The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1896-08-06

1t shall not be in vain. All, no. no, it shall
not be in vain. l will pray for myself. Who
has sinned against so much instruction as I
| have? Against so many precious prayers
put up to heaven Cor me by one of the most
lovely, tender, pious, confidins trusting of
mothers in her Heavenly Fathers care and
! grace? She never doubted; she believed.
She always prayed as if she did. My Bible,
| my mothers Bible and my conscience teach
| what am and what I have made myself.
Oh, the bitter panss of an accusing con-
| science! need a Saviour mighty to save.
l must seek Him. l will. 1 am on the sea
| OF existence, and can never get off from it.
L am atloat. No anchor, no rudder, no COM
| pass, no book Of instructions, for have put
them all away from me. Saviour of the
| perishing, save, or PERISH Do you WON
der that the next day he arose il prayer
meeting and said: my brethren, l stand
before you monument of Gods amazing
mercy and goodness, forever blessed be His
holy name. All have and all l am conse-
crate to Jesus, my Saviour and my Go6?"
On, the power of ancestral prayer! Hear it!
Hear it.
But turn for moment to those who had
evil parentage, and l want to tell you that
the i'Shest thrones in heaven and the might
| lest triumphs and the brightest crowns will
be for those who had evil parentage, but
who by the grace of Goo conquered-eon-
qnered. AS good. as useful. as splendid a
gentleman as l ever knew had for a father a
man who died disappearing God until the
neiShbors had to put their fingers in their
ears to shut out the horror. Ono of the most
| consecratsd and useful Christian ministers
of to-day was the son of a drunken horse
! jockey. Tide Of evil tremendous in some
families! 1t Is like Niagara rapids, and yet
men nave chung to rock and been rescued.
There is family in New York. whose wealth
has rolled up into many millions. that was
founded by man who, after he had vast
estates, sent back paper of tacks because
they were cents more than he expected.
Grip and grind and gouge in the fourth
Generation-I suppose it will be grip and
grind and gouge in the twentieth generation.
The thirst of into1icants has burned down
through the arteries of a hundred and fifty
years. Pugnacitv or combativeness charac-
terizes other families. Sometimes one form
| OF evil. sometimes another form of evil But
| IT may be resisted; it has been resisted. If
| the family frailty be avarice, cultivate I'M
| seihshness and charity and teach your chill
| dren never to eat an apple without Offering
somebody else half it. Is the family frail
| tv combativeneSs, keep out of the company
Of quick tempered people and never answer
an impairment question until you have
counted hundred both ways, and after you
have written an angry letter keep it week
before you send it, and then burn it up.
Is the family fraity timidity and cow
| ardlce. cultivate backbone; read the
and see If you cannot get a little iron in
vour blood. Find out what the family
frailty is and set body, mind and soul in
! battle array. Conquer you will. I think
the genealogical table was put in the first
chapter of the New Testament not only to
show our Lords pedigree, but to show that
a man may rise up in IN ancestral line and
beat back successfully all the influences of
| bad Incredibly. Sec in that genealogical table
that good King Asa was born of vile King
Abia. See in that genealogical table that
| Joseph and Mary and the most illustrious
Being that ever touched our world or ever
will touch 1t had in their ancestral line
scsndalous Rehoboam ! and Rahab and
| Ihamar and Bathsheba. If this world is
ever to be Edenized-and it will be-all the
infected families of the earth are to be re-
generated, and there will some one arise in
each family line and open new genoa
logical table. There will be some Joseph to
arise in the line and reverse the evil in
! fiuence OF Rehoboam, and there will be some
Mary to arise In the line aud reverse the
evil influence of Bathsheba. Perhaps
the star OF hope may, point down
to your manager. Perhaps you are
to be the hero or the heroine that is
| to put down the brakes and stop that
long line of genealogical tendencies and
switch it off on another track from that on
which it has been running for Il century,
You do that, and will promise you as fine
a palace as the architect of heaven can build,
the archway inscribed with the words, more
than conqueror." But, whatever your her
edIty. let me say you may be sons and daugh-
tiers of the Lord God Almighty.
Estranged children from the homestead,
! come back through the open gate OF adop-
ton. There is royal blood in our veins;
there are crowns on our escutcheon: our
father is king; our brother Is king; we may
be kings and queens unto God forever. Come
and sit down on the ivory bench of the
| palace. Come and wash in the fountains
that fall into the basins of crystal and ala
baster. Come and look out of the uph0ls-
tered window upon gardens of azalea and
amaranth. Hear the full burst of the Or
chestra while you banquet with po;entates
and victors. Oh, when the text sweeps back
ward, let it not stop at the cradle that rocked
your infancy, but at the cradle that rocked
the first world, and when the text sweeps
| forward letit not stop at your grave. but at
the throne on which you may reign for ever
and ever. 'Whose son art thou, thou young
| man?' Son of God! Heir of immortality!
| Take your inheritance