The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-03

of Ajalon There is a man praying
down yonder, and all the laws of the
universe, If necessary, must be put
under contribution that 1 may answer
him." There is nothing too hard for
God. But will He? Is He willing to
answer?
The ,second great boundless fact upon
which this tremendous promise made
in the Sacramental room rests in this:
The boundless love of God. He is as
willing as He is able. What is this,we-
used to say:
Gould we with ink the ocean fill,
Were the whole world of parchment made.
Were every several stick quill,
And every man scribe by trade
To write. the love of God alone
Would drain that ocean dry;
Nor did the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky"
The promise comes to us bound with
three-fold cord. Our assurance
comes to us bound with this three-fold
cord which is not easily broken. Here
is the Word, to begin with: ASK and
1t shall be given unto you; seek and We
shall find; knock and it shall be opened
unto YOU" Find perhaps" there if
you can. To put an If" or a may
be-" or perhaps into that promise
would be like putting dynamite under
cavalry. And as If God in flesh had
suspected that some man might arise
after while and question His literal
sincerity in giving such promise, He
continued and reiterated it. For
whatsoever We shall ask~ye shall re-
ceive, and whatsoever knOcketh 1t shall
be opened unto him. ,,-,
And then the second cord in that
twisted strength of our assurance is
this argument, a fortiori from the less
to the greater: For which of you If
his son ask him bread will he give
him a stone. or if he ask fish will he
give him a serpent? If We, then, be-
ing evil know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much more
will your Father which is in heaven
give good gifts to them that ask
Him."
And then the other strand is in that
mighty earnest which he has given us,
For if God spared not His only son,
but delivered Him up for all, shall He
not with Him also freely give us all
things?" 1t is as if God had taken the
| very heart out of His bosom and flung
| it down to the world, bleeding because
of our sin and shame, and had said:
You must now believe it; l have
given you the very core of my life,
my only begotten and well-beloved-
Son to suffering and death for you.
How shall I not with Him answer thy
prayer and freely give you all things?"
God loves to answer prayer.
When Josephine was crossing the
Alps, she came with an attendant to
a little hut and, being thirsty She
stood in the doorway and begged for
| drink of goats milk. And then she
saw that the woman of the house was
sitting there with her face in her
| hands, weeping. She asked the trou-
BILE, and the woman said 1T was pow
erty; the goats must go and she must
leave the little house. And Josephine
said, How much would relieve
you?" "Qh," the woman said, cit Is.
impossible, it is impossible-four
sat down beside her and count
| ed it out-four hundred francs2s
into the poor woman's lap, and then
she fell down and kissed the empress
feet. That night Josephine wrote of 1t
in her letter, and said, ooh, this is the
| happiest day of all my life!' 90
Gods life is full of such happy days.
The soul of God is transported with the
| joy of loving-loving us.
And then this great promise rests,
thirdly, upon the boundless wisdom of
| God. And if it were not for that I
| would mott dare not-venture to
pray; because, as the great dramatist
| said, we are in danger always of ask
ing to our own harm. We know not
what to pray for as we ought. But
God knows what is good for us. may
ask stone; He will give me bread.
may ask a scorpion; He will give me
fish. But never vice versa. And
knowing His wisdom, 1 may put out
all my desire unto him. He knows.
But if He knows, He knows all my need
| and all my desire; why need I pray at.
all? That thought never came out of
the heart of man who loved his
Father. 1t is enough that He has said
keep up this filial communication be-
twixt me and thee.
ASK and it shall be given" And
| ask largely. Do you remember the
word that is written in one Of the
psalms "Open thy mouth wide and I
will fill it, / wonder. what David was,
| thinking of. Was he thinking of the
| time in his boyhood when, perhaps,
upon a cliff somewhere he watched an
eagle coming from a distance, and the
| f1edgings were in the nest down below,
| and he saw them opening their bills
| and awaiting the mother-bird that
| came with some dainty morsel for
them? Was it this that led him to cry,
| "Open thy mouth wide and God shall
| fill it?" Our large desires honor the re-
| sources and the munificence of Cod
| And ask with filial importantly. Let
us stand here in the shadow while
Jesus goes yonder to pray under the
| olive trees. He puts to His lips the
| purple cup of death. Death and the
curse were in that cup. Oh, Christ was
full for me. And I hear him pray say
ing: "Oh, my Father, If it be possible
let this cup pass from me-" The
shadow of the cross fell over Him.
All His human nature Shrank and
shuddered in the fear of coming death.
He would not have been a man made
in all points as I am had He not been
So 20, my Father, if it be possible
let this cup pass from me-" He was
asking a stone Of His father. And
again He prayed, 80, my Father, If it
be possible let this cup pass from me-"
And again He prayed, 20, my Father,
if it be not possible, Thy will be DONE"
and drank the cup. That is the filial
spirit which recognizes the wisdom of
God. Was His prayer answered? Go
stand beside the throne where He sits
today and see how all the multitudes
of souls redeemed come thronging
through the twelve gates Of heaven,
and all of them as they cross the
threshold bowling before Him and cry
ing, worthy art Thou for Thou didst
drink the cup of death for me"-the
fruit of the travail of His soul. Thus
God answers us; and so will we pray
if we abide in Him.
The widow of a, minister. long ago,
came to one Of the prophets and said,
What shall I do? The good man is
dead, and / am left penniless with my
two lads and the creditor is come to
take them in pledge. What shall I
do?" And he said, my good woman,
what hast thou?" She said. Moth
ing" 'Nothing?" mo, nothing but
Of Of1 "a 10 &Iu