St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-06-06


speechless before .Ae matchless wis
dom, the lavish riches. the courtly
ceremonies. 1t is with some such
feeling as this that the soul views
the sublime heights scaled by Pau
IN the words of our text and beholds
the Heavenly visions which he un
rolls. The poverty-stricken so:l as
1t comes into the treasure-house OF
Gods love and beholds the unfathom
able riches which are in Christ Jesus
feels its own spirit and self-confi'
dence and self-esteem evaporating
and stands in mute wonder. There
are such heights and depths and
lengths and breadths to the thoughts
expressed in our text, that we bow in
reverent silence and feel the poverty
OF words rs we attempt to frame SEN
fences to tell all it means. Gods un-
measured and unreasonable love and
mercy and grace flash forth and pen
citrate with their beams of light to
the depths of the horrible black pit
of death where the soul of man is
found The power of God is felt as it
reaches down. down. down. until the
soul responds to the quickening
touch and is lifted up. up, up, and is
seated in glory beside Jesus Christ in
the Heavenly places. And this is not
all! Through the ages to come the
marvellous thing which the love,
mercy and grace of God have accom-
plished is to be a witness for Him.
Read the text over again. Let its
fullness and meaning flood your
soul. What vision! The rich God,
the powerful God, standing in His ex-
allied place of holiness and righteous
ness, looking down upon the sin
cursed earth and discovering dead
soul. He lifts it tenderly, plants it
in His mercy, waters it with His
grace, warns it with His love until it
feels His quickening power. Then
He raises it up and bears it aloft
that it may adorn the courts of the
Heavenly city, there to reveal perpet-
ually the Exceeding riches of His
grace. in His kindness towards u.s..
YOU can look out upon the
blue expanse, of the heavens, but
your eyes cannot take in all the mag
nificence of that starry field which
continues to unroH beyond the reach
of the most powerful telescope. You
may drink in and in the beauties of
mountain scenery Or sylvan dell, but
there is always some hidden beauty,
some unseen flower of rare coloring
and fragrance which escape the eye.
Some little brooklet splashing over
the stones and flashing in the sun
light its diamond spray is singing
its song beyond the range Ct your
hearing. And so it is with all the
riches and fuIhess there is in God.
There are unfathomed depths, there
are unscaled heights which give to
the soul never-ending source of de-
light in it's fellowship with God.
The story is told Of a poor widow
who was left with a large family of
children. and who, despite all she
could do, could not keep the wolf of
want from the door. She was too
proud to beg, and SO she struggled
on the best she could, until at last
a wealthy man heard of her need,
and without letting her know the
source from which it came sent her
q bank note with the words: "More
to follow" scrawled upon bit of
paper. As time went on and her
need was sore again, another bank
note came with the same message,
sesMore to follow" And so it went on.
Always with the offering for present
needs was the promise for the future
of further help. 'More to follow!'
That is the way with Gods riches and
fullness. They are adequate for the
souls present needs and they always
come with the promise of more to
follow And as we begin to dig in
to our text and bring out its treas
IRE, we will find that there is more
IN follow, more to follow.
r HE springtime is the season
when the quickening power Of
Nature is felt. The dead brown
grass, the bare trees and bushes, the
sleeping seeds, the hard black bulbs,
all feel the throb of new life. The
grass clothes herself in fresh green.
the trees push out their bud and leaf,
the seeds and bulbs reach up for the
sunlight and the rain and unfold
their leaf and flower. The death and
barrenness of winter give place to
the life and beauty OF spring. Ma
ture comes with thrilling touch and
ouickens grass and tree, seed and
,,u1b. into new life and new beauty. |
The springtime of the soul is suggest
ri nv our text. There lies the dead |
soul in the winter of its sin. 1t is
barren and alone. It is as insensible
~ the sunlight of Gods love, the
sweetness ofHis mercy and the riches
IT His grace as is the tree or seed
N the wintertime insensible to the
bright rays of the sun. Or the friend
I;ness of the melting SHOWS. A dead
.oul within itself, but deafness
which the touch of God can change
INTO the beauty and fragrance of
life eternal.
There is glad note in the
,ir when springtime comes. The
notes of the birds have new thrill
# exultation, as they busy them
selves with nest making preparatory
n the rearing of their birdlings.
The gentle rain fills the air with its
,veet music as its shining drops
lance and skip down the yielding