Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1895-03-08

John Wesley had three troubles-defa-
nation by mobs. domestic infelicity, fatigue
from more sermons preached and more miles
Travelled than almost any man of his time.
What does he say? 'The best of all is, God
is with u.s." And when his poet brother,
Charles Wesley, said to him, "Brother John,
II the Lord were to give me wings, I'd fly"
Johns reply was, Brother Charles, If the
Lord told me to fly, I'd do 1t and leave Him
to find the wings
George Whitefield had three troubles-re-
lection from the pulpits Of England because
he was too dramatic-=that was one trouble:
stSa Dismus, or the crossing Of his eyes, that
subjected him to the caricature OF all the
small wits Of the day; Vernin and dead ami
mails thrown at him while he preached on the
conimOns-that made three troubles. Never
tnecSs, his sermons were SO buOyant that a
little child, dying soon after hearing him
preach, said in the intervals of pain, 'Let
me go to Mr. Whitef1eld's God" Oh, am
50 glad that Benaiah of my text was not the
only one who triumphad over lion in pit
on snowy day.
Notice in my text a victory over bad
weather. It was snowy dav, when ones
vitality is at a low ebb and the spirits are
naturally depressed and one does not feel
like undertaking a great enterprise, when
Benaah rubs his hands together to warm
them by extra friction, or trashes his arms
around him to revive circulation of the
blood and then goes at the lion, which was
all the more fierce and ravenous. because of
the sharp weather. Inspiration here admits
atmospheric hindrance. The snowy day at
Valley Forge well nigh put an end to the
struggle for American Independence. The
snowy day demolished Napoleon's army on
the way from Moscow.
The inclemency of January and February
weather has some years bankrupted thou
sands OF merchants. Long succession of
stormy Sabbaths has crippled innumerable
churches. Lighthouses veiled by the snow
on many coast have failed to warn off from
the rocks the doomed frigate. Tens Of thou
sands of Christians Of nervous temperament
by the depression Of q snowy day almost
despair OF reaching heaven. Yet in that
style of weather Benaiah Of the text
achieved his most celebrated victory
and let u9 by the grace of God become
victor CvcT Influences atmospheric. If we
are happy only when the wind blows from
the clear northwest and the thermometer IS
above freezing point. and the sky is an i'll
vortel blue cup Of sunshine poured all over
us. ii is a religion % per cent. off. TlaDh
God there are Christians who, though their
whole life through sickness has been q Snowy
day, have killed every lion Of despondency
that dared to put its cruel paw against their
suffering pillow. 1t was a snowy day when
the Pilgrim Fathers set foot not on bank of
flowers, but on the cold New England rock and
from ship that might have 5een more ap-
propriately called after a December hurri
cane than after "Mayfower" they took
possession of this great continent. And
amid more chilly worldly circumstances
many good man or a good woman has
taken possession Of u whole continent OF
spiritual satisfaction, valleys Of peace and
rivers of gladness and mountains of joy.
Christ landed in our world not in the month
of May, but in the stormy month of Decem-
Der, to show that we might have Christ in
winter weather and on snowy day.
Notice everything down in the pit that
snowy day depended upon Benaiah g weapon.
hnrp ctr nCpth in 10 T
that lion as in all the muscles of both arms OF
Benaiah. 1t is the strongest of beasts, and
has been known to carry off an OK. is
tongue is 80 rough that it acts as a rasp
tearing off the flesh in licks. The two great
CANNES at each side Of the mouth make es-
cape impossible for anything it has once
seized. Yet Benaiah puts his heel on
the neck of this "king of beasts
Was it dagger? Was 1t a javelin? Was it
knife? I cannot tell, but everything de-
pended 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 l go into the fight with
temptation, If we have not the right kind of
weapon. instead of our staying the lion the
lion will slay us. The sword Of the Spirit!
Nothing in earth or hell can stand before that.
Victory with that, no victory at all, By
that mean prayer to God, confidence in His
| rescuing power, saving grace, almighty dc
liverance. do not care what you call 1t. [
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 a toy pistol against an
Armstrong gun; is penknife held out against
the brandished sabers Of a Heintzelman's
cavalry charge. Go into the fight against
sin on your own strength, and the result will
ia hot hra of ha in
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 a
lion,
All my hearers and readers have a big
! fight Of some sort on hand, but the biggest
and the wrathest 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 In India or Africa, Just after capture.
Long caging breaks his spirit, and the con-
stant presence 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. It
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 presence of Pompey in the Roman
amphitheater. Lions came out and de-
stroyed the eamels which carried the bag
gage of Xerxes' army. In Bible times there
were SO many lions that they are fire.
quentIy alluded to in the Scriptures.
joel. the prophet, describes the "cheek
teeth of great lion, and Isaiah mentions
among the attractions of heaven that ''no
lion shall be there" l.1d Amos speaks of
shepherd taking a LAMBS car out of the mouth
of a lon and Solomon describes the righteous
as bold as a lion" and Daniel was great
lion tanner, and David and Jeremiah and st.
Joh oft nf
But most am l impressed by what [ have
quoted from the Apostle Peter when he calls
the devil a lion. That means strength.
That means bloodthirstiness 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
| Claverhouse assailed the Covenanters,
and Bartholomew against the Hugue
nots one August night when the bell tolled
for the butchery to begin and the ghastly
Joke in the street was, 'Blood letting is good
in August" and so 900 assassin knives were
plunged into the victims, and this monster
has lad under 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 struggle that there is
a lion on our side if you want him, Revela-
ton v, 5, "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 overcome
and which will be overcome. They
glare at each other for moment, and
then with full strength of muscle they
dash against each other like two thunder
bolts cf Colliding stormclouds, and with jaws
like the crush of avalanches, and with a
sounding 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
endurance to witness, and, though one lion
may be left dead. the one which has con-
uuered crawls away lacerated and
gashed and lame and eyeless to bleed to