Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-03-14

! every lion of dependency that dared
70 put its cruel paw against their suf-
fering pillow. 1t was q snowy day
when the pilgrim fathers set foot, not
on bank of flowers, but on the cold
New England rock, and from a ship
That might have been more appropri-
ately called after a December hurri-
cane than after MAY hower," they
took possession Of this great continent
And amid more chilly worldly circum-
stances, many good man or a good
woman has taken possession of a whole
continent of spiritual satisfaction, val
leys 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 De-
cember, to show us that we might
have Christ in winter weather, and on
a snowy day.
| Notice everything down in the pit
that snowy day depended upon Benai-
abs weapon. There was as much
strength in one muscle of that lion as
IN all the muscles of both arms of
-NSs~~uiis 49, 40 VIC otIO1SCouO Va pCdoVct
and has been known to carry off an OK.
Its tongue is so rough that it acts as a
rasp, tearing off the flesh it ticks. The
two great CANNES at each side of the
mouth make escape impossible for any
thing it has once seized. Yet Benaiah
puts his heel on the neck of this king
OF beasts" Was it a dagger? Was it a
| lavelin? Was it a knife? cannot tell,
but everything depended on it. But
for that, Benaiah's body under one
craunch of the monster would have
been left limp and tnmbled 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, conf
dence in His rescuing power, saving
grace, Almighty deliverance. do not
care what you call it; 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 power
less at your feet Your good resolution
welded against the powers which as
sault you is a toy pistol against an
Armstrong gun; is a penlSnife held out
against the brandished sabers of a
aeintzelman's 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 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 1.-THE roaring lion, who walketh, |
about, seeking whom he may devour."
Now, you have never seen real lion |
nnless you have seen him in India or
Africa, just after capture. Long caging
breaks his spirit, and the constant |
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
'or prey. 1t makes ones blood curdle,
ind you shrink back, although you
snow there is no peril. Plenty of lions
n olden time. Six hundred OF them
we're slaughtered on one occasion in
the presence of Pompey in the Roman
mphitheater. Louis came out and de-
itroyed the camels which carried the
baggage of Xerxes' army In Bible
lines there were so many lions that
hey are frequently alluded to in the
Scriptures. Joel, the prophet, describes
The cheek teeth" of a great lion; and
Isaiah mentions among the attractions
If heaven that mo lion shall be
.here;" and Amos speaks of shepherd
taking lambs ear out of the mouth
Of a lion; and Solomon describes the
righteous as s'bold as lion;' and Dan
lei was a great lion tanner; and David,
and jeremiah, and ST. John often speak
Of this creature.
But most am / impressed by what
have quoted from the Apostle Peter
when he calls the devil a 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
: n I. ~ ,,,rro Xao ha iS a Sovaua davi1 |