The Cairo bulletin., 1904-04-17


Sickness. as wen as in health, Goa re-
quires our cooperation and the ex
ercise Of our faith. and that the divine
blessing follows this union of falt
aud works. The text is Genesis XXX
80, And the flocks brought forth eat
tie, ringstrakcd, speckled and spotted
Labau, though man OF wealth and
influence among the Hebrews of his
day, was yet, like many rich men in
our time, mean and unprincipled where
bargain was involved. In his com
pact with Jacob the weak points OF
his character were strikingly revealed
He had two daughters. Leah was
tender eyed. but Rachel was very beau
ttul;' in other words. the elder sister
was homely ana unattractiye. She
was a maiden lady whom no one cared
to marry; her eyes were iniamed, or
watery, or cast" her disposition was
evidently as much askew rs her eyes.
Jacob was deeply in love with the
younger sister but after he had served
seven long years for her old Laban
cheated him out of his promised bride
and palmed off upon the young man
the unattractiyc elder sister. Then,
in order TO win the younger sister,
Jacob had TO serve seven more long
years, and as a result he had two
wives instead Of one.
Power of the Mind.
At the end of his fourteen years OF
service Jacob prepared to leave his ia
ther-in-law'S employ. He wanted to
take his two wives and 20 off and
build home of his own somewhere
This, however, Laban did not wish him
10 do. So the crafty Laban made CON
tract with Jacob that If he would stay
and continue in charge OF his herds Of
cattle ana tiocks Of sheep he, Laban,
would give to the young man as pay
ment for his services all the calves and
the lambs ana tile Kids that We're born
ringstraked or speckled or spotted.
Jacob agreed to the bargain But
when he agreed the yonng man was
craftier than the old man. As the fa-
therin-law had been unprlnclpled With
Jacob, so Jacob was unprinclpled now
with Laban. What lid Jacob do? Did
he allow nature TO simply take its usual
course? No. He began to scheme and
to cunnlngly influence the colors Of
the calves. Che kids and the lambs
about TO be born. He took some rods
of green poplar and hazel and chestnut
ana laid those rods of white and black
in the watering troughs Of the herds
aud the flocks. Then, when the cows
ana the sheep sad the goats came to
drink out of the watering troughs the
black and white rods reflected in the
water made such startling impress
sion upon them that the calves kids
and lambs born thereafter were lnllu-
enced by that prenatal shock, and most
of them We're ringstraked and spotted
ana speckled. Thus Jacobs herds
grew larger than Laban's, and the
craft Of the INSCRIPTIONS son-ln-law
overreached the dishonesty Of the IA
ther.in-law.
After Jacob placed the rods of green
poplar and hazel and chestnut In the
watering troughs the startling and far
reaching effect produced upon the ami
mails Is not to be wondered at. If
you place n stick in the water. by the
laws of reflection that wood may seem
to become creature of life. | remcm
Der when lad once dropping my fish
ing pole, and rs 1t lay at the bottom
Of the brook the ripples made that rod
look like Il long serpent wriggiing up
stream. AS these cattle stoop to drink
| see them start back as though ven
em0us kissing snake was lifting up
his fatal fangs to strike. Ny text pre-
scnts one of the best instances to be
found IN literature OF the far reaching
effect Of the mind over the physical
body.
Mental HaiIucinations.
We may grant today the influence
of the mind over the body, but we dc
not 80 50 far us to assert that all phys
zeal diseases or abnormaltes are the
direct results Of mental Authorizations
Gs the straked, spotted and Spccklcd
progeny OF the cows. sheep and goats
were the result Of jacobs wicked act.
We do not advocate the theory that
surgeons knife is only another name
for a butchers Ak. that modern hos
pital is only Satanic incubator, that
q medicine bottle is only fools poison
and that sickness is only synonym
for sin: but. as there are thousands
and tens of thousands of men and wo
men who honestly believe in faith
cure" pure and simple, as we term
bat definition. ! have chosen in this
sermon TO preach on Jesus Christ as
the Divine Healer and to show both
from a Biblical and common sense
standpoint that the surgeons knife
and the physicians prescription have
part I'm the worlds Characterization
and civilization as we'll as the minis
ter's pulpit and the consecrated school
teachers desk.
The Bible teaches us that faith
should always go hand in hand with
works. The same divine laws which
apply to men in ordinary walks Of life
apply also to the patient in the in
valid's room or upon the hospital op-
Grating table. The Christ who stands
10y the sick bed is the same Christ who
accompanies US when. in health md