Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1893-10-07

they stay :o-e:her? Boots o. ..e,ara-. az
tracts" complied from many authors are
proverbiaily short lived. / ueyer kuc~ GRO
snsh book which, 70 use tia publishers
phrase. had life In it" Tor FIVE years.
Why is II that fha Bible. made 10 O. the
writings o. at least 81 authors. has kent TO-
cether for q long line o. centuries when ira
natural tendency would have been 70 e.
apart Ike loose sheets 0. paper when n c~rS-
o. WIND blows upon them? Il il because God
Stuck them together and keeps them TO-
cether- But for that Joshua would naya
Wanfered on Ia one direction. AM Paul into
another. and Ezekie! into another. ani Ha-
.'asknk into another, and the 80 authors in
TO 80 directions.
Put the writings Q. Shakespeare and Ten
nyson and Longfellow. Or any Part otther-.
together. How long would they STAY 10
setferE No took bindery could keep them
to4e'nef. bns the cannon Of the SerIgsu-a
Is ioaied now with the sane an nunltion
with which prophet aad apostle Ioa lei i.
Bring me al the Bibles Of the earth Into
one pile. and hlindtold me- 50 that I cannot ten
the difference between day and night. ana
pa INTO nv hand any one OF all that Alpine
mountain o. sacred books. and put my finger
On the last page OF Genesis and let me know
II ana can tell you what Is on the nert page
-ha1nfly, the first chapter Of Exodus: or
while thus bltndfolded put nv finger on fba
last chapier OF Matthew and let ne know il.
ana Will tell you what is On the next mage
namely, the first chapter Of Mark. In the
pie OF 800 600. 900 Bibles there will be no
exception: In other words, the book gives
me confidence by its supernatural adhesion
OF writing to writing.
Even the stoutest ship sometimes shifts its
cargo, and that is what made our peril the
greater in the ship Greece Of the National
line when the cyclone struck us of the coast
OF Newfoundland. and the cargo OF iron hal
l Gh1fTn All ne Z ha chin ylyn fr~-o
star5oard. and from starboard TO larboa-3.
But, thanks be 10 God. this old Bible shin.
though 1t has been In thousands Of years of
tempest, has kept its cargo Of gold AMI pre-
clou5 stones compass and sure. and in all the
centuries nothing about it has shifted. There
they stand. shoulder to shoulder, David and
solomon and Isaiah and Jeremiah ami En-
kiei and Daniel and Hosea and Joel and
Amos and Obadiah and Jonah and Micah and
Nahum and Habbakkuk AMI Zephaniah AMI
HaG-ai and Zechariah and Malachi and Mat
thew and Mark AMI Luke and John and Pau
lni Peter. all there. md with a certainty Of
being there until the heavens ana the earth.
the creation Of which is described in the arst
book q the Bible. shall have collapsed, and
the white horse Of the conqueror. described
III Il" last book ofthe Bible, shall paw the
dH7t IN universal demolition. BY that ire
EleLlous fact my faith is re-cnforreI.
T." discussion is ahroasds TO who wrote
tho~e books Of the Bible called the Panta-
teu1n. whether Moses or Hilkiah, or Ezra or
Samuel. or jeremiah. or another group Of
az None Of them wrote it. God
wrote tho Pentateuch, and in this day Of
stenocraphv and typewriting that ought not
to b" a difficult thing to understand. The
great merchants and lawyers, ana editors
ana business men Of our towns and cities
dictate nearly a. their letters they only
sign them after they are dictated. The
prophet and evangelist and apostle were
Jenovants srenograpners or rvpsTrlters.
They put down only what God dictated he
siGne Il afterward. He Las been writing his
natnc upon 1t all through the vicissitudes of
centuries.
Bu: | come to the height of my subject
Whel say the way TO reinforce our faith is
to Pyay for it. SO the disciples ia my text
got their Astounding faith. LORD. increase
our faith" Some one suggests. DO YOU
really think that prayer amounts to any
thing / might as we'll ask you. is there a
line OF Geographic poles from New York to
Washington. IS there a line OF Geographic
wires from Manchester to London, from
Cologne to Berlin? All the people who have
sent and received messages on those lines
know Of their existence. SO there are mill
ions OF souls who have been in constant com
munlcatlon With the capital Of the universe,
with the throne OF the Almighty. with the
great God Himself, for years and years and
| years.
There has not been a day when ~supplica-
tons did not fash up and blessings
did not flash down. Will some iyno-
ramus, who has never received n telegram or
sent one, come and tell US that there is no
such thing IA Geographic communication?
viii some one who has never offered a PRAYER
that was heard and answered. come and tell
US that there is nothing in prayer? It NAV
not come as W. expect it. but as silra rs an
honest prayer ,ors upa mercifu. answer will
come down.
During the 1iizza- Of four or five wears
ago, YOU know that May Or the telegraph
wircs were prostrit ]. aui / teiegraphel to
Chicago by WY Of Liverpool, anithr answer
aftor ar.hil" cane rouut ~ another wide
circuit, an! 20 the prayer we offer may come
back i'll a way We never imagined. ana II We
ask 70 hava our faith increased. although It
may come by Il widely different process than
that which We expected. our confidence will
surely b" augmented.
ON. put II III every prayer YOU ever. make
between your next nrrath and your last gasp.
Lori, Increase our taitha-faitl IN Christ
as ou- personal ransom from present guilt
ami eternal catastrophe; faith in the oulnipo-
tent Holy Ghost faith in the Bible. thetruest
volume ever dictated or written or printed
or read faith in adverse proyiien:es. har-
nonizei for our best welfare faith in q
Judgment day that Will set all things right
which have for a-as been wrong.
Increase our flta. no: ~ q f-tcila al
dition. but ~ an intlnitule Of re-upnration.
Let US do as ~ SAW II don. N the country
while We wer" Yet III our teens, 1T the Old
farmhouse after "a Long 4roa.tt, ALL the
Wi had been drie !. All II" clt.i. floanei
Win thirst at the aars. -tii the IaealoS
hrooE nal ceasci - ran, AMI tn, grass
WIiaar.t. al / TIM -1r4 sS4~ -ar., 80 up,
AM "a itN tle- }St~ = croT. ,! tl:n ier.
AMI that. g stnnLrtt.tou .. clouds GA. the
~sE. "Ht+A"n 4 >~ta.tiinC fash. an :hnr
trth AitS AIN. an! father an motae. r.-
tarrel7 under evcryespoUt a. n" corner, -
IN. Ao4~" All SCI pals ant tua1-t- an
tuSS ant pans AMI pitchers II catel -
much a they could Of the slower. For ;
many 81 oar souls there has faon a lou-
trcucht ~ conti"ncA ana in many no fsith
= al. Let u sat out MI our affections. al
cur topos. ali our ron:enplations, ALI cr-
Tray"-~. - catch a mighty shower In.
II 2 - or tl-h.
J .t@r n" WAY thae the minister's ~
h i.t~aa Tine. WIN. afj"r tle ta-rtly
us ~ IN ortlnat". her w. sons w.-a
{ oil so!t for lot. AL -he hat no.h.
- f0I~" tct a ppt e oil. an 4
s itr"t'1L n" borrowed from -
i.'-# : I'll 80 vessels SA~ could h-orrov
81 Ten pc-aa - sour CT tha oil into .ha-.
ff~-@t- a. . ---- -