The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-11-13

a prison cell. Being an artist his paints
and brushes were given him. and on the
wall Of the cell he painted the picture of
the cross witl<Chris on it. Over the cross
he painted the word love. at the. top and
the bottom of the cross the words height
and depth, at the cross beams the words
length and breadth, and indeed, it is true
that no one ever quite appreciates what the
| love of God is to him until he has TINS PFC
| ture of the cross clearly in mind.
| Have you ever noticed the differences IN
| the ending of the lives of Abraham and
| Lott Lots story is written in Genesis 10.
| 1t is an awful picture. His wife is taken
| from HIM. his daughters are disgraced and
| he is in despair, while with Abraham the
picture is exactly the opposite, and to my
mind is most beautiful Genesis %: 7-8,
| "And these are the days of the years of
Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred
| three-score and fifteen years: Then Abra-
ham gave up, the ghost and died in good
old age, an old man, and full OF years, and
was gathered to his people"
| Second. Moses was an illustration OF
| the text. In Hebrews il: 81. lie endured
as seeing Him who is invisible. That ex-
| plains the mystery of the burning BUSH
and this vision of Christ explains how 1T
was that when your hope seemed to be
consumed and the dearest plan of your
| life was burned as in the fire. You rejoiced.
| David has learned the secret OF happy liv-
ing when he says in the text Il have set
the Lord always before me; because He is
at my right hand. shall not be moved"
This vision enabled Moses to surmount
every difficulty. What did he care that
| the mountains were on every side, certain
Of the Egyptians behind him and the Red
Sea before him. He marched like con-
queror until the water parted in advance
of him and dry shod he went over to. the
| other side But such pictures as these
| have been realized in our day when men
| have passed through Red Seas of difficulty
| where other men of the world have gone
| down in defeat and all because thew en-
| dured as seeing Him who is invisible"
| Third, our Saviour is an illustration. He
| always set God before Him. As He came
into the world He said. 10, l come to do
| Thy WILL" as He sat on the well curb Of
| Jacobs well "My meat is to do the will
Of Him that sent Me-" as He bowed
| be done" At the beginning of His minis
| try, in the midst of it and near to its close
He gave forth the same music. What
| life it was.
! 'The strong mans strength to toll for
Christ
The feryent preachers skill
| I sometimes wish. but better far,
To be just what God wills.
| No service in itself is small
None great though earth it FIJI.
But that is small that seeks its own.
=
Fourth. Paul was certainly an illustra-
| ton of the spirit of our text. He caught
| that vision in the sky as he made his way
| to Damascus and he never forgot it. He
said ,truthfully. II was not disobedient I'M
| to the heavenly vision" This made him
insensible to him surroundings. There is
really nothing more pathetic than his re-
| Enumeration of his trials. III Cor. IL 24-27,
| "Of the Jews five times received / forty
stripes save one. Thrice was beaten with
! rods, once was stoned, thrice 1 suffered
| shlpwreck, night and day L have been
| in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils
| of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of
| mine own countrymep, in perils by the
| heather, in perils in the city, in perils in
| the wilderness, IN perlls In the sea, IN
perils among false. brethren; in WEAKNESS
| and painfulness, in watchings often, in
| hunger and thirst, in HASTINGS often, in
| cold and nakedness" And yet here he
says, II have learned with whatsoever
| state I am, Herewith to be content. He
| was with Paul to the very end. IL Timothy
| finished my course, | have kept the faith;
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown
| of righteousness, which the Lord the
| righteous Judge, shall give me at that day,
and not to me only, but unto all them
also that love His appearing"
That was the secret of his victorious
| life. and that the secret of his triumphant
| death.
If He is before me no path is too hard
| for me to travel. since He walks in every
| way in which He would have me CO. nor
shall / ever walk in darkness, for "He is
! the light of the world and in Him is no
! darkness at all, ;" nor shall ever be moved.
| Have you never noticed the differences
| between the second and sixth verses in the
| Sixtv-second Psalm. The second verse
reads, He only is my rock and my saliva
Hn Ic OF II 1l,on
greatly moved" And the sixth is the same
| with the exception of one word "He only
| IS my rock and salvation; He is my de-
| Tense; [ shall not be moved" That word is
greatly" There is deep meaning in the
| that the WAITING heart should not be much
| shaken, that the tottering fence should
not be quite thrown down; the second is
| that it shall not be shaken at all
III.
He is before me in all experiences
whether OF sorrow or of Joy, but since men
are born unto trouble as the sparks fly up
ward it is well to remember that He is be-
| fore US in suffering. There never has been
heart ache on the part of any of His fol-
lowers that the pain did not reach Him.,
and He had fellowship with us in our suf-
| ferings, as we are privileged to do in His.
He shall be with us even in death.
| "Since Jesus is mine TIL not fear undress-
Ing,
But gladly put off these garments Of
clay,
| To die in the Lord is covenant blessing.
Since Jesus to glory, thro' death led the
way"
: 1t is an awful thing for a life not to have
the helpful presence of God
ooh to have no hope in Jesus.
How dark this world would be-"
One of the ocean dangers that captains,
fear almost more than anything else is the,
danger OF coming in contact with "dere-
lict," as a ship abandoned at sea is called.
There are now supposed to be about thirty
of such vessels floating about at the will of
the currents in the Atlantic waters. They
are without pilot, have neither crew nor
| rudder, are bound nowhere and carry no
cargo to any port. One of them, which
has a cargo of mahogany on board, and is
level with the waters edge. has been drift
ing about since March, 1891.
The perils of collision at sea have been
reduced since the steamship companies
adopted what is known as the lane routes.
Now the route "a steamer follows after
Ioox - g e.