The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1901-09-12


the obstasle of pride or never find
your way to the well. You will have
to come as we came, willing to take
the water of eternal life in any way
| and at any hand and in any kind of a
pitcher, crying out: "Oh, Lord Je-
| sus, 1 am dying of thirst! Give me
the water of eternal life, whether in
! trough or goblet! Give me the wa
ter of life! 1 care not in what it
comes to me-" Away with all your
hindrances of pride from the wells
| mouth!
Here is another man who is kept
back from the water of life by the
stone of an obdurate heart which
lies over the mouth of the well. You
have no more feeling upon this sub
ject than if God had yet to do you
the first kindness or you had to do
God the first wrong. Seated on His
lap all these years, His everlasting
arms sheltering you, where is your
| gratitude? Where is your morning
and evening prayer? Where are your
consecrated lives? I say to you, as
Daniel said to Belshazzar: "The God
in whose hand thy breath is, and all
thy way, thou hast not glorified."
If you treated anybody as badly as
you have treated God, you would have
made 500 apologies; yea, your whole
| life would have been an apology.
Three times day you have been
seated at Gods table. Spring, sum-
mer, autumn and winter He has ap-
propriately appareled you. Your
health from Him, your companion
from Him, your children from Him,
your home from Him, all the bright
surroundings of your life from Him.
Oh, man, what dost thou with that
hard heart? Canst thou not feel one
throb of gratitude toward the God
that made you, and the Christ who
came to redeem you, and the Holy
Ghost who has all these years been
importuning you? If you could sit
down five minutes under the tree
of a Saviour's martyrdom and feel
His ifeblood trickling on your fore
head and cheek and hands, methinks
you would get some appreciation of
what you owe to a crucified Jesus.
Heart of stone, relent, relent,
Touched by Jesus cross, subdued;
| See His body mangled, rent,
Covered with a gore of blood
| Sinful soul. what hast thou done?
| Crucified the Eternal Son!
| There are men who are perfectly
discontented. Unhappy in the past,
unhappy to-day, to be unhappy for
ever, unless you come to this Gospel
well. This satisfies the soul with a
high, deep, all absorbing and eternal
satisfaction. 1t comes, and it offers
the most unfortunate man so much of
this world as is best for him, and
throws all Heaven into the bargain.
The wealth of Croesus and all the
Rothschilds is only poor, misera BILE
shilling compared with the eternal for
tunes that Christ offers you to-day.
In the far east there was king who
used once year to get on the scales,
| while on the other side the scales were
placed gold and silver and gems-in-
deed, enough were placed there to
balance the king. Then, at the close
of the weighing, all those treasures
were thrown among the populace. But
Christ to-day steps on one side the
scales, and on the other side are all
the treasures of the universe, and He
says: "All are yours; all height, all
depth, all breadth, all eternity-all are
yours" We do not appreciate the prom
ises of the Gospel.
Come also to this Gospel well, all
We troubled. I do not suppose you
have escaped. Compare your view
of this life at Is years of age with
what your view is of it at 40 or &C
or 70. What great contrast of opin
ion! We're you right then or are you
right now? Two cups placed in youl
hands, the one a sweet cup, the
other sour cup. A cup of JOY and
cup of grief. Which has been the
nearest to being full, and out o1
which have you the more frequently
partaken? What different place the
cemetery is from what it used to be!
Once it was to you grand city i'm
| dio Soo "Sie ouS oh elS
pleasure excursion, and you rar
laughingly up the mound, and yor
criticised in light way the epitaph
But since the day when you heard the
bell toll at the gate when you wen
in with the procession it is a sac
place, and there is a flood of rush
ing memories that suffuse the eye
and overmaster the heart. Oh, yor
have had trouble, trouble, trouble
God only knows how much you have
had. 1t is wonder you have beer
able to live through it. 1t is a won
der your nervous system has not beer
shattered and your brain has nc
reeled. Trouble, trouble!
If I could gather all the griefs o
J all sorts from these crowded street
} and could put them in one scroll
neither man nor angel could endur
} the recitation. Well, what do yoo
| want? Would you like to have you
} property back again? "No," you sa.
, as a Christian man; II was becoming
, arrogant, and I think that is VIII
) the Lord took it away. l don't wan
80 b,ro INV rroparfy boc - VOL