Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-06-06

beak carrying sprig of thyme and
frankincense, its feathers washed in
summer showers. o thou spotless Son
of God, impress with Thy innocence!
Thou lovely source of true delight.
Whom l. unseen. adore.
Unveil Thy beauties to my sight.
That l may love Thee more"
/ remark, also, in regard to this first
bird. mentioned in the text, that it was
= defenseless bird. When the, eagle is
assaulted with it's iron beak it strikes
like bolt against its adversary. This
was a dove or sparrow; we do not
know just which. Take the dove or
pigeon in your hand, and the pecking of
its beak on your hand makes you laugh
at the feebleness of it's assault. The
reindeer, after it is down, may fell you
with it's antlers. The OK, after you
think it is dead, may break your leg in
its death struggle. The harpooned
whale, in it's last agony, may crush you
in the coil of the unwinding rope. But
! this was dove or a sparrow-perfectly
harmless, perfectly defenseless-type
of Him who said: II have trod the wine
press alone, and there was none to
help" None to helpl The murderers
have it all their own way. Where was
the soldier in the Roman regiment who
swung his sword in the defense of the
Divine Martyr? Did they put one drop
of oil on His gashed feet? Was there
/ one in all the crowd manly and gener-
Gus enough to stand up for Him? Were
the miscreants at the cross any more
interfered with in their work of spiking
Him fast than the carpenter in his shop
driving a nail through pine board. The
women cried, but there was no balm in
their tears. None to help! None to
helpl o, my Lord Jesus, none to help!
The wave of anguish came up to the
arch of His feet-came up to His knee
foated to His waist-rose to His chin
swept to His temples-yet none to
, help! Ten thousand times ten thou
sand angels in the sky, ready at COM
| mand to plunge into the bloody affray,
and strike back the hosts of darkness,
yet none to help, none to help!
Oh, this dove of the text. in this last
moment, clutched not with angry tai
ons. 1t plunged not savage beak. 1t
was dove-helpless, defenseless. None
! to help, none to help!
| AS, after severe storm in the morn
! ing,you go out and find dead birds on the
, ground, so this dead bird of the text
makes me think of that awful storm
J that swept the earth on crucifxion day,
when the wrath of God, and the malice
of man, and the fury Of the devils
wrested beneath the three crosses. AS
we sang just now:
''Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
/ For man, the creatures sin"
! But come now to speak Of this sec
ond bird of the text We must not let
that fly away until we have examined it.
The priest took the second bird, tied it
to the hyssop branch, and then plunged
/ it in the blood of the first bird. All!
that is my soul, plunged for cleansing in
the Saviour's blood. There is not
enough water in the Atlantic and Pa
cific oceans to wash away our smallest
sin. Sin is such an outrage on Gods
universe that nothing but blood can
! atone for it. You know the life is in the
blood, and as the life had been for
! feited nothing could buy it back but
blood. What was 1t that was sprinkled
on the doorposts when the destroying
angel went through the land? Blood
] What was it that went streaming from
the altar of ancient sacrifice? Blood.
! What was it that the priests carried into
the holy of holes making intercession
for the people? Blood. What was it
/ that Jesus sweat in the Garden of Geth-
semane? Great drops of blood. What
! does the wine in the sacramento cup
signify? Blood. What makes the robes
of the righteous in Heaven so fair? They
are washed in the blood of the Lamb.
What is it that cleanses all our pollu-
ton? The blood of Jesus Christ, that
: cleanseth from all sin.
| heard somebody saying: 81 do not
like such a sanguinary religion as that"
Do you think it is very wise for the pa
tient to tell the doctor: st don't like
the medicine you have given me?" If
J he wants to be cured he had better take
the medicine. My Lord God has offered
us balm, and it is very foolish for us
| 10 say: L uOu ike Iudt Dahl we
had better take it, and be saved. But
you do not oppose the shedding of blood
| in other directions and for other ends.
If a hundred thousand men go out to
battle for their country, and have to lay
down their lives for free institutions, is
there anything ignoble about that?
No, you say; GLORIOUS sacrifice rather"
And is there anything ignoble in the
idea that the Lord Jesus Christ, by the
shedding of His blood, delivered not
only one land, but all lands and all
ages, from bondage, introducing men by
millions and millions into the liberty
of the sons of God? Is there anything
! ignoble about that?
AS this second bird of the text was
plunged in the blood of the first bird, so
we must be washed in the blood of
! Christ, or go polluted forever.
/ Let the water and the blood,
From the side healing flood.
Be of sin the double cure,