The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1897-06-03

| hlm and break down in a day that char
acter which in due time would have
had strength to defend itself. There
are regulations that have been half a
| century in building which go down I'M
der one push, as a vast temple is con-
sumed by the torch of sulphurous
match. A hog can uproot a century
plant.
In this world, so full of heartlcssness
and hypocrisy, how thrilling it is to
find some friend and as faithful in DAYS
Of adversely as in days of prosperity,
David had such a friend in Hushai; the
Jews had such a friend in Mordecai,
who never forget their cause; Paul had
such friend in Onesiphorus, who Wis
tied him in Jail; Christ had such in the
Marys, who adhered to Him on the
cross; Naomi had such one in Ruth,
| who cried out: "Entreat me not to
leave thee, or to return from following
after thee; for whittier thou goest |
will go: and whittier thou lodgest.
will lodge; thy people shall be my peo-
pie, and thy God my God; where thou
diest will l die, and there will | be
buried; the Lord do SO to me, and more
also, if aught but death part thee and
me-"
Again, learn from this subject that
paths which open in hardship and
darkness often come out in places of
JOY. When Ruth started from Moab b
toward Jerusalem, to go along with
her mothcr-in-law, | suppose the peo-
pie said: "Oh, what a foolish crea-
ture to go away from her fathers
house, to go off with a poor old woman
toward the land of Judah! They won't
live to get across the desert. They
| will be drowned in the sea or the lack
ais of the wilderness will destroy
them" 1t was Il very dark morning
when Ruth started off with Naomi;
but behold her in my text in the har-
| vest of Boa7, to be atfianced to one of
the lords of the land, and become one
of the grandmothers of Jesus Christ,
the Lord o glory. And so it often is
that a path which often starts very
darlSly ends very brightly.
When you started out for Heaven.
oh, how dark was the hour of convic-
tion-how Sinai thundered, and devils
|
cned! All the sins of your life pounced
upon you and it was the darkest hour
you ever saw when you first found out
your sins. After awhile you went into
the harvest field of Gods mercy; YOU
began to CLEAN in the fields of Divine
promise, and you had more sheaves
than you could carry, as the voice of
God addressed you, saying: Blessed
is the man whose transgressions are
forgiven and whose sins are covered"
A very dark starting in conviction, a
very bright ending in the pardon and
the hope and the triumph of the Cos
pei.
So, very often in our worldly busi-
ness or in our spiritual career we start
off on a very dark path. We must go.
The flesh may shrink back, but there
is voice within, or a voice from above,
saying: "1Ou must GO" and we have
to drink the gall, and we have to carry
the cross, and we have to traverse the
desert and we are pounded and failed
in misrepresentation and abuse, and
we have to urge our way throuth TO-
600 obstacles that have been slain by
our own right arm. We have to ford
the river, we have to climb the noun
tain, we have to storm the castle; but
blessed be God. the day of rest and
reward will come. On the tip-tOp of
the captured battlcments we will
shout the victory: if not in this world,
then in that world where there is no
gall to drink, no burdens to carry, no
battles to fight. How do know it?
Know it. l know it because God says
SO: They shall linger no more,
neither thirst any more, neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat,
for the Lamb which is in the midst of
the throne shall lead them to living
fountains of water, and God shall wipe
: all tears from their eyes"
1t was very hard for Noah to endure
the scofting of the people in his day
while he was trying to build the ark,
and was every morning quizzed about
his old boat that would never be OF
any practical use: but when the deluge
came, and the tops of the mountains
disappeared like the backs of sea-mon
sters, and the elements, lashed up ir
fury. clapped their hands over &
: drowned world. then Noah in the arl
rejoiced in his own safety and in the
safety of his family, and looked out or
| the wreck of a ruined earth
Christ, bounded of prosecutors, de
l MED a pillow, worse maltreated thar
t the thieves on either side of the cross
f human hate smacking its lips in salts
faction after it had been draining Hi
: last drop of blood, the sheeted dea'
, bursting from the sepulchers at Hi
a crucifxion. Tell ne, 0 Gethseman
t and Golgotha, were there ever darke
= times than those? Like the booming
:, of the midnight sea against the rock
b the surges of Christ's anguish bea
e against the gates of eternity, t
2 be echoed back by all the thrones O
l. Heaven and all the dungeons of he'll
But the day of reward comes 70
It Christ; all the pomp and dominion c
e this world are to be hung on Hi
n throne, crowned heads are to bow bt
Y fore Him on whose head are man
n , crowns, and all the celestial worship
d to come up to His feet, like the hun