St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-07-21

the hopple. then he finds the power Of
the iron. And there are men who have
been for ten and twenty and thirty
years bound hand and foot by evil
habits who have never felt the power
Of the chain because they have never
tried to break it. 1t il very easy to
go on down with the stream and with
the wind lying on your oars, but just
turn around and try to 60 against the
wind and the tide, and you will find it
is . different matter. As long as we
go down the current of our evil habit
we seem to get along quite smoothly,
but if after awhile we turn around
and head the other way. toward Christ
and pardon and Heaven, oh, then how
we have to lay to the oars! You will
have your temptation. You have one
kind, you another, you another, not
one person escaping.
1t is AL folly for you to say to some
one: Il could not be tempted as you
are" The lion thinks it is so strange
that the fish should be caught with
a hook. The fish thinks it is SO
strange that the lion should be caught
with trap. You see some man with
a cold, phlegmatic temperament, and
you say: Il suppose that man has not
any temptation" Yes, as much as you
have. In his phlegmatic nature he
has temptation to Incidence and
and overeating and
temptation to ignore the
great work of life, temptation to lay
down an obstacle in the way of all
good enterprises. The temperament
decides the styles of temptation. but
or Emphatic, you will have
temptation. Satan has graphing
hook just fitted for your soul. A man
never lives beyond the reach Of temp
tation. You say when 4 man gets to
be 20 or SO years of age he is safe
from satanic assault. You are very
much mistaken. A man at IS years
of age has as many temptations as a
man of %. They are only different
styles of temptation. Ask the aged
Christian whether he is never assault
ed Of the powers of darkness. If you
think you have conquered the power
of temptation, you are very much mis-
taken.
No man gets through life without
having pommeling. Some Islander
comes after you, horned and husked
and hoofed, to gore and trample you.
And what are You to do? tell you
plainly that all who serve Christ must
suffer persecution. 1t is the worst
sign in the world for you to be able
to say: x have not an enemy in the
world" A woe is pronounced in the
Bible against the one of whom every
body speaks well. If you are at peace
with all the world and everybody likes
you and approves your work, it is be-
cause you are an idler in the Lords
vineyard and are not doing your duty.
All those who have served Christ,
however eminent, all have been NAL
treated at some stage of their expe-
rience. You know it was so in the
time Of George Whitefeld, when he
stood and invited men into the king
dom Of God. What did the learned
DR.. johnson ray Of him? He pro-
nounced him = miserable mountebank.
How was 1t when Robert Hall stood
and spoke as scarcely any unin-
spired man ever did speak Of the
glories of Heaven? And as he stood
Sabbath after Sabbath preaching on
these themes his face, kindled with
glory. John Foster, . Christian man,
said Of this man: "Robert Hall is
only acting, and the smile on his face
is reflection of his own vanity"
John Wesley turned all England up
side down with Christian reform, and
yet the Punsters were after him, and
the meanest jokes in England were
perpetrated about John Wesley.
What is true Of the pulpit i true Of
the pew; it is true OF the street; 1t
is true of the shop and the store All
who will live godly- in Christ Jesus
must suffer persecution. And set it
down rs the very worst sign in all
your Christian experience if you are,
any of you, at peace with ell the
world. The religion of Christ is war.
It is q challenge to .the world, the
flesh and the devil" and if you will
buckle on the whole armor OF, God you
will find. great host disputing your
path between this and Heaven. hN|
But what are you to do when You
are assaulted and slandered and
as suppose nearly all of you
have been in your life? Go out and
hunt up the slanderer? Oh, no, silly
man! While you are. explaining away,
a falsehood in one place so people will
just have heard of it in other places.
I counsel you to another course.
While you are not to omit any oppor-
tunity Of setting yourselves right I
want to tell you Of one who had the
hardest things said about him, whose
was disputed, whose mission
was secuted, whose companionship
was denounced, who was pursued as
> babe and spit upon as man, who
was howled at after he was dead. /
will have you 60 unto Him with your
humble child prayer, saying: Il see
Thy wounds-wounds of head, wounds
IF feet, wounds of heart. Now, look
1t my wounds and see what I have
suffered and through what battles ]
I'm going, anu entreat Thee by those
wounds of Thine to sympathize with
me-" And He will sympathize, and He
will help. Go and tell Jesus.
Again, / commend the behavior Of
he disciples to all the bereaved. How
many in garb of mourning? How many
emblems of sorrow You behold every
where? God has. His own way Of taks
ng apart family. We must getout ct
The way for coming generations. We
must get off the stage that others may
.ome on, and for this reason there is .
ong procession reaching down al the
lime into the valley of shadows. This
from time into eternity Is
10 vast an enterprise that we cannot
it. Every hour we hear the
.lang of the sepulchral gate. The sod
must be broken. The ground must be
plowed for resurrection harvest. Eter-
,ity must be peopled. The dust must
press cur eyelids. ut is appointed
INTO all men once to die" This emf
grafton from time into eternity keeps
hrno fourxbe ~ The families ~ fhr