Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-03-01
A Fearful Blast.

muscles Of both arms Of Benaiah. 1t Is
the strongest of beasts and has been
known to carry off an OK. Its tongue is
so rough that it acts as rasp tearing
off the flesh in licks. The two great
CANNES at each side Of the mouth make
escape impossible for anything it has
once seized. Yet Benaiah puts his heel
on the neck Of this liking Of beasts. "
Was it a dagger? Was it javeling
Was it knife? ! cannot tell, but every
thing depended on it. But for that
Benaiah's body under one crunch OF the
monster would have been left limp and
tumbled in the snow. And when you
and go into the fight with temptation,
if we have not the right kind OF weap-
on, instead Of our Staying the lion the
lion will slay u.s. The sword Of the
Spirit! Nothing in earth or hell can
stand before that Victory with that,
or no victory at all By that | mean
prayer to God, confidence in his rescuing
power, saving grace, almighty deliver
ance. do not care what you call It, l
call it "sword Of the Spirit. And if
the lions Of all the jungles Of perdition
should at once spring upon your soul
by that weapon Of heavenly metal you
can thrust them back, and cut them
down, and stab them through, and leave
them powerless at your feet Your good
resolution welded against the powers
which assault you is toy pistol against
an armstrong gun; is a penknife held
out against the brandished sabers Of
Heintzelman cavalry charge. Go into
the fight against sin on your own
strength, and the result will be the hot
breath Of the lion in your blanched face,
and his front paws one on each lung
Alas for the man not fully armed down
in the pit on a snowy day, and before
him lionl
All my hearers and readers have
big fight Of some sort on hand, but the
biggest and the wrathiest lion which
you have to fight is what the Bible
calls "the roaring lion who walketh
about. seeking whom he may devour. "
Now, You have never seen real lion
unless you have seen him IL India CT
Africa, just after capture. Long caging
breaks his spirit, and the constant pres
ence Of human beings tames him. But
you ought to see him spring against the
iron bars In the geological gardens Of
Calcutta and hear him roar for the prey.
1t makes ones blood curdle, and you
shrink back, although you know there
is no peril. Plenty Of lions in olden
time. Six hundred Of them were
slaughtered on one occasion in the pres
ence Of Pompey in the Roman amphl-
theater. Lions came out and destroyed
the camels which carried the baggage
of Xerxes' army. In Bible times there
were so many lions that they are fire.
ouently alluded to in the Scriptures.
Joel. the prophet, describes the "cheek
teeth" Of a great lion, and Isaiah men
tions among the attractions Of heaven
that mo lion shall be there, and
Amos speaks Of a shepherd taking a
lambs ear out of the mouth Of lion,
and Solomon describes the righteous as
"bold as a lion" and Daniel was
great lion tanner, and David and Jere-
miah and St. John often speak OF this
creature.
But most am l impressed by what
have quoted from the Apostle Peter
when he calls the devil lion. That
means strength. That means blood
thirstiness. That means cruelty. That
means destruction. Some Of you have
felt the strength of his paw, and the
sharpness Of his tooth, and the horror OF
his rage. Yes, he is a savage devil. he
roared at everything good when Lord
Clayerhouse assailed the Coyenanters,
and Bartholomew against the Hugue-
nots one August night when the bell
tolled for the butchery to begin, and the
chastity Joke in the street was, Blood
letting is good in August, " and 5O,OOO
assassin knives were plunged into the
victims, and this monster has had un-
der his paw many Of the grandest souls
Of all time, and fattened with the spoils
Of centuries he comes for you.
But am glad to say to all OF you
who have got the worst in such strug-
! gle that there is a lion on our side II
YOU want him, Revelation V, D, The
| lion of Judah's tribe" A Lamb TO Us,
but a lion to meet that other lion, and
you can easily guess who will beat IN
that fight, and who will be beaten. When
two opposing lions meet in a jungle IN
India. you cannot tell which will over
come and which will be overcome. They
glare at each other for a moment, and
then with full strength OF muscle they
dash against each other like two thun-
derbolts Of colliding stormclouds, and
with laws like the crush Of avalanches,
aud with a resounding voice that makes
the Himalayas tremble, and with pull
and tear and clutch and trample and
shaking Of the head from side to side
until it is too much for human endur-
ance to witness, and, though one lion
may be left dead, the one which has
conquered crawls away lacerated ana
Qashed and lame and eyeless to bleed TO
death in an adjoining jungle. But II
you and feel enough our weakness IN
this battle of temptation and ask for the
livine help against that old lion OF hell
described in St. Peter, will 60 the stron-
ger lion described in Revelation, and 1t
will be no uncertain grapple, but under
one omnipotent stroke the devouring
monster that would slay our soul shall
90 reeling back into pit 10, 600 times
deeper than that in which Benaish slew
the lion on q snowy day.
On Snowy Days.
A word to all who are in snowy day.
Oh. fathers and mothers who have lost
children, that is the weather that cuts
through body and soul But drive back
the lion of bereavement with the
thought which David Rae of Edinburgh
got from the Scotch grayedigger, VINO
was always planting white clover and
the sweetest flowers on the children s
graves in the cemetery and when asked
why no did e. replied: Surely, sir,
Gamma make over fine the bed coverin O
little innocent sleeper that's waitln
there till it's Gods time TO waken 1t,
and cover it with the white robe, and
a. -.