The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-02-17
GODS TRUTH lN.ZHE' SNOW
Preached i'm the First Baptist Church
During the snow storm sunday Night,
Feb. I2th. by the Pastor, Calvin 8.
Blackwell. Pin. ID.

Feb. I2th. by the Pastor, Calvin 8.
Blackwell, PHI. ID.
LAS the rain cometh down and the |
snow from heaven, and returneth not
thither. but watereth the earth n |
maketh it bring forth and bud, that IT
may give seed to the sower, and bread
to the eater: So shall my word be that |
goeth forth out Of my mouth. It shall
not return unto me void, but il shall
accomplish that which l please, and 1t
shall prosper in the thing whereto l
sent it," Is. 55:10-11.
On every white snow flake that has |
fallen in the last day n night God
our Father. has written each of US a
love message. / would help you read It.
Both Gods snow flake and his word
of truth come TO US out Of the mystic
rious unseen above. Nc human eye
could see the snow storm up there. NO
man could bid it come or stay. For He
saith to the snow, be thou on the
earth" So God Commander the light
of TRUTH to shine out of darkness and
to shine into mems hearts, the light
of knowledge of His glory in the face
of Jesus Christ" Both the snow and
the truth come to US from the unseen
above by His ordering.
THE SNOW MUST CHANGE ITS
FORM.
Simply to know Gods truth by heart,
so as to quote texts, and not do them
is hurtful rather than helpful. Snow
must change it's form before it is di-
rectly beneficial. Captain Ross says
the natives of the Arctic regions pre-
fer enduring the utmost extremity or
thirst rather than attempt to remove
it by eating snow. Yet if the snow is
simply melted it becomes drinkable
water. Even this slight change will be
recognized by God who sent his snow
down to make bread for the eater"
Rain n snow descend not merely to
form rivers and seas, but to be trans
formed into trees, harvest fields, bread,
meat, Drawn, brain-God's truths come
down to the world, in the abstract
which men apprehend by their reason
s~peculatively, then they take higher
forms in feeling, sympathy, obedience,
love. The Bible has not truth in the
most perfect form, but when Bible
truth is made a part Of a Paul living
the life of Christ over again then it
has reached it's highest form. Snow
and rain are most potential, most dy-
manic, not when they are snow n
rain simply, but when they are in the
lions paw and the poets brain. Print
ed truth is the most potential form Of
truth. Go look at that widow fighting
the battle of life for her house full OF
children and made strong by a living
faith in Christ, and you will see Gods
truth in a higher form han in creeds
and in texts.
NO LOSS OF TRUTH.
There is no chemical loss in the ma
terial universe. In all the realm of
nature we find one word-'let nothing
be lost" Waters swarm with life, the
air pulses with sound, stars and suns
I flood the world with light, myriads Of
flowers are aglow in woods, fields and
gardens. Opulence, perfusion, but no
waste. The rain falls, snow falls and
drifts and it seems that there is more
han enough. That one drop or one
flake might be lost and God would not
miss it. Who can estimate the mechan-
| ical energy latent in the snow drifts,
in the rivulets and rivers, in the cata-
racts and cascades, in the currents
and gulf streams of our globe? And
| all of these had their birth in 1.-THE snow
and the rain that coneth down from
heaven" What engines could be pro-
PEELED, what spindles whirled, what
hammers heaved, by the developed and
applied force now lurking in every
pool and pond, in every lake and river,
! and in every billow that breaks upon
the beach,. Yet not one drop too many,
and not one will be lost. All of this
symbolic the reposing emotions Of
love, sympathy, zeal, that lie in the
depths Of human hearts-placed there
by revealed truth-given word by
word, line upon inc and precept pOn
precept. Nor will one heart throb ever
be lost. We may lose errors, but in
| Gods good our every latent truth will
| leap forth embodied in some man or
woman's life.
EACH FLAKE A GEM.
Silently, like thoughts that come
n go,
Each one a gem, fall the flakes Of
snow"
To the natural eye and casual OBJ
| server there is no beauty of shape or
variety of color in the snow. 1t seems
but bits of irregular meal. But to the
| microscopic eye, nothing in all the
world is more beautiful. No where
else is the design of the Great Artist
made more evident than in the snow
flake. Such complicated tracery, such
lightness, regularity and delicacy of
capitalization, such perfection and ac-
| curacy of geOmetric lines, the admira-
ton of the artist, a puzzle to the me-
chanic, a charm to all who have IN
y for hidden beauty. And then, too,
to the ordinary observer snow seems
| painfully and only white, but in real
ity every snow flake is clothed with all
the varied and dazzling colors of the
rainbow. This is like the word of truth.
To the unspiritual mind Gods word is
void of design and beauty; it is color
less and lacking in the varied hues of
romantic interest, but to the spiritually
minded it has perfect design and
m~atchless beauty. Each chapter and
verse is a gem of rare design and ex-
quiSite charm. Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John seem simple books, the like
of which ever a beginner in the liter
airy art might excel. But in vain have
the learned masters striven to produce
anything comparable to them for
freshness, charm, beauty and life. To
the scientific eye the beauty and per-
lection Of the snow fake is alone Wis
able, and the beauty of Gods truth is
only visible to the spiritually minded.
SOLEMN AND IMPRESSIVE.
Longfellow says-"The silent, solemn
falling of the SNOW is to me one of the
most impressive, and the most solemn