The herald., 1895-02-25

"a tn the fixed laws OF God. Man has
changed marsh lands into fruitful fields
and beautiful gardens. The brave Hol-
landers have made thousands of farms
and happy homes Oh territory that the
sea once covered. Some day the Sahara
OF Africa and the deserts Of America will
be converted into fruitful lands. These
changes must produce certain influences
upon the earth We can check the
workings OF one law by the work
iings OF another. The law of CO.
heslon holds the particles of the
granite rock together, but the law OF ex-
ploslon in gunpowder tears the rock in
pieces. The winds and waves oppose the
steamship, but the law of steam propels
the vessel in spite of them. We also know
how to make law oppose itself Cars,
loaded with stones, run down noun
tain side by the force of gravitation, and
pull the empty cars up to the quarry in
opposition to gravitation. If the climatic
influences of locality injure mans
health he can put himself under the in
f1uences of a different locality, No man
can destroy the laws of diseases, but he is
not forced to obey those laws He can
obey the laws of health. The laws of
We can chose which of them we shall
obey. We can transfer our lives from the
influences of hell laws to the influences OF
heaven laws, and vice versa. The Prodi-
gal forsook the laws of hell in the far
country for the laws of heaven in his
fathers home. We can set the laws of the
universe to work. We can plant trees,
ow seeds, and introduce irrigation in
desert, and set nature to work. We
can control many of the laws of the uni
verse to a certain extent; and nature
would reveal other secrets to us if she
could trust us. Fire was revelation to
man, and yet brutal conquerors and in
80, I,,r,, ,nd
cities, and men have set fire to their own
houses and endangered the lives and
property of their neighbors to cheat in
surance companies. Many evils have been
wrought by means of powder, dynamite
and hypnotism, because the human race
is neither wise nor moral enough to use
these forces properly As soon as we are
able to control other grand forces of the
universe. Christ received his power from
God, because he could be trus ed with
this gift for the good of the universe. 1t
is our divine business to qualify ourselves
for the dictatorship of Gods power for
wise and useful purposes When our
hearts are pure we shall see God in his
works, as Christ saw his Fathers opera
tions and initiated them upon the earth
in the miracles of healing, in the miracle
of his sinless life and divine charac-
ter. Our prayers cannot change God
nor the laws OF His universe. They make
conditions for receiving blessings from
God in conformity with His fixed and
eternal laws. The universe and its laws
are so arranged that if we pray truly we
receive certain blessings, which we cannot
receive if we do not pray. An employer
arranges to pay a certain sum for GER
tain amount of work. If man works ac-
cording to this arrangement he receives
his pay, but if he refuses to work he gets
no pay. In either case the employer and
his methods remain the same. The laborer
does not change the employer. So God
remains forever the same, whether we
pray or do not pray. Our prayers do not
change Him, but they obtain for us the
gifts of God. A telegraphic message of
victory will set millions of hearts a1ame
with Joy all over nation, and the earn
est, spiritual prayer OF an unselfsh Chris
tian will produce influences in the spr-
itual worlds. Prayer is not like man
raising himself by pulling his own boot
straps; but it is the effort of an earnest
soul to raise itself by obeying the eternal
laws of life
Prayer does not seek to change the laws
of the universe. Prayer is the mightiest
effort of human spirit to obey the laws
of the universe. Christ trusted the laws
of the universe, and His prayers were in
obedience to those laws, and His mighty,
divine and beautiful life is an eternal
proof that he was wise in trusting and
keeping the spiritual laws OF prayer. The
man is disobedient to some OF
the laws of the universe.