The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1896-07-23

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parish who was about to be turned out be-
cause she could not pay her rent. One night
| she heard loud knocking at the door, and
| she made no answer and hid herself. The
| rapping continued louder, louder. louder,
but she made no answer and continued to
hide herself. She was almost frightened I'M
to death. She said, "Thats the officer of
the law come to throw me out of my home"
few days after Christian philanthropist
met her in the street and said: "My poor
| woman, where were you the other night? [
came round to your house to pay your rent.
Why didn't you let me in2 We're you at
homer why" she replied, twas that your"
"Yes: that was me. I came to pay your
rent" "Why," she said. elf had had any
idea it was YOU would have let YOU in. I
thought 1t was an officer come to cast me out
of my home" o soul, that loud knocking
at the gate to-day is not the sheriff come to
put you in JAIL it is the best friend you ever
had come to be your security. You SILVER
with terror because you think it is wrath. 1t
is mercy. Why, then, trembe before the
King OF heaven and earth calls you to His
palace! Stop trembling and start right
away. "Oh," you say, II can't start. I
have been SO famed by sin and so famed by
evil habit | can't start. | am lame in both
feet" My friend, we come out with our
prayers and sympathies to help you up to
the palace. If you want to get to the
palace, you may get there. Start now. The
Holy Spirit will help you. All you have to
| do ls Just to throw yourself on your face at
the feet of the King. as Mephibosheth did.
Mephibosheth's caninial comparison seems
| extravagant to the world. but when man
has seen himself as he really Is and seen
how he has been treating the Lord, there
is no term vehement enough to express his
self condemnation. The dead Cog of
Mephibosheth's comparison fails to describe
| ha Of
Mephibosheth's posturing does not seem too
! PROSTATE. When soul is convicted, first
| he prays upright. Then the muscles of his
| neck relax, and he is able to bow his head.
After awhile. by an almost superhuman eff
fort. he kneels down to pray. After awhile,
when ne has seen God and seen himself, he
throws himself fiat on his face at the feet of
the King. just like Mephibosheth. The fact
is, if we could see ourselves as God sees US,
we would perish at the spectacle. You
| would have no time to overhaul other peo-
pie. Your cry would be. "God be merciful
| to me, a sinner"
| And again. Mephibosheth in my text
stands for the disabled human soul saved
| for the sake of another. Mephibosheth would
never have got into the palace on his own
account. Why did David ransack the realm
| to find that poor man and then bestow upon
him a great fortune and command farmer
| fthe name Of Ziba to culture the estate and
| give to this invalid MeDhbosheth half the
proceeds every year? Why did King David
| make such a mighty stir about poor fellow
| who would never be of any use to the throne
OF Israel? 1t was for Jonathan's sake. 1t
was what Robert Burns calls for "auld lang
| syne." David could not forget what Jona-
| than had done for him in other days. Three
| times this chapter has it that all this
kindness on the part of David to Mephib-
osheth was for his father Jonathan's sake.
| The daughter of Peter Martyr, through the
| vice of her husband, came down to penury.
and the senate of Zurich took care of her for
| her fathers sake. Sometimes a person has
| applied to you for help and you have refused
| him, but when you found he was the son or
brother of some one who had been your bene-
factor in former days, and by a glance you
saw the resemblance of your old friend in
the face of the applicant, you relented, and
| you said. ooh, I will do this for your fathers
sake" You know by your experience what
my text means. Now, my friends, it is on
that principle that you and I are to get into
the Kings palace.
Before dining we must be introduced. II
you are invited to q company of persons
where there are distinguished people pres
emit, you are introduced: "This is the Sena-
tor" "This is the Governor" "This is the
President" Before we sit down at the Kings
table in heaven 1 think We will want to be
introduced. Oh. what time that will be,
| when you and I. by the grace of God get into
heaven. and are introduced to the mighty
spirits there and some ons will say: "Thls is
Joshua" This is Paul This is Moses"
"This is John Knox" 'This is John Mil
TOM "This is Martin Luther" ''This is
George Whitedeld." Oh. shall we have any
strength left after such q round of celes-
tal Introduction; Yea, we shall be
potentates ourselves. Then we shall sit down
at the Kings table with the sons and daugh-
tiers of God, and one will whisper across the
table to US and say, "Behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us that
| we should be called the sons of God!' And
some one at the table will say: show long
will it last2 All other banquets at which T
sat ended. How long will this last?" and
| Paul viii! answer, "Forever!" and Joshua
will say, "Forever:" and John Knox will say
"Forever!' and George Whitet1eld will say,
| "Forever!'
And the wine at that banquet will be old
wine. 1t will be very old wine. It will be
| the oldest wine of heaven. 1t will be the
wine that was trodden out from the red
clusters on the day when Jesus trod the wine
press alone. Wine already more than eight
cen centuries old. And no one will deride
us as to what we were in this world No
one will bring up our imperfactions here,
our sins here. All our earthly Imperfect
tions completely covered up and hid
!
table. Kingly fare. Kingy vesture King
ly companonship. We shall reign for
ever and ever. L think that banquet will
mean moro to those who had it hard in
this world than to those who had it
easy. That banquet in David's palace
meant more to Mephibosheth than to any
one else, because he had been poor and Grip
Piled aud 1espised and rejected. And that
man who in this world is blind will better
appreciate the light of heaven than we who
in this world had good eyesight. And that
man who in this world was deaf will better
appreciate the music of heaven than we who
in this world had good hearing. And those
will have higher appreciation of the easy
lOcomotion of that land who in this world
were MephiboshethS
20 my soul, what a magnificent gospel II
takes man so low down and raises him sc
high! What a gospel! Come now, who
wants to be banqueted and implaced? As
when Wilberforce was trying to get the
"emancipation bill'' through the British
parliament and all the British isles were
anxious to hear Of the passage of thai
emancipation BILL" when vessel was com
ing into port and the captain of the vesse
knew that the people were so anxious t.
get the tidings he stepped out on the prov
Of the ship and shouted to the people Ions
before he got I'D to the dock "Free!" afIt