The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1902-06-19
SOUL'S' MOVING DAY.
MAN Goeth to His Long Home, and
the Spirit Returneth to Cod"
Sermon by the "Highway and Byway'
Preacher in Which Forcible Les
sons Are Drawn from Com.
mon Experience.
Copyright 1902. by A. N. Kellogg Newspa-
per Coz

| Copyright, 1902 by A. N. Kellogg Newspa-
| per Coz
Chicago
Text: Man goelh to his long nome . . :.
and the spirit shall return unto God Who
gave it, Parts of Ecclesiastes 1851.
| The period around the first of May
has come to be recognized as general
moving time, especially so in many of
the larger cities of the country, and
an event which so Immediately affects
SO many lives ought not to pass with
out its spiritual lessons being pointed
out. Scarcely does the man or woman
or child exist who has not at some Pc
riod in his or her life known what it
was to move from one home to anoth-
| er, from one state to another, from one
country to another. The medium
through which we reach and under
stand the unseen and spiritual is that
of the natural world and the everyday
| life experiences. Drummond's "Natur-
al Law in the Spiritual World" opens
the mind to the thought of the way in
which Gods spiritual forces operate,
and human experiences have their re-
semblances in the spiritual realm, and
bring their message to the human
heart in endeavor to point to God.
Moving day has inseparably asso-
ciated with it certain relative facts
which are Immediately connected with
it in our thoughts, such as leaving the
| old home, the new home, the furnish
| inn nf ho h.
bors and friends, the new landlord, etc.
The Souls Moving Day. Our text at
| once introduces US to the certainty of
this experience in every human life.
No argument is needed to enforce
this point. Man knoweth that his life
endureth but for season and like the
grass of the field he soon passeth
away, and yet oftentimes he puts off
the thought of the souls moving day
for a more convenient season (Which,
but for the patience and grace of God,
would never come, if it ever does come,
and goes on living during time as
though he had an eternity at his COM
mand.
Two beautiful thoughts flash out of
our text to which we wish to refer at
once, that the infinite love and care of
God may overshadow our souls as we
| proceed. The words Home" and Ere
turneth" gently lead the soul into the
presence of death and give the bright
er side to dark picture. The dearest
experiences in life are associated with
| the thoughts of home. The tenderest
chords of the human heart vibrate at
the sound of the word "home," so that
even the man who never knew a home
could sing "Home, Sweet Home" To
the soul willing to hear Gods voice He
always speaks of "Home" as the
blessed dwelling place of the re-
deemed, and death is robbed of its sting
as we triumph in Christ Jesus over it.
But to the soul given up to it's own de-
vices, that will not hear the voice of
God, He speaks in thunder tones of the
| Judgment seat and eternal darkness
and death. The soul may deaden its
The other beautiful thought in our
text is that of the soul returning to
the God Who gave it. How natural
that it should do so. How unnatural
that man by his own wilful self-seek.
ing should turn it in any other direc.
ton. The carrier pigeon taken to a
distant point when given its liberty re-
turneth straight as an arrow to the
point from whence it came. How nat
ural, how beautiful. How sadly pa.
thetic, when, DETECTED from it's course,
the pigeon perishes by the wayside
and lifting it's ruff1ed body and power.
less wings from the ground we realize
that it was not intended thus to be
but it's destiny lay at the point from
which it had been taken. The pigeon
may not have been responsible for per.
lshing by the wayside, but the spirit
given by God which findeth not its way
back to Him perisheth even while God
is pleading with it to turn it's will and
Leaving the Old Home. Moving day
has come and the old home is to be left
behind. While there are pangs of re
gret at leaving it's familiar shelter, still
the fascination of the new home tc
which we are going, with it's larger ac
commodations and better surround
ings, make us forget the old in the hap
py thoughts of the new. 1t is no hard
ship to leave the old if we know thai
at the other end of the line new anC
better home awaits our occupation.
Two important facts confront us il
connection with this leaving of the ole
home. First, we have taken du.
thought of moving day and planned &C
cordingly, and secondly, we have en-
gagged another home to which to gt
when the old is left behind. The maj
who did not give due heed to these tive
matters we would judge guilty of tn,
greatest folly. Yet how exactly sim
liar is the position Of the soul which
recognizes the certainty of moving
day, and nevertheless gives no though
to moving day nor to the making sur
Of another home. What folly. How
suicidal, as we hear some one say: I'll
take my chances" To such the autho
Of the book from which our text j
taken says: Rejoice, o young man, u