Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-03-23
their clothes saturated and their garments


presses feet touched the waters OF :lor-
dan and they were drawn off they might
have thought there would have Deen
bed of mud and slime through which the
army should pass. Draw off the water OF
the Hudson or the Ohio and there would
weeks. before the sediment would Dry
up; and yet here. in an instant, lmme-
diately. God provides a path through
the depths of Jordan; it is so dry the
passengers do not even get their 1eet
damp. Oh, the completeness, OF every
universe?-it is a perfect clock, running
ever since it was wound up, the hxed
stars the pivots, the consultations: the
interviewing wheels. and ponderouS laws,
the weights and mighty swinging pendu-
lum: the stars in the great dome OF nlght'
striking the midnight, ana the sun WIN
brazen tongue, tollins the hour or noon:
The widest comet has Il chain of law 1t
cannot break. The thstlc-down flying
before the school boys breath is con
trollel by the same law that controls the
sun and the planets. The rose bush in
your '',n dow is governed by the same me
universe on which the stars are ripenlng
fruits, and on which God will one day
put his hand and shake down the fru!t-
a perfect universe. No astronomy has
ever proposed an amendment.
If God makes q Bible, 1t Is a complete
Bible. Standing amid the dreadful and
delightful truths, you seem to be in the
midst Of an orchestra where the walllngs
over sins, 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 or
truth, on every wave of which Christ
walks sometimes in the darkness of
prophecy, again in the splendors with
which he walks on Galilec. In this book
apostle answers to prophet. Paul to
Isaiah. Revelation to GencSis-glorious
light, turning midnight sorrow. into the
midn"on JOY. dispensing every , roy; h !. =;
the kiss of God ON the soul of lost man.
Perfect Bible. complete Bible. No man
has ever proposed any improvement.
Again, l learn from this Joranic
passage that between us and every "a
naan Of success and prosperity there is
l would like some of those grapes on the
otter side" said some of the lSraelltes
to Joshua "Well,' says Joshua, IF you
want the grapes why don't you cross over
and get them" There is Il river of diff
ticulty between us and everything that is
is worth nothing. God didn't intend TINS
world for an easy poror. through winch
we are to be drawn in rocking char
but we are to work our passage, CLIMB
maSts. fight battles, scale mountains ana
ford rivers. God makes everything val
liable difficult to get at Tor the same
reason that he put the gold down in the
mine. and the pearl clear down IL the
sea, to make us dig and dive Tor them.
We acknowledge this principle III WorlulS
things; OH. that We We're only wise
enough, to acknowledge 1t IN religious
things.
your own observation where men have
had the hardest lot. and been trodden
under foot, and vet after awhile had II
easy. Nnw their homes blossom and
bloom with pictures. ana carpets mat
mace foreign lco!hs laugh now embrace
their feet; the summer winds lift the
tapestry about the window gorgeous
enough for :, Turkish sultan; impatle
strrdS paw and neigh at the door. thelr
carriages moving through the sea OF New
Yurs lie Il very wave of splrndor. W no
is IL: Why. it is boy thhl came 10
New York with Il dollar i'll his pocket
and all his estate >lung over his shoulder
in Il cotton hanlk erchief. All thut silver
on the dancing span is pctrltled sweat,
,yops: that ;,:.autiful dress is the faded
calico over .,hirh God put his hand OF
perfection. farming it to Turkish Sa1ln
or Italian silk those diamonds are the
terrs which s,.fft ring froze as they fell.
Oh. there is Il river Of difficulty bet een
us and every earthly achievement. You
know that You admit that.
You know this is so with regard to the
acquisition 81 hnowledSe. Ihe an 1'n;,sr
on The heat. and the goddess of wisdom
jumped out. illustrating the truth ~, that
wisdom comes by hard knocks. There
was river Of difficulty between Shake
speare, the boy holding the horses at the
door of the London thcater, ana that
Shakespeare, the great dramntist' WIN
of u
his tragedies There was river between
BENJAMIN Franklin, with loaf of bread
under hi, arm, walking the streets or
Philadelphia, AID that same benjamin
Franklin. the philosopher. just outside OF
Boston. lying kite in the thnndelHtorm:
looking through his window. night after
night, NJ & man who seemed sitting at
his desk turning off one sheet OF writing
after another. until almost the dawn OF
the morning. The man sitting Their" wit
Ing until morning was industrious aiter
Scott; the man vino looked at nun
through the window WAS Iock'lart: his
illuS;riouS bogrnpher afterward. Lord
Mansfield. pursued by the press and ~
the popullr.. because of Il certain line OF
duty went on TO discharge tho duty. ana
while the mG,, We're around him, demand
ing the taking OF his life. le shook his fist
in the face of the mob and said: 'Slrs.
when ones last end comes it can not
come too soon if he falls in defense of
law and the liberty of his country. And
50 there is. NY friends Il tug. Il tussle.
trial. Il push. All anxiety, through which
every man must 20 before he comes to
worldly success and worldly achievement.
You admit it. Now be wise enough to
apply it to religion. Eminent Christian
character is only gained by the Iordanic
passage: no man just happened to get
good.
Why does that man know so much
about the Scriptures: He was studying
the Bible while you We're reading novel.
He was on fire with the sublimitcs of the
Bible while you were sound asleep. BY
tug. t,,sse. pushing and running in the
Christian life that man got so strong for
God in hundred Solferinos he learned
how to fight: in a hundred shipwrecks he
learned how to swim. Tears over sin,
tears over lions desolation, tears over
the impenitent. tears over the graves
made. are the Jordan which that man
had passed. Sorrow palcs the cheek. and
fades the eye. and wrinkles the brow.
and withnrs the hands: there are mourn
ing garments in the wardrobe. and there