Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-05-19

the Baptist get prepared to become the
forcruuner Of Christ? Show me his
wardrobe. 1t will be hung with silken
socks and embroidered robes and attire
Vi Syrian purple. Show me his dining
liable. On it the taukardS ablush with
the richest wines OF the vineyards of
Engedi, and rarest birds that were
ever caught in net, and sweetest vent.
son that ever dropped antlers before
the hunter. No, we are distinctly told,
1.-THE same John had his raimcut OF
camcls' hair"-not the fine hair of the
camels which we call camelct, but the
long, coarse hair. such as beggars in
the east wcar-and his only meat was
of insects, the green locust, about two
inches long, roasted, disgusting food.
These insects were caught and the
wings and legs torn off, and they were
stuck on wooden spits and turned be-
fore the fire. The Redouins pack them
In salt and carry them in sacks. What
. menu for John the Baptist Through
what deprivation he came 10 what ex-
ultation!
And you will have to go down before
you go up From the PIT into which
his brother threw him and the prison
in which his enemies incarcerated him,
Joseph rose to be Egyptian prime min.
lister. Elijah, who was to be the great
est Of all the ancient prophets; Elijah,
who made King Ahab's knees knock
together with the prophecy that the
dogs would be his only under.
takers; Elijah, whose one prayer
brought more than three years
of drought, and whose other
prayer brought drenching showers;
the man who wrapped up his cape of
shcepsl>n into u roll and with it cut a
path through raging Jordan for just
two to pass over; the man who with
wheel of fire rode over death and es.
capped into the skies without mortuary
disinteg grafton; the man who, thou.
sands of years after, was called out of
the eternities to stand beside Jesus
Christ on Mount Tabor when it was
ablaze with the splcudors of transtigur.
ation-this man could look back to the
time when voracious and filthy ravens
were his only caterers.
ANoblSSI alsO, LIldU hOSCS was on NSdIA
of age when he got his call to become
the lsraelitsh deliverer. Forty years
he had lived in palaces; another 40 years
he had lived in the wilderness of Ara.
bia. l should not wonder if he had
said: Take younger man for this
work. Eighty winters have exposed
my health; eighty summers have
poured their heats upon my head.
There are the 40 years that | spent
among the enervating luXurics OF
palace, and then followed
the 40 years of wilderness hard.
ship. am too old. Let me off Bet.
ter call man in the fotties or fifties,
and not one who has entered upon
the eighties" Nevertheless, he under.
took the work, and if we want to know
whether he succeeded, ask the aban.
doned brick kilns of Egyptian task
masters. and the splintercd chariot
wheels strewn ON the beach of the Red
sea, and the timbrcls which Miriam
clapped for the Israelites passed over
and the Egyptians gone under.
Do not retire too early. Like Moses
you may have your chief work to dc
after so. 1t may not be in the high
places of the field, it may not be where
strong arm and an athletic foot and
a clear vision are required, but there is
something for you yet TO do. Perhaps
it may be to round off the work
you have already done; to demon.
strate the patience you have been REQ.
ommending all your lifetime; perhaps
TO stand lighthouse at the mouth Of
the bay to light others into the har-
Dor; perhaps to show how glorious
sunset may come after stormy day.
You see, religion is a tremendous
personality. We all have the general
call to salvation. We hear it in songs
in sermons, in prayers; we hear it year
after year. But after awhile, through
our own sudden and alarming illness,
or the death Of playmate, or tho de.
cease of a business partner, or the de.
mise of a n2Xt-door Dor, we get
the especial call to repentance, and q
new life and eternal happiness, and we
know that God means us. Oh, have
you noticed this way in which God
calls Us twice? Two failures Of invest.
ments, two siclnesses; two persecu
tions; two bereavements; two disap.
pointmcnts; two disasters Moses
Moses!
Still further notice that the call OF
Moses was written in letters Of fire. On
Sinai peninsula there was thorn
bush called the acacia, dry and brittle,
and it easily goes down at the touch of
the flame. 1t cracklcs and turns TO
ashes very quickly. Moses, seeing one
of these bushes on fire, goes to look a,
it. AT first, no doubt, it seemed to be a
botanical curiosity, burning, ye,
crumbling no leaf, parting no stem,
scattering no ashes 1t was a
supernatural fire that did no
damage TO the vegetation. That
burning bush was the call. Your cali
will probably come in letters of fire.
Ministers get their cali TO preach in
letters on paper, or parchment, or type.
written, but it does not amount 10
much until they get their next call in
letters of fire You will not amount
- -, ,,uof,tIunga until ba IN