St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-06-14
GODS POTENT GIFT.
Sermon on John 3::16 by the High
way and Byway" Preacher.

No Fairy's Ta1isman or Aladdin
Lamp Ever Wrought Half the
Blessing ~ II Realized
srhrough Jesus Christ.
copyright, 1902, by A. N. Kellogg Newspa-
paper Col
Chicago,
Text: "For God SO loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whose
ever believeth on Him should not perish
but have everlasting lfe.-John 3:l6.
The telescope of the astronomer
tells US that beyond tn. vision OF the
natural eye there exist myriads OF
starry worlds, and we believe him,
even though we have never been priv
ileged to search them out for our
selves. The microscope of the scien-
fist demonstrates that in the water
we drink and the air we breathe there
are perfect swarms of queer and gro
tesque and hideous looking creatures
We take our glass of water and hold it
up to the light, and as the beams of
sunlight flash and CLINT through the
clear crystal liquid it is hard to be-
ieve that what the wise man says Is
true, yet we do accept his statement
as declaration of fact.
Gods Word tells us that Gods
throne is in the heavens. and that the
earth is His footstool, and if our spir-
itual vision is not holden we believe
that it is true. .Enoch walked with
God, and he was not, for God took him.
There is brief and complete biog-
raphy recorded by God. 1t tells US OF
his earthly career. He left the earth
at the behest of God, and went where :?
To the heavens where God has His
dwelling place. Elijah, when his mis-
sion on earth was fulfilled, in the Prov
idence of God, was waited to the
heavens in chariot of fire, ana Elisha
was left behind with the mantle of
the great prophet in his hands to tell
the story. The former pupils of Elijah,
who doubted Elisha's story, went out
to search for the translated prophet,
but found him not, but it was the priv
ilege of Peter, James and John on the
mountain in Galilee to see the Lord in
His TRANSPORTATION talking to that
same Elijah, who SO many hundreds of
years before had walked through the
land of Palestine and warned the peo-
pie of their sins and had destroyed the
$50 prophets of Baal.
When Jesus began His public min
istry the heavens opened, we are told
by Gods Word, and voice from that
unseen region said: "Thou art My be-
loved Son; in Thee am well pleased"
And Stephen, with his face lit up by
the glories of the Celestial Kingdom:
as he looked steadfastly towards
Heaven, saw it open, and Jesus Him
self standing at the right hand of God,
the place which He had designated, be-
fore His crucifxion and resurrection,
should be His abiding place until the
fulfllment of the time of the Gentiles,
and He should leave Heaven with a
shout of triumph and return to earth
in the clouds of Heaven even as He
went from earth into Heaven.
Paul bears testimony to the fact
that he was carried into the heavens,
and whether he was in the body or
out Of the body he could not tell, but
he heard unutterable things and de-
clares that ''eye hath not seen nor
ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love
Him" Among the last declara lions of
Jesus Christ were the words, in which
we find so much comfort, especially in
the hour of bereavement: ''ln My Fa-
theirs house are many mansions. If
it were not so / would have told you.
1 go to prepare place for you. And
if go and prepare place for you
l will come again and receive you unto
Myself. that where l am there We may
be also"
Surely from the beginning of the
history of man, when Enoch stepped
from earth into the glories of Heaven,
to the vision of John the Beloved, who
saw the new Jerusalem being let
down from Heaven, we have ample
proof and testimony that Heaven is
a real place, even though we cannot
see it with the natural eye, and it is
the dwelling place of God, and His
Christ and the hosts of angels and the
great company of the redeemed.
And so in Heaven, before the founda-
lions of the world were laid, God pur-
posed in His infinite heart of love to
give to the world the rarest treasure of
Heaven in order that earth might be
enriched and sinful man wooed back to
Him. All Heaven was astir when the
time drew near that the Word of God,
the Son of God, should become flesh
and dwell among men. Abraham, who
had the promise of God that in his seed
should all the nations of the earth be
blessed, was among the long list of
patriarchs and prophets of the Old
Testament who rejoiced with the
Heavenly hosts in the gift which God
was going to give unto men, the full
fullment of all the law and the proph-
cts.
Heavens music burst upon human
ears on that first Christmas morning
when the shepherds on the hillside of
Judea heard the glad tidings that
unto you is born this day in the city
of David Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord" They came and worshiped the
young child and received Him into
their hearts.as the long-promised Mes
siah. The wise men brought their
gifts of gold and frankincense and
myrrh. They bowed in homage be-
fore the innocent babe, realizing, by
from Heaven, that wise in
the learning of the world though they
were, still here was a gift from the