Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-08-16

room. Then came the plague OF muir
rain, which killed the cattle. Then
came the falling hail and buzzing To-
Gusts. Then came the plague Of dark
ness. SO dark was 1t that, all men had
to feel their way around like blind men.
Then came the death Of the 6rstborn
in every house. No sooner did these
plaques com than Pharaoh would
cry out: Enough, enough, enough! q
God Of Israel. I have suffered enoughl
I will let thy people go!' But as soon
as the night Of suffering and OF pun
ishment ended the beautiful morning
clouds Of his repentance only fingered
a little while, and then they were gone
n gone forever Do you not see the
beautiful simile OF the repentances Of
our lives which come only because we
are being punished for our past sins?
But there is another fact about these
morning clouds you ought to consid-
er. They live very near to the earth.
They are the lowest clouds we have
in the heavens. If | might Use a vul-
gar illustration, they smell of the com
mon soil. You know when 0 were
housekeeper In the east every spring
time you would carefully put away
your winter garments, that the motho
could not get at then. II they were
furs, you were especially careful and
wrapped them around and around.
Then inside Of these bundles you put
a lot Of camphor. Then, in tho fall,
the odor from that camphor In those
garments was sickenlng. When you
unrolled the bundles you at once shook
the garments out and hung them up
to air upon a line. Having been wrap
ped up for months in camphor, the gar
ments smelled of the campbor. Thus
are these morning clouds of repent
ance. They live so near to the earth
that they never learn what repentance
in Christ truly means. Let me ex-
plain more In detail.
Not Enough.
Here. for instance, Ia n maj who has
been a drunkard for fifteen years. His
wife Mt last makes up her mind that
for her own sake and for the sake of
her children she will not stand the
misery any longer. With that the hus-
band begins to plead and beg. He
says: II repent. l will sign the pledge.
l promise. I promise. | promise"
Well, man. what do you promise? "Oh.
I promise | will not get drunk any
more" Is that all YOU promise? VIII,
yes. What more do you want me 10
promise?" Or here Is a woman who
enters a rescue home. She says: II
promise. I promise" What do you
promise? why. l promise that | will
cease to be a social outcast." Is that
all you PROMISE yes, that is all.
What more do you want me to prom
Use? Is not that my besetting sim"
Nay, my friend-nay. that is not your
besetting sin. That Is a mere result
of you besetting sin. Your besetting
sin Is that you do not throw yourself
upon the mercy OF Jesus Christ and
have him cleanse you wholly, and then
he will give you strength to resist all
sin. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not
a mere matter of %negation. 1t does not
consist Of a long succession Of "don'ts"
don't do this and don't do that and
don't do the other things. But 1t docs
consist in one positive assertivc set.
aud .hen all the other attributes o. n
Christian life shall be yours. Seek
We first the kingdom of God and bis
righteousness, and all things will be
added unto YOU The great trouble
with our morning cloud" repentanceS
Is that they live too near the soil and
they smell of the earth earthly.
Are you ready to here and now seek
first the kingdom Of God and his right
eousness and have all things added
unto you? John Cough, the temperance
orator, used to tell this pathetic story:
In Edinburgh many years ago there
was q clubhouse rented for the pur-
pose of caring for reformed drunkards.
One night there staggered into that
house n man who was appallingly
drunk. "Do you know what place this
is ?" the superintendent said. This is
not a saloon. This is a teetotalers'
club" Il know IT," said the man.
.and I am a t%eetotaler." you a tee
~totaler? Why. you are heastly drunk.
II know that" said the man. Il know
| am nwfully drunk. but | am a tee
totaler Just the same. I signed he
fiCuSc an hDuT HSp, uHu 1 IdNt i't
touched a drop since. | have come here
for safety. want to keep the pledge,
but I know I cannot keep it in my
own strength, so l have come here to
have you help me keep it," All, the
man was right. Not in his Own strength
could he keep the pledge. Not in our
own strength can we keep from sin
ming. Let us sign the pledge. Let us
Sesolve not to sin. But let us run to
Christ to have him help us to keep that
pledge. In II own strength we are
helpless. Let us be like the cirrus
clouds living high up in the heavens
and not like the morning clouds living
near the soil II of the earth, smelling
earthly.
Protected by the Air.
But the morning clouds, in addition
to all their short lived beauty, are
capable OF producing the most mar
velous optical Illusions. The atmos-
phere Is an elastic invisible fluid which
surrounds our old planet. Its height
has never been determined any more
han the depths Of some parts of the
ocean have been fathomed. The at
mospheric area may be miles high; il
may be hundreds of miles high. But.
no matter how high it is, one fact IS