St. Tammany farmer., 1906-09-01

by one spirit, that vast concOurse OF
people lifted their voices and shouted
until the very mountains on every side
fairly rang and shook with the volume
thereof: s.s.zz...=s ...s..-..-s<,.f-*zsszs
"All that the Lord hath spoken we
will do"
And with this promise upon their
lips, II indeed it had not sunk to the
depths of their hearts-it is so much
easier to utter the pledge with the
mouth than it Is to scar and burn
1t into the tablets Of memory Of the
heart-the people were dismissed and
with the benediction of the place rest
ing upon them they returned to their
tents, while Moses went back to keep
vigil with God.
The next three days the people were
in a CULVER of excitement, for Moses
had returned saying that upon the
third day the Lord would come down
upon the mountain in the sight of all
the people.
1--WE have seen God in the Cloud
What will this new manifestation be-"
And zealously< they prepared them.
selves for this solemn occasion. y =
God hath called us to be priests"
they said one to another. repeating
the words OF Moses, and with q
beautiful spirit of submission they
fulfilled all the Instructions which
j Moses had given them.
The third day broke as others had
done and the people were early astir
prepared to go forth as was their daily
custom and gather the mama, when
from the mountain side about which
had settled thick cloud there burst
thunderings and lightnings. In ter
ror the people threw themselves on
their faces, to the ground, and while
thus prostrated there came a voice
from the mountain side as the sound
Of trumpet, exceeding loud so that
all the people in the camp heard and
I trembled. - 7.,'s
! Thus Moses found them as he came
| through the camp and summoned them
to follow hims Never before had the
sense Of the majesty. and the power
1 Of God SO filled them, and without
daring to ask why or whittier they.
went, they obeyed Moses voice and
arose and went after him. And they
came to the foot Of the mountain, at
the point where they had stood three
ldays before when they had promised
THAT all that the Lord had spoken
they would do, for now they were to
I1earn something Of the great God
+ lxy
to obey:
i And is it not ever so! In the feryor.
/ OF the souls better impulses, promises
are made Of loyalty and obedience, and
then God leads that soul out to
larger and fuller realization OF what
| is involved in that promise, which
ii the soul had known at first, 1t would
have trembled and drawn back from
uttering the pledge. Thus 1t is that
God seeks ever to urge the soul On
4 and on upward toward him.
i What sight that was which burst
upon the startled vision Of the Israel
ties. They had seen the religions fes-
| tivities In Egypt and had looked upon
| the gods which the Egyptians wor-
SHIPPED, but surely here was q living
4 God, for the mount was altogether
4 on d smoke. And fire and smoke
ascended as from furnance, and the
whole mount did quake, while tho
voice like q trumpet again sounded
forth as it had on the previous occa-
sion. #I 4
I But now 1t waxed louder and loud
e., until Moses lifted up his voice
and spaka and God did answer him.
soithat all the people heard. And God
called Moses up to him in the mount,
and Moses went up.
| And ali the people saw the thunder
ings and the lightnings, and the noise
Of the trumpet, and the mountain
smoking, and they feared greatly.
They saw Moses disappear into the
midst Of the smoking, trembling
mountain, they knew that he was
talking with one who had given them
great j and blessed 4 promises and
planned only good for them. aad yet
the thought Of their God and his
law was to them thing not to be
loved but feared, even as the concep-
ton OF many souls to-day gives them
not a God Of love but God of dis
cipline and Judgment, as though his
law and his judgments had been or
dered for their destruction instead Of
their instruction and their salvation.
]. And the people then, as do people to-
day when God manifests himself in
some mighty way, removed from the
foot of the mountain and stood afar
off. And as Moses came again into
their midst they cried:
Speak thou with us and we will
hear; but let not God speak with VI
lest we die"
n And Moses said unto the people:
j Fear not, for the Lord Is come to
prove you, and that his fear may. be
before your faces that re sin not.
1 MISSIONS OF ONE CHURCH
Extensive Work Being Carried On by
the Presbyterian Church in
II Foreign Lands.