Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-11-03

1 OF the American missionary for the
salvation OF the red man and the red
woman! These poor aborlgines are be-
Ing tumbled into drunkards' graves by
the white mans whisky: they are be-
ing morally corrupted by the white
mans Righteousness: they are being
ground down into misery and want By
the hell fires of the white mans gam
bling passions which are DESTROYING
their lives for this world ana for the
next. 1t is impossible for some men
to overcome some temptations IN their
own strength.
But. thank God. the dangers aud
temptations that surround you and me
are not insurmountabie II we only call
on God for help The true father places
his strong arm about his boys heart
when the surges of temptation roll in
TO submerge him. God the Father Will
throttle the kissing throat of that dead
ly serpent of evil IL we viii only beg
him TO rescue us He will take away
that agonizlng thirst for drink. You
know you have been fighting 1t for
years. Yes. be Will make you pure In
mind and heart II you only run to the
cover OF his wings. lie will lift you
up. as you would run to the rescue of
| your boy when he Is confronting some
sudden and imminent danger, II you
will only call 20 him as your child calls
70 you: Help. father, Help! Helpr'
The Lord sends us trouble 10 develop
rs. never 10 crush us. Those over
| whelming mountains OF trouble and
| temptation that are rolled upon Us do
not proceed from his hand. These
mountains. these insurmountable noun
tains OF temptation. are everywhere
around Then it behooyes us to stay
very close to the side Of that loving
Father who Is always thinking and
planning for us. Stay 10y the Lord,
who will always protect us when it IS
necessary for us to be spiritually pro-
sected
The threatening dangers ahead In the
| Christians life are insignificant IN
comparison to the peril from which
Christ delivered him I'm the past, when
he said to him, Thy sins are forgiven
thee" Those ahead may be compared
20 the ship in the last throes of the tor
nado. The cordage is being stretched
to the utmost. The sails. like huge bal
looms filed with gas. are swelling lar
ger and larger until they seem about
TO burst. The helmsmen are clinging
frantoally 10 the wheel. The great
beams and the planks OF the hull are
grooming. while the huge waves toss
IL as chip IS turned a somersault over
the mill wheel All is anxiety. The
pumps are at work. The danger Is;
great. but there is yet hope ahead.
With a strong keel under him and the
sans still holding 10 the masts. the sea
captain has hope. no matter how loud
may be the shrieking of the euroclytlon
But. though the spiritual. moral.
mental and physical dangers ahead
may be likened unto the stout shin
struggling 10 round the Cape OF Good
Hope. the spiritual catastrophes OF
that past time when we were in enrni.
" with God were like a ship which
has been wrecked What a scene OF
terror is that storm The masts have
been cut down or snapped by the
wrenchings OF the wind like dry twics
snapped in the fingers OF n little child
The lifeboats have been stove IN or
pulled Off from their derricks by the
angry waves. The rudder chains no
longer can be used. for the rudder has
long ago been battered away The an
chors are not able 10 retard the do ,m .
cd ship onrushing toward the rocks
Soon the deathSnell. OF the surf Is
heard. The ship comes nearer and
nearer TO its grave. All the demons In
the caverns OF the cliffs above Shrek
In pandemonium OF Joy. Then the
waves come together in one last effort.
They put their broad arms under the
doomed ship Together they lift II
with one mighty heave. They drop IL
with one sudden. SCATTERING Jolt upon
the rocks. For now the rocks crush
through the hulrs bottom as easily as
pile driver could mash an eggshen.
Such is the figure OF the awful spiritu-
al catastrophe OF our past life. 1t was
bombardment of sin after sin. IL was
yielding 60 temptation after tempta-
ton. At last we were morally wreck.
ed. We were spiritually doomed. We
were shattered upon the awful rocks
or despair and eternal death. Then we
did not need protector nearly so
much rs we needed a divine recreator.
a redeemer. We needed q divine chart.
not so much TO save us from future
sins as one who would blot out the
awful record OF our past sins. This
obllteration OF the past Is Just what
the Lord God Almighty will do II we
will let him. Through the atoning
blood OF Jesus Christ all this can he
do. Read the third chapter of Acts.
Repent We therefore and be convert
ed that your sins may be blotted out"
Yes. we have been crushed upon the
rocks of eternal death. but Christ san
lift us up and place us upon the rocks
OF eternal life. Halleluiahl For the
Lord God omnipotent saith It,
A Peaceful Scene.
Let US return TO the peaceful scene of
my text. As we climb the Judaean hills
where sits the shepherd poet watching
his sheep. we See a transcendent beau
ty shining from the face OF the psalm
ist. David is not looking down to
earth. but away off. Far. far away is
his vision. He seems to be watching
his dear ones. He looks as though all
the treasures Of the hills and all the
wealth OF the seas were about to be
given him. lie seems to hear music
sweeter than any human being ever
heard before. We look at his raptured
face moment. Then we ask: what
is 1t, David? What do you see? What
do you hear? What treasure Is yours %
He looks about at first dazed. Then he
comes back to earth as he answers:
why, was softly singing to myself
that Fortieth Psalm. / composed il
many years ago. I did not then realize
oil wrote. When / came TO the
words. The Lord thinketh upon me-
l began to summarize all the care God
has taken of me In this world. Then
] began to see visions OF the glories OF
the land which he is preparing for me
beyond. God is thinking OF me. Yes,
he Is preparing them all for me when
the right time comes for me To possess
them. Look. cannot you see those Clio.
rieS now? As David talks his Inter
probation OF my text seems very plain