Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1901-12-20

/ on INTO the december month, ana
Herod. instead of attempting his death,
would have sent a chariot to fetch the
infant to the palace, and the oyer and
| terminer of Pilates courtroom would
have pronounced him not guilty, and
instead of a cross and a crown OF
thorns it would have been a corona
ton. with all the mighty ones of the
! earth kneeling at the foot of his throne.
Another discovery that surprises us
because we had not passed this way be-
! fore is the fact that if two be in quar-
rel or in war with each other the one
! who is the most wrong is the hardest
and the slowest to make up.
! We talk about the great discoveries
of the age the electric power, the
steam power. the telescope and micro
scopic power. but do not say anything
/ about the discoveries we all make year
by year and day by day. There are
surprises all the time. 1t is a new road
we are travelling 'Ye have not passed
this way before"
But closely allied is the other fact
which we limited at in the opening
that we will not pass this way again
This is our only opportunity for doing
certain things that ought to be done.
On all sides there are griets We ought
to solace, hunger We ought to feed, cold
that we ought to warm, kind words
that we ought to speak. generous deeds
we ought to perform. All that you and
| do toward making this world better
and happier We must do very soon or
never do at all Joshua and his troops
never came back over the way they
were marching toward the crossing Of
the Jordan. The impress of the sandal
or the bare feet OF each soldier showed
in what direction he was gong, but
never did the impress # the sandal of
any one of them show that he had re-
turned. We are all facing eternity to
come. There is no retreat Alertness
and fidelity would not be SO important
if we could truthfully say: Il will be
bacS here again. The filings | neglect
now | Will do the next time l come.
| viii be reincarnated, and ! will re-
sumo my earthly obligations. Having
fhen more knowledge than I have now,
| will discharge my earthly duties bet
te@ than | can now discharge them. l
do not give solemn farewell to these
obi cations and opportunities, but a
smiling, and CHEEKY good-byr until l
see taem again" No; we aanot say
that. There viii be no new and cor
rected editi9n OF the volume of our
earthly life How many millions of
people / ave lived and died | know nrt
but of all the human race who have
gone only seven persons that l now
think of have returned the son Of the
widow at Zarephath, the young man of
Main, the rulers daughter, Tab1tha,
Eutychgs .szarls and Christ Among
all the ages TO come J do not suppose
there will be- one more who will return
to this life, having onee left il.
Lord Bacon said that he who shall
discover the say to make myrrh solI-
BILE by human blood wiz discover in7--
mortal lie on earth but no such dis
cOvery will ever be made With wha.
suggestive sOle.nnity does This thought
charge every honr OF our earthly exist
Nnce. It is sale. thai it i possible to
know which way the wind blew at the
tine of the deluge by the mark of the
wave still 10 be found in the sand, and
the direction of car Influence. however
slight. will leave :. ma-k tha VIII last
forever.
At this point | ask y0l to notice the
lact that my text does not cali atten-
ton 10 the crossing of the Jordan, but
to the way leading thereto We all
think much Of our crossing Of The JOr-
dan when the march of our lite is end
ed, but put too little emphasis on the
way that leads to the crossing What
you and | need most to- care about is
the direction of the road ne are travel
ing. We need have no fear OF the
crossing IL ne come TO it. in the right
way In other words, we need not care
abous death il our life has neen what
it ought to be We will die right if We
live right.
What au absurdity i would have
beea for Joshua and mis- men to have
asked each other questions like these:
How eau Ne cross the Jordan if we
get therez Will no. the water be too
deep 10 allow MS 10 wade Will we not
all be SO saturated thak We may lose
our lives by eXpoSuge? How many OF
us can SWIM Had Ne better not wait
until the annual freshet has subsided?"
No such folly did they commit They
were anxious chiefly about the way
that they had mot passed before" and
were ignorant of and to keep their eyes
on the golden covered acacia box, wing
mounted. which was the ark of the COW
enant
/ O hearor, stop hothering about your
| exit from sublunary scenes, BY the
| grace of God get your heart right and
! then go ahead If the Lord takes care
| of you clear on to the bank on this
side OF the river. | think you can
trust him to take you from bank to
bank on the other side. Keep your eye
on the ark. and whatever betides, you
will go through Al right.
One Easter morning Massena, the
marshal of France. appeared with 49,
600 armed men on the heights above
the town of Feldkirch. There were no
arms to defend the town, and the in
habitants were wild with terror Then
the old dean of the church cried out:
MY brothers, this is Easter day. We
have been depending oa our own
strength, and that fails. Let us turn