The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-07-20

the DOOy Inc GucTSleS "Oulu Idil, the
lungs would struggle with the air.
slow fevers would crawl through the
brain, the heart would fiutter, and the
/ life would be gone. Salt is a necessity
for the life of the body; the grace Of
God a necessity for the elf OF the
soul.
salt in abundance. God has strewn salt
in vast p~rofusion all over the CONT
nents. Russia seems built on a salt
cellar. There is n region Of that
country that turns out 10 1000 tons a
year. England and Russia and Italy
have inexhaustible in this re-
spect. Norway and Sweden, white with
snow above, white with salt beneath.
Austria, yielding 900, 0oO tons annually.
Nearly all the nations rich in it-rock
salt, spring salt, sea salt. Christ, the
Creator of the world, when he uttered
our text. knew It would become more
and more significant as the shafts
were sunk n the springs were bored
and the pumps were worked and the
crystals were gathered. So the grace
or God is abundant. 1t is for all lands,
for all ages. for all conditions. 1t seems
to undergrad everything. Pardon for the
worst sin, comfort for the sharpeSt
suffering. brightest light for the thick
est darkness. Around about the salt
of Saratov there are 10, 900 men
toillng day and night, and yet they
~ iiod ~Hc SdlHc ItdSuItS
And if the 1900, 900, 900 of our race
SHOULD now cry out to God for his
mercy there would be enough for all
Tor those farthest gone in sin, for the
standing on the drop of the
galloWs. 1t is an ocean of mercy; and
If Europe and Asia, Africa, North and
South America and all the islands of
the sea went down in it today they
would have room enough to wash and
come up clean. Let no man think that
ms case is too tough a one for God TO
act upon. Though your sin may be
deep and raging, let me tell you that
Gods grace is a bridge not built on
earthly piers, but suspended and span
ming the awful chaSm of your guilt
one end resting upon the rock of eter,
nal promises and the other on the
foundations of heaven. Demetrius wore
a robe so incrusted with jewels that
no n after him ever dared to wear
It. but u King, Jesus, takes off the
roDe or MS righteousness, a robe blood
dyed and heaven ~impearled, and reach
es 1t out to the worst wretch in all the
earth and says Put that on Wear it
now! Wear it foreveri"
PURE BELOW THE SURFACE.
Again the grace of God is like salt in
the way to come at it. The salt on
tne surface as almost always impure
IN III OSlS Tile 1lOchN noun
talns and the South American ampas
and in India; but the miners go down
through the shafts and through the
dark laDyrlnthS and along by galleries
OF rock and with torches and pick
axes, find their way under the very
of the earth, to where the
salt lies that makes up the nations
wealth. To get to the best soIine
springs of the earth huge machinery
goes down, boring depth below depth,
depth below depth, until from under
the very roots of the mountains, the
saline waters supplies the aqueduct.
This water is brought to the surface
and Us exposed in tanks to the sun for
evaporation, or it is put in boilers
nightly heated and the water evapo-
rates, and the salt gathers at the bot
tom OF the tank-the work is COM
pleted, n the fortune is made. So
with the grace of God it is to be
profoundly sought after. With all the
concentered energies of body, mind
and soul We must dig for it. No man
accidentally on it. We need
to go down to the very lowest strata
of ea~rneStneSS and faith to find it.
Superficial exploration will not turn it
up We must strive and implore and
dig until We find the spring foaming
with living waters. Then the work of
evaporation begins, and as when the
saline waters are exposed to the sun,
the apo float away, leaving nothing
but the pure white salt at the bottom of
the tank, so, when the Christians
soul is exposed to the sun of right
e~ousness, the vapors of pride and sell
fishness and worldliness Loaf off. and
there is chiefly left beneath pure white
holiness of Then, as in the case
OF the salt the furnace is added. BlaZ-
ing troubles, stirred by Smutted stok-
erS of darkness, quicken the evapora-
ton of worldlineSs, and the crystalli-
cation of grace.
SWEETNESS OF RELIGION.
Have you not ben in enough trouble
to have that work go on? / was read
ing of Aristotle, who said there was a
fields of flowers in Sicily SO sweet that
came to that field and was be-
wildered by the perfumes and so lost
the track. Oh, that our SoulS might
become like "a field which h Lord
blessed and exhale so much of
the sweetness Of Christian character
that the hounds of temptation, coming
on our track, might lose it and go
bowling back with disappointment.
But, I remark again, that the grace
of roc is like the salt in its preServa-
tive quality. You know that salt alb
serbs the moisture of articles of food
and infuses them with brine, which
preserves them for a long while. Salt
is the great antiputrefactor of the
world. Experimenters, in preserving
food, have tried g and smoke and
alright jars and everything else, but
as long as the world stands Christs
word will be suggestive, and men will
salt is good" But for the grace of God
Garth wOr1d have become a, stale