Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-02-25

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life through sickness has been snowy
day, have killed every hon OF despond-
ency that dared to put It's CRUEL paw
against their suffering pillow. It was
a snowy day when the Pilgrim Fathers
set foot not Oh q bank Of flowers. but
on the cold New England rock. and
from a ship that might have been moro
appropriately called after Decem Der
hurricane than after a "Mayfower''
thew took possession of this great CONT
nent And amid more chilly worldly cir
cumstances many good man or q good
woman has taken possession Of q whole
continent of spiritual satisfaction, val
Icys 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 December, to show
US that we might have Christ in win
ter weather and on snowy day.
] A Fearful Blast.
Notice every thing down in the pit
that snowy day depended upon Benaiah's
weapon. There was as much strength il
one muscle of that lion as in all the
muscles of both arms of Benaiah It is
the strongest of Beasts and has been
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/ SO rough that it acts as rasp tearing
off the flesh in ticks. 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 dagger? Was it iavelin?
! Was it knife? I 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 I 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 Stay US. The sword Of the
Spirit Nothing in earth or hell can
stand before that. Victory with that,
or no victory at all. By that 1 mean
prayer to God. confidence in his rescuing
power, saving grace, almighty deliver
ance. I do not care what you call it. l
call it 'sWord of the Spirit. " And If
the lions Of all the jnngles 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
resolution welded against the powers
which assault you is "a toy pistol against
an armstrong gun; is a penknife held
out against the brandished sabers Of q
Heintzelman' cavalry charge. Go into
the fight against sin on your own
strength, and the result will be tho hot
breath Of the lion in your blanched face,
and his front paws one on each lung.
Alasl for the man not fully arm2d down
in the pit on snowy day, and before
him a 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 vall1eth
about, seeking whom he may deypur. >
Now, you have never seen a rea.. lion
unless you have seen him in 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 III tho geological gardens Of
Calcutta and hear him roar for the prey.
1t makes ones blood curdle, and you
shrink back, although you know there
time Six hundred of them were
slaughtered on one occasion in the pres
ence Of Pompey in the Roman amphi- !
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 arc fire. |
quently alluded to i'll the Scriptures. |
Joel, the prophet, describes the ''cheek |
teeth" OF great lion, and Isaiah men
lions among the attractions Of hefVen |
that mo lion shall be there, - and |
Amos speaks of shepherd taking o |
lambs ear out of the mouth Of q lien, |
and Solomon describes the righteous as
"bold as lion, and Daniel was a
great lion tanner, and David and Jare-
miah and ST John often speak Of this
creature.
But most am / impressed by what
have quoted from the Apostle P3ter
when he calls the devil q 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 q 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 hatchery to begin, and the
CHASTITY joke in the street was, "Blood
letting is good in August, F." and so, 900
assassin knives were plunged into lho
victims, and this monster has had IN
Fer his paw many Of the grandest seals
Of all time, and fattened with the spills
Of centuries he comes for you.
But l am glad to say to all of you
who have got the worst in such strSg
gle that there is lion on our sideif