The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-24

tour he was returning home When the 1 ship was within a few hours of Liver pool there was farewell meeting of l the passengers in the main saloon. A
 prominent minister arose and spoke about
 as follows: Friends, we must now part
 I want to tell you how much have en- 1 joyed this trip. It is a solemn fact to
 know that many of us will never meet
 again until we assemble ar the judgment seat of Christ" With that MT. Thackeray
 arose and said; Tt Is solemn to think I that we are all to assemble at the 1udg-
 ment seat of Christ, but 1t is even more
 solemn for me to think that every min
 ute of every hour of every day God Is holding me in the hollow of his hand and
 is feeding me and clothing me wherever
 l may go. So, instead of thinking about
 the judgment seat at this time, if my l fellow passengers are willing, I would
 like to have our ministerial brother lead
 us in prayer and thank God for the care
 he has taken of us during the last ten
 days when we have been on shipboard l together. No harm has come to us. We
 shall soon be at home with our friends" "
 Aye, William M. Thackeray was right
 It is our duty to think of the God of the
 judgment but 1t is also our duty every
 day to thank the God of the hills who 1 feeds and clothes us and cares for us
 each morning and each noon and each
 night, whether we are awake or whether
 we are asleep.
 Shall we stop here? Was the eastern
 herdsman only symbolizing the strength l of God and the care taking providence
 of God in the strength and the power of
 the hills? Was he not making allusions l to the gold and the silver buried in the
 depths of the mountains, and to the dia- l monds hidden in their subterranean
 vaults. and to their many precious
 stones, some of which St. John in Apo l f.,t lI- ,F fI, NTnxx Ia
 rusalem? Was he not using these stones
 of the symbol of the joy and the peace
 and the happiness of this world which comes from God to those who are living | in close communion with God2 I think | he was. Furthermore, I believe Amos, ] the herdsman, not only found these sym 1 bols of earthly happiness coming from l God by following the miners with their i little lights into the ground, but also by 1 following the call of the bird, singing to | him on the top of some mountain ravine
 or in some hidden glen.
 Methinks 1 can follow this sainted herdsman as he some autumn day hies l away to the hills. We will call it an autumn day, for that is the time when
 every tree becomes a flaming torch. Amos
 is longing to go off for awhile and be | alone with God. He turns over his sheep l to the care of one of the under shep- | herds. He takes his staff and climbs up the mountain side. Higher and higher he goes until his parched lips call, | Drink, drink; give me drink" He l reaches up and pulls off a leaf from an
 overhanging branch. He twists 1t into more beautiful chalice than was ever
 handed forth by the Egyptian cup bear CTS at Pharaoh's court Then he stoops
 down and lifts up the water out of the gushing spring.
 The rocks seem to close in about him. f.- 4.. .1A 1w.1 f1A ters at his feet seem to be "holy waters, l holy because they have been touched by the finger of God. Then he stretches his tired limbs upon couch of moss. Then the same bird that called him from his herd now brings to him his companions,
 and they begin to sing. A gentle eyed deer pokes forth her head from the thicket and seems to say: "Who art thou
 "a friend or an enemy? Dare I trust my | little lawn in thy sight while I quench
 my thlrst?" Then the leaves begin to
 sway and sigh. That peace of the woods
 comes over the happy prophet as he says:
 'Yes God has made the mountains. God
 has made the gold. God has made the | silver and the precious stones buried
 here. He has made the woods of the
 mountains, the trees and the moss, the
 birds and the flowers and the brightly
 colored leaves. He has made the brooks
 to sing as well as his feathered song
 sters. Truly God is the God Of peace,
 the God of joy, the God of happiness. If
 man is unhappy, then 1t is because as
 sinner he is out of touch with God"
 Do you feel that in the symbols of the | gold. the silver, the precious stones and 1 the moist, fragrant leaves Of the woods
 Amos is speaking today?
 ] The God of peace of the mountains is also the God of forgiveness and pardon. We sec the strong limbed hunter start forth fn~ ha nh h
 and vigor in every swing. Or we see the Alpine climber go forth not to con- 1 quer beast, but glacier and cliff and to win collaboration from unscaled heights.
 The prime of manhood is there. The | bravery that fiinches not when it's eye
 looks into the open jaws of death Is | there also. Or l see the angler wading | up and down the trout streams. But, as
 l see the sportsman and the man of health hunting or fishing or climbing in | the mountains, l also see the poor in-
 valid crawling there or being carried there or lying back lstlessly in an arm
 chair His eyes have an unnatural lus- l ter; his cheeks are flushed; he coughs | much he has the awful pain in his chest Then I see him under the power
 full tonic of the ozone of the Adirondacks | or the Alps, growing stronger and strong | CT. The cough grows less and less and | finally dies away. The tottering gait is changed Tor the healthful stride. The
 invalid who was carried to the woods
 goes forth well and physically renovated. Oh, why cannot the God of the hills be | today the God of health2 Cannot he, 1 will not he cure that old chronic disease of sin which has been cursing us for
 many years? Cannot, will not he do this ] if we only climb up to him on the Mount of Transfiguration and throw ourselves
 at his feet as we cry. Jesus, my Saviour,
 my Lord?"
 But I must not stop here. even if would. The love of God is found in the strength of the hills. but Gods limit of forgiveness and pardon are found there
 also. Though God Is ready to receive us | if we come to him now, the figure of my text distinctly proves that there will
 come time when he will say: Not unto all who call Lord, Lord. unto me will | open unto them, for unto many in that l day l will say, I know you not" The future destruction of the hills symbolizes | 1t.
 There is a limit to Gods patience. Did