Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-10-15

and our eternal state VIII hr uAru 10y tue
record q our diary that God. with Impair
tial pen. has kept. That VIII De r'adih.
for some of ~, This will redeem this
rrd-Irtter cutry-1nlv this. Il thought on
my ways. and turned ma feet O. Thy tesli-
monies. ! made haste uui delayed not 10
keep Thy Commandments.
DO not let any one turn away, saying; 1
am not included. for have not wandered;
l am not a Froiical." All We, like sheep,
have gone astray; We hav" turned
every oRu TO his own way some
Of us 20 Numbering ON through
the mud aud mirc of drunkenness,
swearing, lirentiouSuess and open SHINING;
that Is one way TO the far country. some
Of us 90 along the maradamizoi road Of
self-righteousness, ana churth-solns, and
scrmou-hearinc; that l. one way Ia the
same outer darkness and the same tar
country. II thought on my way. 4le
beginning lies there. Now | speak 10 prn-
pie who pride themselves. / have uo doubt,
that they are thinkers, and they pride
themselves that dust is not 10 Dee thrown In
their eyes, and they examine what 6, set
before them \ preacher Of the Gospel
asks for nothing better than that. "Ispeak
unto wiso men; Judge We what say, to the
law aud to the testimony"
II thought on my ways" The beginning
lies in serious thoughtfulncss. Religion Is
not magic il is miracle; hut IL Is not Jug
glery, IL is not witchcraft, II is not being
"hypnotizel:" it is not any Of these things.
You never put your intellect to a higher
use than when you turned its powers upon
your own ways enlightened by the surest
guide. the word Of God. | rather fear that
many people think that, while you need to
take your intellect with you when you go
to hear lecture on philosophy, or on
science, you can bring your added head
when You come to hear the Gospel Get
rid Of that idea. Bring your best brains
with You when YOU come to hear Gods
word. II thought on my ways that is
the beginning OF all experimental religion,
aud that is the only thing; because it be-
gins there, therefore. conversions are SO
uncommon among Us.
Il thought that is the beginning: to
think for ourselves. Do not let mo do your
thinking for you. No, no; il Is not 81
thought on my own sermon" but Il
thought on my ways In God's providence
| may be great help to you, or | may
not be. but the thing has to be done by
yourselves. 1t is your own soul that is the
issue at stake and the thinking that will
save it must be done by that soul powers
themselves.
Il thought on my ways"-a man who
thought for himself that was the begin
ming with him OF all his blessings Are you
doing it? For there is an essential thought
leSsness in all our hearts naturally as re-
CARDS the gospel. You will get men who
sit under the hest preaching intellectually,
and from the point of view Of interest and
of power to awaken the heart and the con-
science and emotions, and they sit, and
they sit, and they grow white, and they
grow Old, and they die, and leave 40 sign
that ever once they were awakened up to
think for themselves about their eternal
drift and DESTINY
Secondly. he tells Us he thought about
himself. He ceased to think about other
people, and fastened his gaze upon his own
soul; he communcd with his own spirit; he
talked to his own heart upon his bed, did
this man who wrote the Psalms. To our
selves we ought to bee in every sense Of the
term interesting creatures. And this text
/ helps the preacher, it relieves him Of
great responsibility that ought never to be
put on him. | do not know your ways;
/ YOU are a deep mystery to me. You do not
| know my ways. | can only see the surface
/ current, and the winds that blow and curl
and crisp the water on the top of 1t. but
of those deep, strong undercurrents
| that flow through what can | know!
| Think of your own ways, save
/ your own soul. Do not expect me to work
/ mira lies, | don't know your ways; don't
/ know the secrets that lie within your ken.
| II | did, God knows | would use them. God
1 knows | would preach them to you: | would
! spread them out before you till your heart
stood still with this thought: "God Al
| mighty must have told that man all my
! ways" Your own waysl
Two or three channels into which we may
run our independent thinking; Who am /?
| Where am |? Where am going2 All that
is covered by the expression, thinking Of
| ones ways Who am l: The Bible aud
my own conscience give the only and he
sure answer to that question. What is
man? Ask philosophy; ask science, and, to
their infinite shame, they are not quite
sure whether we are gradually developed,
not vet perfectly developed monkeys or
donkeys, maybe---thry don't know which.
nor whether we are gong up or back.
They have not made up their minds yet
Who am II 4 germ. a "prOtOplasm.'
What ptiful answers these men give.
know there is some good in them, but you
have put them in corner when you ask
them to give n plain answer to plain mnn
on Il plain and desperately, intensely per-
sonal question, what is MANI Who am
II Gods Word says-my own conscience
rings responsive to i'll am an immortal
soul. God hrcathed into our nostrls the
breath Of life. and man became living
soul. There is in US spark Of Gods own
kindling, and God shall die the day l die.
That is to say | shall never die-nev"r
never. My body goes down, but my body
Is not | any more than my coat Is |. | ear
do without one, | can do withouttnc other.
The old heather poet was lar ahead OF
some Of these modern ones when he said,
"NOn omnis mortar" Il shall hot all dic).
admire the bold spirit OF that iniidei
who said, whether in heaven or he'll, he
felt he was everlasting" That is the es.
scntial soul of a man speaking out for its
author God. and declaring its indestruct-
ible nature That is who we are-immorta
souls. Think of it. Born never, never
never to 20 out of the conscious existence.
You know what Christ said about one UNI
turned sinner The only thing Christ
could think of was, Good had it been fol
that man had he never been born" A
good. alas that could never, never come
his way. for he had been born.
Then where am |? On the most uncer-
tain footing you can possibly imagine. A
little while ago Il wave out of the past
eternity cast up like driftwOod here on the
shores of time and a little while hence q
wave from the eternity that is coming vii
sweep and carry US back with itself int
the eternity that is to be Landed here fOi
Il while on this narrow neck of land. be.
tween the two great seas, the eternity out
of which we came, and the eternity tC
which soon we are going. Here to-day
and gone tomorrow.
Upon Clydeside, where I come from, one
afternoon on busy working day, upward
of a hundred men on board a ship newly
launched---upward of Il hundred carpen
, tiers with their tools in their hands---sud
denly Went through into eternity. Con
tinually, by terrible things in righteous
t ness, God is doing His best to sober us
"Oh, man. prepare for eternity" said al
: ancient. Turn to God the day before yoU
die" His disciples said to Him: "kIaster
we do not know the day of our death
'"Therefore,' - He said "turn to-day"
And another thought, another channel II
which we can run the current of our indie
, pendent thinking, not only who am |? ant
! where am I? but where am I going? AM
the Bible tells us more than the vague wore
!, eternity. The Bible tells us where we ar