St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-07-04
NBEYING God is expansive in il
" scope; it is elevating in it's ten,

reared his ark that it might be a
part in the great plan of Gods re-
demptive work for man. The sound
of his hammer is heard to-day, sol
EMMY warning the world of another
Judgment day to come. Christ used
the story of Noah to drive home this
very truth to His hearers. Gas the
days of Noe were, so shall also the
coming of the Son of Man be. For
as in the days that were before the
food, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, I'M
til the day that Noe entered into the
ark, and knew not until the flood
came, and took them all away; SO
shall also the coming of the Son OF
Man be-" The world prides itself on
its breadth of life, the scope of its
activity, the largeness of it's aims and
ambitions, but, bless You, they are as
narrow and sordid in breadth and
scope and largeness in comparison
with the life, which unfolds in Gods
win as the planet on which we live is
small and insignificant in compari-
son 10 the universe of which it is 9
part. To obey mans will is to limit
the horizon of the life, and confine
its possibilities to the few short
years which mark the passage from
the cradle to the grave. To obey
Gods will launches the soul on the
limitless expanse of Gods purpose in
His vast universe and gives wind and
sail to carry through the unending
years of eternity.
NBEYING God is elevating in its
~ tendency. It fixes the vision of
the soul up above tie things of life,
it draws the soul on and on until at
last it gains the presence of God, Who
is supreme owe: all and above all.
The worlds wisdom tells you to aim
high, and you will hit something; to
fasten your chariot to a star. The
possibilities of human aspirations
are limited. The aim may be high,
the star may be hitched on to, but
what beyond these? The limit is
reached. and disappointment crowds
in at death. But the soul that obeys
God is always ON the upgrade. His
destiny is not limited to human am
bition or even the far, twinkling
star, but with God Himself. Obedi-
ence to God is the only elevator line
which passes through the realm, Of
human possibilities into the regions
of Gods Heaven. Obedience to God
lifts the vision from the center self
and fixes it on the beacon light of
Gods unfailing blessing.
Alexander's ambition was to con-
quer the world, but death ended
career and ambition, and loosened his
grasp on the small part of the world
which he was permitted to subdue.
His ambition and hope ended in the
dark, cold grave. Timour, the Tar
tar, desired universal conquest, say
ing the earth was too small for more
than one master. ut is too small to
satisfy the ambition of great soul, -
declared he. The sheik of Samarcand
is said to have replied to him: 1.-THE
ambition of great soul is not to be
satisfied by the possession of a NOR
sci of earth added to another, but by
the possession Of God. Who alone is
sufficiently great to fill up an in
finite thought And only obedi-
ence to God can give entrance to the
glorious realization of that ambi-
ton.
IT is hard to obey God wholly and
!. implicitly. The flesh warreth
against the spirit. The natural tend
ency of man is away from God. But
why should it be, when we realize all
that obedience to God means? u If
faith is strong to keep the vision of
the reward of obedience clear before
the heart, it is not hard to obey. That
is why Noah kept steadily at work
ON the ark until it was completed.
God told him there was to be food,
and his faith painted the picture Of
that which was surely coming to pass,
and quickened his hands as they
joined the timbers together. The peo-
pie of the world were not slow to
come around to Noah's shipyard and
ply him with questions. Why did he
build his boat on dry land? Better go
down to the sea shore, Noah, where
it will be easy to launch. And while
he busily plies the hammer and sav.
he replies: "The flood is coming. God
saws there is to be flood" Where
will it come from? How will
it come? When will it come?
were some of the questions probably
put to him. You may rest assured
that the people Of Noah's day were
as capable of asking questions as are
the people of the world to-day. At
tempt to tell them the message Of
God. That God says: ''To-day, if ye
will hear My voice, harden not your
hearts, And again: snow is the
accepted time, now is the day of sal
svation." Tell them that the Judg-
ment day is coming, and that it may
be tomorrow, for mo man knoweth
the day nor the hour" and an unbe-
.lieving heart can call up more ques-
tions than all the theologians in the
country can answer. And when Noah's
message had gained currency, and he
began to collect his materials fof the
ark, people were not slow to ply him
with questions.
8NNE man, willing to obey God i'm
~ plicitly in the face of an unbe-
lieving and hayward world, can set
it by the ears and gain an audience.
He is marked man. It may be
true sometimes that the world may
laugh, it may ridicule, it may de-
nounce and oppose. Gods servants