St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-01-26

ion. For that we build temples

ligion. For that we build temples
For that we kneel at our affairs. Eel
that we contribute our aims. For tina
martyrs suffered at Brussels marke
place and at Lucknow and Cawnpu
and Peking. That will yet bejewe
the round earth and put it an emerald
on the great, warm, throbbing heart o.
God.
The world has had many specimen!
of slandered men and women, theil
motives slandered, their habits Sian
dered-slandered until they got out
of the world, and then perhaps hon
ored by elaborate eulogium and tai
shaft of granite, all four sides chic
eled with the story of how good and
great they were. But no one under
the heavens or over the heavens has
| ever been so much slandered as God
Bad men have fought against Him and
have thought they heard His voice
in the crash of thunderstorm, bat
have not seen Him in the sunshine oi
the spring morning. They have blan ed
Him for wrongs which they had dcne
themselves. The sight of a church
building excites their disgust. They
like the madrigal of = saloon better
than the doxology of temple. They
do not want to live with Him in
Heaven, but would prefer on leaving
this world to go into some realm
where God has abdicated the throne
and from which He is exiled forever.
The reason is they do not know Him
They do not realize the fact that God
is the best friend this world ever had
or ever will have, and that He would
do more for their happiness than any
would help them in the wear and tear
and tussle of this life; that He would
hush their sorrows; that He wculd
help cure the evil habits with which
they sometimes struggle; that He
would at their request not only for
give but forget the wrong things in
their life. Yes, forget! And that is
the only thing that God ever does for
get-pardoned transgression. The best
memory in the universe is Gods men,
cry, and He remembers all that has
transpired in all time and in all
eternity save one kind of occurrence.
That passes completely out of His
memory. He declares: Their sins
and their iniquities will / remember
no more"
Do You want more proof that "God
is love?" Yea, disinterested love. No
compensation for it's bestowal. No
reward for its sacrifices. But I call
that back. The world did pay Him.
1t paid Him on Calvary. paid Him with
brambles on the brow and four spikes,
two for the hands and two for the
feet. and one spear for the side near
the heart; paid Him in execration;
paid Him with straw pillow in barn
and cross on hill; paid Him with
third of century of maltreatment
and hardship save one year-yea, il
paying Him yet, in rejection of His
mission of mercy. Having dethroned
other kings. the world would like to
dethrone the King of kings. But He
knew what He was coming to wheE
He left the portals of pearl and the
land where the sun never goes down.
Yes, He knew the world, how cold il
is, and knew pain, how sharp it is,
and the night, how dark it is, and ex-
piation. how excruciating it is. Out
of vast eternity He looked forward
and saw Pilates criminal courtroom,
and the rocky bluff with three crosses.
and the lacerated body in mortuary
surroundings. and heard the thunders
toll at the funeral Of Heavens favor
ite, and understood that the palaces
of eternity would hear the sorrow Of
a bereft God.
What do the Bible end the church
liturgies mean when they say: HE
descended into help" They mean that
His soul left His sacred body for
awhile and went down into the prison
of moral night. and swung back its
great door. and lifted the chain OF
captivity, and felt the awful lash that
would have come down on the worlds
back. and wept the tears of an eter-
nal sacrifice. and took the bolt of Di-
vine Indignation against sin into Him.
self. and, having vanquished death and
hell. came out and came up, having
achieved an eternal rescue if we will
accept it. =.
Yea, it was most expensive love.
There is much human love that costs
nothing, nothing of fatigue. nothing
of money, nothing OF sacrifice, moth
ing of humiliation. But the most ex-
pensive movement that the heavens
ever made was this expedition saliva
tory. 1t cost the life of King. 1t
PIT the throne of God in bereave-
ment. 1t set the universe aghast. II
made Omnipotence weep and bleed
and shudder. 1t taxed the resources
of the richest of all empires. 1t meant
angelic forces detailed to fight forces
demoniac. 1t put three worlds into
sharp collision-one world to save, an
other to resist and another to destroy.
1t charged on the spears and rang
with the battle axes of human and
diaboiic hate. Had the expedition Of
love been defeated the throne of God
have mounted into supremacy, and sin
would have forever triumphed, and
mercy would have been forever dead.
The tears and blood of the martyr of
the heavens were only part of the
infinite expense to which the Godhead
went when it proposed to save the
world.
Now, the only fair thing for human
hearts to do is to echo back that SOW
ereign love. You and / have stood in
mountainous regions, where, uttering
one distinct word, the echoes would
come back with resonance startling
and captivating, and from all our
hearts there should sound unto the
heavens responses glorious and long
continued. Let the world change its
style of payment for heavenly love.
No more payment by lances, by ham,
mers; no more payment by blows or
the cheek and scourging on the back
and hooting of mobs. but payment in
ardors of soul, in true surrender Of
heart and love to the God that made
IN and the Christ who ransoLled us
and the eternal spirit who by repen-