Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-10-10

aWakeS and shakes himself and walks
Il from the cavern never knowing
there were any spiders webs, and
with his voice he shakes the mountain.
Let the iufidels and the skeptics of
this day go on spinning their webs.
spinning their intidel gossamer theor-
les, spinning them all over the place
where Christ seems 10 be sleeping.
They say: Christ can never again
come out; the work is done; he can
never get through this logical web we
have been spinning. The day will
come when the Lion Of Judah's tribe
will rouse himself and come forth and
shake nightly the nations. WIT
then all your gossamer threads? What
is Il spiders web to an aroused lion?
DC not fret, then. about the worlds
going backward. 1t is going forward.
You stand On the hanks of the sea
when the tide is rising. The almanac
says the tide is rising, but the wave
comes up 10 a certain point, and then
it recedes. Why you say. the tide
is going back" No il is not. The next
wave comes up a little higher, and
1t goes back. Again you say the tide
is going out. And the next wave
'tiiits al SIt polils III thtli ~
a higher point. Notwithstanding all
these recesSions, at last all the ship
ping of the world knows il is high
tide. So il Is with the of Christ
in the world. one year 1t comes Gr
to n point, and We are greatly en-
couraged. Then it seems to 60 back
next year. We say the tide is going
out. Next year it comes to a higher
point and falls back. and the next year
ii to a still higher point. and
falls back; but all the time it is adj
Vancing. until it shall be full tide,
"aEd the earth shall lie full Of thr
knowledge of God as the waters fill
the sea"
Again. learn from the subject that
Christ is God and man in the same
person | 20 into the back part of that
boat and / look on ChriSt's sleepin"
face, and see in that face the story <
sorrow and WEAKNESS, and q decpG
shadow comes oven his face, and |
him he must be dreaming of the
cross that is to come. AS | stand on
the back part Of the beat looking ~
the face. l say, He is a man He is a
man" But when l see him come to the
prov of the boat, and the sea kneelS
in his presence, and the winds fold
their wings at his command, | say.
He is God! He is God!' The hand
that sets up the starry pillars of the
universe wiping away the tears OF the
orphan! When / want pity and sympa-
thy, l go into the back part Of thic
boat, and l look at him, and I say, 20
Lord, Jesus, thou weary one, thou suf
fering one have mercy on me-" "Ecce
h0mO!' Behold the man! But when ]
want courage for the conflict Of life.
when l want some one TO heat down
my enemies, when | want faith for
the great future, then ! come TO tn"
front Of the boat, and | see Christ
standing there in all his omnipotence.
and | say. go, Christ, thou who
couldst hush the storm, can hush all
my sorrows. all my temptations, all
my fears" 'Ecce Deus" Behold the
Godi
| learn also from this subject that
Christ can hush the tempest. Some
OF you, my hearers, have a heavy load
of troubles. Some of you have wept
until you can weep no more Per
haps God took the sweetest child out
of your h~Ouse-tbe one that asked the
most curious questions-the one that
hung around you with greatest fond
ness. The grave-digger's spade cut
down through your bleeding heart.
Or perhaps 1t was the only one that
you had and your soul has ever since
been like a desolate castle. where the
birds Of the night boot. amid the fall
Ing towers and along the crumblinr
stairway. Or perhaps II was an aged
mnthnr that upnc nallnI ou-n- Vn,
used to send for her when you had anv
kind of trouble. She was in you
home to welcome your children into
life. ard when they died she was there
To pity YOU. You know that the oil
hand will never do any more kind
nesses for you, and the lock Of white
hair that you kept so wei! In the casket
of the locket does not look so well as
it did on the day when she moved ii
back from the wrinkled forehead I'M
der the old-fashioned bonnet in the
church in the country. Or perhanf
your property IL gone. You said
There, I have so much in bank stock
so much l have in houses, so much /
have in lands, so much / have i'm Sc
curities." Suddenly, 1t is all gone
Alasi for the man who once had plenty
of money, out who has hardly enough
now for the morning marketing. No
storm ever swept over Gennesaret
like that which has gone tramplino
It's thunders over your quaking soul
But you awoKe Christ in the back
part Of the ship, crying. master, car
est thou not that j perishF" and Chris
rose up and quoted you. Jesus hush
ing the tempest.
There is n storm into which we
must all run. When a nan let's GO
this life to take hold Of the next, / do
not care how much grace he has, he
will want it ali. What is that cut
yonder? That is n dying Christian
rocked OH the surges CO death. Winds
that have wrecked magnificent floallas
OF pomp and worldly power come
down on that Christian soul. All the
spirits OF darkness seem to be lei
loose. for it is their last chance. The
waiiing Of kindred seems to mingle
with the swirl Of the waters. and the
scream of the wind, and the thunder
OF the sky. deep to deep, billow to
billow: yet no tremor. no gloom. no
terror no signing for the dying Chr.
tan. The fact Is that from the back
part of the boat a voice sings out.
when thou passest through the wa
ters. ! will be with thee" Bv the fash
of the storm the dying Christian secs