The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-04-07


Him, the crowds We're to jostle Him,
We're to pursue Him. Oh. shepherd
of Israel. leave at home Thy bright
array. For Thee, what streams to
ford! He puts upon Him the plain
ralment OF our humanity; wears our
woes: and while earth and Heaven
and hell stand amazed at the abnega-
ton. wrapsaround Him the Shepherds S
plaid:
| Cold mountains and the midnight air,
| Witnessed the fervor of His prayer
| Next | mention the shepherds crook
This was rod with curve at the
! end. which. when sheep was going
astray, was thrown over its neck: and
in that way it was pulled back When
the sheep were not going astray the
shepherd woLld often use it as a sort of
crutch. leaning on it; but when the
sheep were out of the way. the crook
was always busy pulling them back.
All we, like sheep. have gone astray.
and had it not been for the shepherds S
over the precipice.
Here is a man who is making too
much money. He is getting very vain.
He says: After awhile | shall be in
dependent of all the world. Oh, my
soul. eat, drink and be merry Busi-
ness disaster comes to him. What is
God going to do with him? Has God
any grudge against him? Oh. no. God
is throwing over him the shepherd's S
crook and pulling him back into better
pastures. Here is man who has al
ways been well. He has never had any
sympathy for invalids. he calls them
coughing. wheeling nuisances. After
awhile sickness comes to him. He does
not understand what God is going to
do with him. He says: is the Lord
angry with me?" On. no. With the shep-
herds crook he has been pulled back
into better pastures. Here's a happy
household circle. The parent does not
realize the truth that these children
are only loaned to him, and he forgets
from what source came his domestic
blessings. Sickness drops upon those
children, and death swoops upon lit
tie one. He says, is God angry with
me?" No. His shepherds crook pulls
him back into better pastures. do
not know what would have become of
us if it had not been for the shepherds s
crook. Oh, the mercies of our troubles!
You take up apples and plums from
very best fruits of Christian character
we find in the deep shade of trouble
When | was on the steamer coming
across the ocean / got cinder in my
! eye, and several persons tried to get it
out very gently. but it could not be
taken out in that way. l was told that
the engineer had faculty in such
cases. | went to him. He put his
large, sooty hand on me. took knife
and wrapped the lid of the eye around
the knife. l expected to be hurt very
much. but without any pain. and in
stantly he removed the cinder. Oh.
there come times in our Chris
tian life, when our spiritual vision
is being spoiled. and all gentle appli-
ances fail. Then there comes some
giant trouble, and. back handed, laws
hold of us and removes that which
would have ruined our vision forever
l will gather all your joys together in
one regiment of ten companies. and
will put them under Col. Joy. Then |
will gather all your sorrows together
in one regiment of ten companies. and
put them under Col. Breakheart. Then
l will ask: Which of these regiments
has gained for you the greatest spirit
ual victories? Certainly that under
Col. Breakheart.
In the time of war, you may remem-
Der. at the south and north. the ques-
tlon was whether the black troops
would fight: but when they were put
into the struggle on both sides they did
heroically. In the great day of eter-
nifty it will be found that it was not the
white regiment of joys that gained
your greatest successes, but the black
troops of trouble, misfortune and dis
aster. Where you have gained one
spiritual success from your prosperity,
you have gained ten spiritual successes
from your adversely.
Next | speak of the shepherds dogs
They watch the straving sheep and
drive them back again. Every shep-
herd has his dOg-from the nomads of
the Bible times down to the Scotch
herdsman watching his focks on the
Grampian hills. Our Shepherd employs
the criticisms and prosecutions of the
world as His dogs. There are those.
you know, whose whole work is to
watch the inconsistencies of Christians,
and bark at them. If one of Gods
sheep gets astray, the world howls.
With more avidity than shepherds S
dog ever caught stray sheep
by the tanks or lugged it by the ears,
worldlings seize the Christian astray.
1t ought to do us good to know that we
are thus watched. 1t ought to put us
on our guard. They can not bite us, if
we stay near the Shepherd The sharp
knife of worldly assault will only trim
the vines until they produce better
grapes. The more you pound arjoram
and rosemary, the sweeter they smell
The more dogs take after you, the
quicker you will get to the gate.
You have noticed that different tiocks
of sheep have different marks upon
them: sometimes red mark, some