The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1902-01-31

the search was ia
had been defeated.
NV subject also reminds US OF .ne
OF keeping our cniel -
nlement for work in good order.
think that young theological student
~ tbe hanks of Jordan was to blame
for not examining the ak before nc
lifted it that day against a tree, n
could in moment have lounu ouo
whether the halve and the head were
frn,lv fastened. The simple TACT was
the Ak was not in good order or the
STRONGEST stroke that sent the edge
into the hard sycamore would NOT
have left the implement headiess' 20
God has given every one OF US an a.
with which to hew. Let us keep ~
in rood order, having been sharpened
by Bible study and strengthened Wy
praver. The reason we sometimes
fail in our work is because we nave
dun AK or we, do not know how
Alright to swing it. The head is ho'
Alright on the handle. AT the tiine
we want the most skill for work anu
perfect equilibrium we lose our heau.
We expend in useless excitement the
nervous energy that we ought TO nave
employed in direct, straightIorwaiu
work. Your ak may be a pen OF
type or yardstick or scales OF
tongue which in legislative nan OF
business circles or Sabbath class or
pulpit is to speak for God ana rign'-
eo,,sness. but the ak will not De
worth much until it has been sharp
ened on the grindstone OF afilictlon.
Go right through the world, ana go
right through all the past ages ana
SHOW me one man or woman "ho mas
done anything for the world worm
speaking of whose ak was not ground
OF, the revolving wheel OF mighty trou-
Bile. 1t was not David, for he was de-
tl,roned and bounded by unfilial AID
seiom. Surely it was not PAU, lot ne
was shipwrecked and whipped win
80 stripes from rods of elm wood on
his way to behe adment. Surely 1t was
not Abraham Lincoln, called by every
vile name that human and satanic
turpitude could invent and deplcteu ny
cartoonists with more meanness than
any other man ever suffered. on the
way to meet a bullet crashing through
his temples.
But / have come to the foot OF the
Alps. which we must climb before we
can see the wide reach of my SUBJECT
See in all this theme how the impossi-
bilities may be turned into posslblli-
ties That ak head was sunken IN the
muddiest river that could be found
The alarmed student of Elisha may
know where it went down and may
dive for it and perhaps fetch it up, but
can the sunken ak head be lifted with
out hand thrust deep into the mud at
the bottom Of the river? No; that is
impossible. / admit, so far as human
mower is concerned, it is impossible
bat with God all things are possible
After the tree branch was thrown upon
the surface of Jordan "the iron did
SWIM"
You have wayward boy. Only God
knows how you have cried over him
You have tried everything for his ref
ormation. Where is he now-ln thu
city. in this country, or has he crossed
the sea? "Oh," you say, i do moi
know where he is. He went away in
the sulks and did not say where hs
was going" You have about made III
| your mind that you will never heal
! from him again. Pretty hard pay ht
gives you for all your kindness ant
the nights you sat up with him Wher
he was sick. Perhaps he struck yo'
one day when you were trying to per
shade him to do better. How differen
was the feeling of that hard ifs
against your face from his little han'
in infancy patting your cheek! ia
ther! Mother! That is an impossible
| that l would like to see God take hol'
of. the conversion of that boy, for n
will never be anything but boy t
Won. though you should live to see him
90 wears of age. Did you say hi
heart is hard? How hard? Hard a
stone? EYES," you say; "harder thai
that. Hard as iron" But here is
God who can lift the soul that ha
been deepest down. Here is 20
who can raise soul out of the black
est depths of sin and wretchednesi
Here il God who can make iro
swim, the God of Elisha, the God o
the young student that stood in dis
NAV OH the banks of the Jordan at tn
time of the lost AK head. Lay hold Q
the Lord in a prayer that will take n
Denial.
Alas, there are impossibilities befor
thousands of people-called to do wor
that it is impossible for them to d.
called to bear burdens that it IS in
] -----:l.1a Ia. than 70 hear called 4