St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-08-04

| IL is STARK ATHEISM. 1ueTe IS no luuOe
cent beverage too rich for Gods child
to drink, there is no robe too costly for
him to wear, there is no hilarity too
| great for him to indulge in and no
house too splendid for him to live in.
He has a right to the joys of earth;
he shall have a right to the joys Of
Heaven. Though tribulation and trial
and hardship may come unto him, let
him rejoice. .Rejoice in the Lord, "
righteous. and again l say rejoice"
l remark again, that Christ comes
| to us in the hour of our extremity.
He knew the wine was giving out be-
fore there was any embarrassment or
modification. Why did He not per-
form the miracle sooner? Why wait un-
til it was all gone, and no help could
| come from any source, and then como
| in and perform the miracle? This is
Christ's way, and when He did come in,
at the hour of extremity, he made first
rate wine, SO that they cried out: Thou
hast kept the good wine until now" !"
Jesus in the hour of extremity! He
seems to prefer that hour. In u Chris
tian hCme in Poland great poverty had
come, and on the week day the man
was obliged to move out of the house
with his whole family. That night
he knelt with his family and prayed
to God. While they were kneeling in
prayer there was tap on the window
pane. They opened the window. and
there was raven that the family had
| fed and trained, and it had in its bill
| a ring all set with precious stones,
which was found to be ring belong
| ing to the royal family. 1t was taken
up to the kings residence, and for the
honesty of the man in bringing it back
he had a house given to him and q
garden and farm. Who was it that
sent the raven tapping on the window? T?
The same God that sent the raven to
feed Elijah by the brook Cherith. Christ
in the hour of extremity!
You mourned over your sins. You
could not find the way out. You sat
down and said: God will not be merci-
full. He has cast me off," But i'll that,
the darkest hour of your history, light
broke from the throne, and Jesus said:
''Oh, wanderer, come home; have seen
all thy SORROWS. In this, the hour of
thy extremity, I offer thee pardon and
everlasting life!"
Trouble came. You were almost
torn to pieces by that trouble. You
braced yourself up against it. You
said: II will be stole and will not
care" But before you got through
making the resolution it broke down
under you. You felt that all your re-
sources were gone. And then Jesus
came. ''In the fourth watch of the
night" the Bible says. "Jesus came
walking on the sea-" Why did he not
come in the first watch or in the Sec
ond watch or in the third watch? I
do not know. He came in the fourth
and gave deliverance to His disciples.
Jesus in the last extremity!
wonder If it will be SO in our very
last extremity. We shall fall suddenly
sick, and doctors will come, but in
vain. We will try the anodynes and the
stumulants and the bathings, but all
in vain. Something will say: "You
must CO." No one to hold us back, but
the hands of eternity stretched out
to pull us on. What then? Jesus will
come to us, and as we say: Lord,
Jesus, am afraid of that water;
cannot wade through to the other
side." He will say: "Take hold of my
arm" And we will take hold of His
arm, and then He will put His foot
in the surf of the wave, taking us on
down, deeper, deeper, deeper. and our
souls will cry: "All Thy waves and bill
lows have gone over me-" They cover
the feet, come to the knee, and pass the
girdle and come to the head, and our
soul cries out: Lord, Jesus Christ,
I cannot hold Thine arm any longer"
Then Jesus will turn around, throw
both His arms about us and set us
on the beach far beyond the tossing of
the pillows. Jesus in the last extrem-
ity!
The wedding scene is gone now. The
wedding ring has been lost, the tank
ards have been broken, the house il
down. but Jesus invites us to grander
wedding. You know that the Bible says
that the church is the Lambs wife,
and the Lord will after awhile come
to fetch her home. There will be
cleaning of torches in the sky. and the
trumpets of God will ravish the air
with their music. and Jesus will stretch
out His hand. and the church. robed
in white, will put aside her veil and
look up into the face of her Lord, the
King, and the Bridegroom will say to
the bride: "Thou hast been faithful
through all these years! The mansion
is ready! Come home! Thou art fair,
my love!" And then He will put upon
her brow the crown of diminion. and
the table will be spread, and it will
reach across the skies, and the mighty
ones of Heaven will come in, garlanded
with beauty and striking their GYM
balls, and the Bridegroom and bride
will stand at the head of the table.
and the banqueters, looking up. will
wonder and admire, and say: "That is
Jesus. the Bridegroom! But the scar
on His brow is covered with the coro-
net, and the stab in His side is covered
with a robe!" And "That is the bride!
The weariness of her earthly woe lost
in the flush of this wedding triumph"
There will be wine enough at that
wedding; not coming up from the poi
soned vats of earth, but the vineyards
of God will press their ripest clusters.
and the cups and the tankards will
blush to the brim with their heaven
ly vintage. and then all the banqueters
will drink standing. Esther. having
come up from bacchanalian revelry of
Ahasuerus, where a thousand lords
feasted. will be there. And the queen
of Sheba, from the banquet of Solo
mon. will be there. And the mother
of Jesus. from the wedding in Cana,
will be there. And they all will agree
that the earthly feasting was poor
compared with that. Then. lifting their
chalices in that light, they shall cry
to the Lord of the feast: Thou hast
kept the good wine until now"
An Issue of veracity.
The head of the household was late
getting home. He was very late. 1t
was long past midnight. Indeed, the
In s,11 h.I