The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1902-01-22
earth Is full Of thy riches" How do
you like that sublime pastoral?
Overcome Evil.

Importance Of keeping OUr chief imple-
ment for work in coed order. | think
that young theological student on the
banks Of Jordan was to blame for not
examining the aX before he lifted it
that day against tree. He could in
moment have found out whether the
helve and the head were firmly fas-
tened. The simple fact was the ak
was rot in good order or the strongest
stroke that sent the edge into the hard
sycamore would not have left the I'M
plement headless SO God has given
every one Of us an ak with which to
hew. Let US keep it IN good order,
having been sharpened by Bible study
and strengthened by prayer. The rea-
son we sometimes fail in our work is
because we have q dull ak or We do
not know how Alright to swing It. The
head is not Alright OH the handle. II
the time we want the most skill for
work and perfect equilibrium we lose
our head. We eIpenI in useless ex-
citelnent the nervous energy that we
ought to have employed IN direct,
straightforward work. Your AK may
be a pen or type or q yardstick or
scales or q tongue which in legislative
hall or business circles or Sabbath
class CT pulpit IS to speak for God and
righteousness, but tic Ak will not be
worth much until it has been sharp
ened on the grindstone Of aflict!on.
Go right through the world, and go
right through all the past ages. and
show me one man or woman who has
done anything for tie world worth
speaking Of whose ak was not ground
on the revolving wheel Of mighty trou-
bic. II was not Cc".l. fc1 !:e "'2S de-
throncd ind hou::;!cl by unfilial Ab-
salon. Surely 1t was not Paul. for he
was shipwrecked and whipped with
thirty-nne stripes from rods Of elm
wood on his way to Deheadment. Sure
ly it was not Abraham Lincoln, called
BY every vile name that human and
satanic turpitude could invent and de-
picted by cartoonists with more mean
ness than any other man ever suffered,
on the way to meet ] bullet crashing
through bis temples.
God Docs tl:e Inpoanible.
But I have come to the foot Of the
Alps, which we must climb before we
can see the wide reach Of my subject.
Sec in all this theme how the impOssi-
bilit!es may be turned into possibilities.
That AK head was Sunher in the mud
diest river that could be found. The
alarmed student Of Elisha may know
where it went down and may dive 10"
il and perhaps fetch it up, but can tie
surken tx head be lifted without
hand thrust deep into the rnud ut the
bottom OF the river: No; that Is i'm
possible. 1 admit. so far as human
power is concerned. it is impossible.
but with God ell things arc possible.
After the tree branch was thrown upon
the surface of Jordan the iron did
SWIM
Some one asks me. Did you ever
sec iron swim" Yes. yes; many Il
time. ! saw soul hardened until
nothing could make it harder. All
styies Of sin had piled that soul. 1t
WAS petriied eS 10 all fine feeling. 1t
had been hardening for thirty years.
1t had gone into the deepest depths.
1t had been given up as lost The IA
ther had given it up. The mother, the
last to do so. had given II Up. But one
day IN answer to some prayer 4 branch
OF the disfollaged tree Of Calvary was
thrown into the dark and sullen
stream. and the sunken soul responded
to it's power and rose into the light.
and. to the astonishmcnt Of the church
and tie world. the iron did SWIM
have seen hundreds Of cases like that.
When the dying bandit on the cross
beside ChriSt's cross was converted.
When Jerry McAuley. Il rntfiaD Gradu-
ate OK Sing Sing prison. WAS changed
into Il great evangelist. 80 useful III
reclamation Of wandering men and "o-
men that the merchant princes OF New
York established for him the Water
Street and CremorEe missions and
mourned at his burial. amid the lanen-
tations of q city. When Newton. the
blaspheming sailor, under the power
Of the truth was brought 10 Chris and
became one Of the miShtiest preachers
of the gospel that En2lnnd ever saw.
When John Bunyan. whose curses
shocked even the profane OF the FISH
market. was so changed IN heart and
life that he could write that wonder
ful dream. The Pilgrims Progress.
IN such way that uncounted thou
sands have found through it the road
from the 'city Of destruction" to the
celestial city" In all these cases !
think iron was made TO swim. / wor-
chip the God who can do the impossi-
bic.
Lost 1sd Restored.
You have a wayward boy. Only GOD
knows how you have cried oveT him.
You have tried everything for his ref
ormation. Where is he now-in this
city, in this country, or has he crossed
the Sea? "Oh." you say. Il do not