The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-06-10

v ~ AaiCS L A4Olu = bO"S
when O pass or stand erect and stiff
as a cedar? That woodman would not
make much clearing in the forest who
should stop to bind up every little
bruise and scratch he received in the
thicket, nor will hat man accomplish
much for the world or the church who
is too watchful and appreciative Of
petty annoyances. There are multi
tudes Of the people in the world con-
stantly narrowed because they pass
their lives not in searching out those
things which are attractive and deserV-
ing. but in spying out with all their
powers of vision to see whether they
cannot find a Mordecai.
Again, 1 learn from the life of the
man under our notice hat worldly van
ity and sin are very anxious 10 have
piety % before them. Haman was a
fair emblem Of entire worldliness and
Mordecai the representative Of unfinch
ing goodness. Such were the usages
of society in ancient times that had this
Isrealite bowed to the prime minister
IL would have been an acknowledge
ment Of respect for his character and
nation. Mordecai would therefore have
sinned against his religion a he made
any obeisance or dropped his hin half
an inch before Hannah When there
fore proud Hannah attempted to com
pei a homage which was not felt, he
only did what the world ever since has
tried to do when it would force our
holy religion in anyway to yield to its
dictates. Daniel, if he had been a man
of religious compromises, would never
have been thrown into the den Of lions
He might have made some
ments with King Darius whereby he
could have retained part Of his form
of religion without making himself SO
completely obnoxious to the idOlaters.
Paul might have retained the favor Of
his rulers and escaped martyrdom If
he had only been willing to mix up his
Christian faith with a few errors. His
u%nbending Christian character was
taken as an insult.
HOW THE WORLD DEMANDS HON.
AGE.
Fagot and rack and halter in all
ages have been only the different ways
in which the world has demanded obei-
sance. 1t was once, away up on the
top of the temple, hat satan command
ed the holy one of Nazareth to kneel
before him. But it is not now SO much
OF the top of churches as down in the
aisle and the pew and the pulpit hat
satan tempts the espousers of the
Christian faith to kneel before him.
Why was it that the philosophers Of
early times as we'll as TOland, SpinOZa
and Bolingbroke of later days were SO
madly opposed to Christianity? Ger
tainly not because it favored immoral
tiles Of arrested civilization or dwarfed
the intellect. The genuine reason,
whether admitted or not, was because
the religion of Christ paid no respect
to their intellectual vanities. Blount
and Boyle and the host of infidels
Matched out by the vile reign Of
Charles II, as reptiles crawl out of a
marsh and slime, could not keep their
patience, because, as they passed
along, there were sitting in the gate
of the church such men as Matthew
and Mark and Luke and John, who
would not bend an inch in respect to
their PHILOSOPHERS.
Satan told our first parents thai they
would become as gods if they would
only reach up n take a taste of the
fruit. They tried it and failed, but
their descendants are not yet satisfied
with the experiment. We have now
many desiring to be as gods, reaching
up after yet another apple. Reason,
scornful of Gods Word, may foam
and strut with the proud wrath of a
I1dilldI, III dtlSIlpI W COllpSl Tic
homage of the good, but in the pres
ence of men n angels it shall be
COMPOUNDED. God shall smite thee,
thou whited wall" When science be-
gan to make it's brilliant discoveries,
there were great facts brought to light
that seemed to overthrow the truth
of the Bible. The a~rchaeolOgist with
his crOwbar, and the g%eOlOgist with his
hammer, and the chemist with his
batteries, charged upon the Bible. Mo-
ses' account of the creation seemed
denied by h very structure of the
earth. The astronomer wheeled around
his telescope until the heavenly bod
les seemed to marshal themselves
against the Bible as the stars in their
courses fought against Sisera. OBJ
servatories and universities rejoiced
at what they considered the extinction
of Christianity. They gathered new
| courage at what they considered past
| victory and pressed on their conquest
into the kingdom of nature until, alas
for them. they discovered too much.
| God Word had only been lying in am
bush that, in some ~unguarded mo-
ment, with a sudden bound, it might
tear infidelity to pieces.
IT WAS as when Joshua attacked the