Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-03-08

I .ro,od than almost any man of his time.
Wit does he saw? 'The best OF all Is, God
is with us" And when his poe, brother,
| Charles Wesley, said to him, "Brotner J0nn,
| ii the Lord were to give me wings, Ia ny,
Johns reply was, "Brotner Onai Iooo - Hin fn
| Lord told me to fly, La 40 IL anu i0"'o Ai'1
1 to find the wings"
| George Whiteheld had three trouoles-re-
;action from the pulpits of England because
| he was too dramatic-that was one troupIe;
strabismus. or the crossing Of his eyes, that
subjected him to the caricature OF all the
| small wits of the day; ve-min and dead anil
mails thrown at him while he preached on the
commons-that made three troubles. Never
| theless, his sermons were so puoyant tnat
| little child, dying soon after nearing MN
| nreach. said in the intervals OF pain, Let
| me 90 TO Mr. Whiteheld's God" Oh, L am
| SO glad that Bsnaiah of my text was not the
| onlv one who triumphed over lion IN PIT
on snowy day. hos
Notice in my text a victory over bad
weather. 1t was a snowy day, wnen ones
vitalitvis at a low ebb and the spirits are
| naturally depressed and one does not ieel
| like undertaking a great enterprise, Wnen
| Benaiah rubs his hands together to warm
| them by extra friction, or trasnes MS 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 bankruptee thou
| sands of merchants. Long succession OF
stormy Sabbaths has crippled innumerable
| churches. Lighthouses yelled by the snow
| on many coast have failed to warn of from
| the rocks the doomed frigate. Tens OF thou
sands of Christians of nervous temperament
| by the depression of snowy day almost
| despair Of reaching heaven. Yet in that
| stvle of weather Benaiah of the text
| achieved his most celebrated victory,
and let us by the grace of God become
victor over influences atmospheric. Ii we
| are happy only when the wind blows from
| the clear northwest and the thermometer is
above freezing point, aud the sky is an in
verted blue cup of sunshine poured all over
us. it is q religion 95 per cent. OF. Thank
God there are Christians who, though their
whole life through sickness has been snowy
dav. have killed every lion of dependency
that dared to put its cruel paw against their
suffering pillow. It WIS 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 been more up
proprately called after December hurri-
cane than after "Mayhower" they tool
possession of this great continent. And
amid more chilly worldly circumstances
many good man OF good woman has
| taken possession OF a 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 a snowy day.
Notice everything down in the pit that
snowy day depended upon Benaiah' weapon.
There was as much strength in one muscle OF
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. Its
tongue is 50 rough that it acts as rasp
tearing off the flesh in ticks. The two great
CANNES at each side of the mouth make es-
cape impossible for anything 1t has once
seized Yet Benaiah puts his heel on
the neck of this "king of beasts. "
Was it dagger? VAST javelin? Was it a
knife? 1 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 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, or no victory at ALL BY
that mean prayer to God, confidence in His
rescuing power, saving grace, almighty de-
liverance. do not care what you call 1T.
call it "sword Of the Spirit" And If the
lions Of ell 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
4 11,.ks al cd
which assault you is toy pistol against an
Armstrong gun; Is penknife held out against
the brandished sabers OF Heintzelman's
cavalry charge. Go into the fight against
sin on your own strength, and the result Will
be the hot breath ofthe 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 snowy day, and before him
lion!
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 in India or Africa, just after capture.
Long caging breaks his spirit, and the con-
slant 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. 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 presence of Pompey in the Roman
amphitheater. Lions came out and de-
stroyed the camels which carried the bag
gage of Xerxes' army. In Bible times there
were 50 many lions that they are fire.
Quently alluded to in the Scriptures.
Jocl, the prophet, describes tho "cheex
teeth" ola great lion, and Isaiah mentions
among the attractions of heaven that "no
lion shall be there" and Amos speaks OF a
shepherd taking lambs ear out Of the mouth
of a lion and Solomon describes the righteous
as "bold as q lion." and Daniel was great
lion tanner, and David and jeremiah and st.
John often speak of this creature.
, But most am I 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 CHASTITY
| Joke in the street was, BLOOD letting Is good
. in August" and 90, 900 assassin knives were
: plunged into the Victims and this monster
q has had under his paw many Of the grandest
: souls of all time, and fattened with the spoilf
| - .fa bf ac for