Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1896-11-05
GOSPEL FARMING.
-" TALNAGE'ssUNDAY THEME

oan Was the First Farmer. cs,, RI.
c." VI the Soil and Adam Was =
Oardner On a Large Scale.
A,-Iuu.s Iast summer, having gone In different
" Io1so over between Ave and six thousand
ATT Q! harvest fields, I can hardly opgn NV
wn~. vAtnoot smelling the breath OF new
1hs.4 ~ = ma seeing the golden light OF the
~ neIo. And when I open nv Bible to
~ - my text, the Scripture leaf rustles like
tho taaeels Of the corn. ~
w Were nearly all OF as born in the com
Wy; We dropped corn in the hill. and want
~ ~ Sa1urday to the mill, tying the grist in
sitbo on.!S OF the sack 50 that the contents on
r11o, slGe tho horse balanced each other.
s1a drove tho cattle af1eld, our bare feet wet
"a tne gov. and o the horses With the
aalAer 20 the brook until we fell of. and
nun.eo tne NOW Tor nests until the fea.herea
oocupan.s went cackling AVA We were
nsa.ly an OF as born In the country, aud all
senturous lad ON his vacation come back
W1n Doeter clothes aud softer hands and set
tno Wnole villaG3 on fire with ambition for
ny ne: 80 we all understand rustic aIius-
ION. Inc Bible Is full Of them. In Christ's
sermon on the Noun: you could see the full
vaU"n liies andthe glossy back OF the crows
Wings as It flies over Mount Olivet. David
ma John, Paul and Isaiah find in country
11.e q source Of frequent Illustration. while
Onrist IN the tgxt takes the responsibility Of
Ealing GOD siearmer, declaring: ''My Father
I b the kslsba adman."
was the frst farmer. We say nothing
aDoM Cain, tho tlller OF the soil. Adam was
agsknener on a large scale, but to Noah was
give all the acres OF the earth. Elisha was
N pficulturist. not cultivatinS n ten-acre
lot, 1cr we find him blowing with twelve
yokg ofoxen. In Bible times the and was
30 panty and the Inhabitants 50 few that
Hoae was right when he gavo to every in
habtkant q certain portion Of land. that land
II cultivated ever after to be bis own posses
They were not small crops raised in those
time, for though the arts wero rude. the
nlov turned up very rich soil, and barley
andcotton and fax and all kinas OF graia
came mp at the call of,he harvesters. Piiny
telis OF one stalk OF grain that had on it be-
tween three and four HUNDRED ears. The
rivers and the brooks, through artificial
channels, were brought dow to the roots Of
thu corn ana to this habit of turning a river
wherever. 1t was wanted. Solomon refers
when he says: "The kings heart is in the
hand OF the Lord. and He turneth it "a the
rivers OF water arc turned, Whitherso ever He
WILL"
The wild beasts were caught, aud then a
hook was put into their nose. and then they
were led over the field, and TO that Col re-
49, V'0A Ian ooJo ~ WISACtA ~
II Will put a hook in thy nose and l will
bring thee back by the way which thou
osmest-" n God has u hook in every bad
man. nose. whether it be Nebuchadnezzar OF
Ahab or Herod. He may think himself very
independent, but some time in his life. or in
the hopr of his death. he will find that the
Lord Almighty has n hook in his nose.
This was the rule In regard to the culture
OF the ground: "rhou shalt not pillow with
An OK and an ass together" illustrating the
folly Of over putting intelligent and usefu
and pliable men In association with tht
stubborn and unmanageat'e. The vast ma.
jority OF troubles in tho churches and in re
formatoryi nstitutiOn2 comes from the disre
gard Of this command of the Lord, "Thou
shalt not plow with an OK and. an ass to
gether."
The re were large amounts OF property in
vested in cattle. The Moabites paid 100 ,OO(
sheep as IN annual tax. Job had 1000 sheep
5000 camels. 500 yoke Of oxen. The time .
vintage was ushered in with mirth ant
music. The clusters OF the vine were pu
the vino press, and then five men wonlf
got into the press and trarnple out the juice
from the grape until their garments wer'
saturated with the wine and had become TIN
emblems of slaughter. Christ -Himself
wounded until covered with the blood o
erucilxion, making use OF this ailusion whel
the question WAS asked: "Wherelore ar
Thou red In Thine apparel and Thy garment
like one who treadeth the wine vat?' He re
sponded. ~ have trOd1en the wine pres
alone
In all ages there has been great honor pa;'
to agriculture. Seven-eights of the peopl'
In every country are disciples OF the pioN
government IS strong in proportion as it i.
supported by an athletic and industriou
SO long ago as before the fall o
Carthage. Strabo wrote twenty-eiSht book:
on agriculture; Hesiod wrote a poem on tn
same subject-"Ihe Weeks and Days" Cat
- Ike -1.l- an cr,ch,n Jr, Z Ia,
Of al his military conquests. But l mus
not be tempted into q discussion OF agricul
: 1urai ~conouests. Standinga mid the harvest
and orchards and vineyards Of the Bible. an
standing amid the harvests and orchards an
VINEYARDS of our " country-laryer han
rant to run out the analogy between tn
PRODUCTION Of crops and the growth OF grac
n the eoui- all these sacred writer's making
use OF that analogy.
In the frs, place. 1 remark, in grace as i
the fields there must be q plow. That whic
theologians call conviction IS only the pio"
.hare turning up tho Gins that have be
rooted and matted in the soul. A farme
~id "a his indolent son: "There are
hundred dollars buried deep in that field
Trhe son went to work and plowed the fei
fom fence to fence, and he plowed it yer
deep; and then eompia'n ahs noa aba ne er naa h n,
hsen catnered and sold for ahnudred dollar
nor than any previous year, then the youn
man took the hint as to what his fafhe
meant when he said there were a hundre
aoilsrs buried down in that field. Dee
,iovinc for \ crop. Deep plowing FOR
mi. He who makes light OF sin Will nevt
smonnt to anything in the church or in tn
~orld. II q man speaks OF sin as though
-sre An inaccuracy or a mistake, instead
tha loathsome abominable consuming an
Samning thing that God hates, tnN ma
(. I7S71f newer Weld n harvest OF usefaln ss.
Wnen I was a boy / plowed a field wit
team OF spirited horses. Iplowed it wei
snsnriv. once In a while l passed ov'
Scrna 81 the sod without turning It. hut 81
~ ;erk back the plow with its rafting d
49, I thought it made no dtferenc
49, awhile my father came along ana SAL
sWhv' this will never do: this ls:,t piowt
aesn enough, there you have missed tn
"a von have missed that" Ana he piow'
= oyer again. The difficulty with u gre
80 neopie is that they are only scrate1'
M Conviction when the suoso'i p!ow
Gnd,s truth ought t" be put IN up u
beam. c.,.hsoho teacher
=, parents to all Christian workers
p,o~ deep; Piow deep.
-Aopc all this crooked rIovID