve of a
child's eve; infinite love beating in a child's
heart; a great God appearing in the form of
child one year old. five years old. fifteen
years old. While all the heavens were as.
crlbng to him glory and honor and power
While all the heavenly hosts, with folded
wing about their faces bowed down before
his crying "Holy, holv,' on earth they do
nounced him as a blasphemer and soft.
tocked in boat on Gennesaret and vet
he 1t is that undirked the lightning from
the ktormcloud and dsmasteI Lebanon
of It's forests and holds the five oceans
on the tip of his finger. as leaf holds
me .ralndrop Oh, the. complete Savior
rubbing his hand over the place where we
nave the pain Yet the stars of nea ven the
adornng gems Of his right hand Holding
US III his arms when We take our last view
or our dead. Sitting down with US on the
tombstone, and, while We plant roses there.
ne planting consolation in our heart every
chapter stalk, every verse g stem every
word a rose. a complete Savior q com
piete bible, q complete universe, c,m-
EVorXthfnp
God does is complete
Again, learn from this Jordanc pas
sage That between us and every Canaan
OF OF success and prosperity there is q river
wa, 1nat must be passed. "Oh, how I would
lkc some of those grapes on the other
side said some of the Israelites 10
Joshua. Well" said Joshua, IF Won want
the grapes, why don't you cross over and
get ger them, There is a river of difficulty
I MS rs snd everything that is WORTH
which
nothing God didn't intend this world for
an easy parlor. through which we are 70
De drawn i'll 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
Ne sea to make us dig and dive for them.
t NE a'hn nov this principle in worldly
thlngS. on. that we were only wise enough
10 acknoWledge 1t in religious thingsi
lou nave scores of illustrations under your
HWn ooSGrVatlon where men have had the
hardest Tot and been trodden under foot
ana yet after while had it easy. Now
Their homes blossom and bloom with pic-
lures and carpets that made foreign looms
laugh now embrace their feet; the summer
winds INT the tapestry about the window
gorgeous enough for Turkish sultan. i'm
patient steeds paw and neigh at the door
I4elr Carriages moving through the sea Of
New York hfe q very wave of snleudor
v no IS It! Why it's Il boy who came to
New York with a dollar in his pocket. and
all his estate slung over his shoulder in
q cotton handkerchief All chat silver
on the dancing span is petrfed swcatdrope;
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. Oh. there is river Of
dlhcuty between lis and every achievement
You know that. You admit that.
You know this is so with regard to +ba
acquisition of knowledge The ancients
used to 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 of difficulty between Shake
spcare, the boy holding the horses at the
door of the London theater. and that Shake
speare the great dramatist. winning the
applause of all audiences by his tragedies.
There was a river between Benjamin
Franklin, with Il loaf of bread under his
arm, walking the streets of Philadelphia
and that same Benjamin Franklin. the
philosopher, just outside of Boston. flying
Il kite in the thunderstorm. An idler
was cured of his bad habit by looking
through his window. night after night, at
a man who seemed sitting at his desk turn
ing off one sheet of writing after another
until almost the dawn of the morning
The man sitting there writing until morn