Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-02-10


Of God. Is there a daily Arabia for
YOU? If Paul. who once sat at the rect
of Gamaliel. had to spend three years
I'm the deserts sands to study Gods |
word. to find out who Christ was ana |
what he wanted him to do surely your
time is not wasted when you are read |
ing the Psalms or sitting at Christs
feet when he breaches to you the SER
mon on the mount as he uttered IL 10
the multitudes of old.
But mere knowledge Of Gods word
was not a sufficient equipment to have
made Paul the highest type of gospel
evangelist. A man may know all
about the Bible and yet not have one
particle Of spiritual power in his heart.
He may study his Bible in exactly the
same sense as | might study the my
thology of the Greeks and the Romans
or learn why Mecca and Medina ana
Jerusalem and Hebron are the four
sacred cities Of the MOhammedan ana
why silva and Vishnu appear with Bud
dbo at the shrines Of India. Knowl-
EDGE may be one Of the great essentials
for spiritual power, but knowledge OF
the word of God does not always prove
that the spirit of Christ has been trans
lated into the desires Of our own hearts.
The History of the Dark Ages.
Take for instance, the history OF the
dark ages. Did the knowledge which
the Roman Catholic hierarchy had OF
the Bible make them true gospel evan
gelists? A short time ago l was read
ing that most marvellous, fascinating
history ever written by mortal pen,
Motlev's "Rise of the Dutch RepuD-
lie" I'm the eighteen years OF Tor
ouemada's administration" he wrote,
80 900 individuals were burned alive
and 97.321 punished with infamy, con-
fscation Of property or perpetual I'M
nrisonment, so that the total number
of families destroyed in this one perse-
cntion amounted to III, ,401." Did the
l,nowledge of the word Of God make
Torouemada n true evangelist or Je-
Sis Christ? Has the knowledge or the
Rible made some of your friends Chris
tians and true disciples Of your DIVINE
Master? why, some Of the meanest
men YOU ever knew were members ol
the Christian church. They were not
only church members, but also teach
ers in the Sunday school, yet when you
met them in a business way you lntul'
tivelv knew their hearts had never
been touched by the living Goals OF
fire from off the altar Of the Holy Splr.
# You knew they were not converted
men. They may have known the Bl
ble from lid to lid. Their creed oi
their theology Of the head was al
riobt but the Christology Of the hear
was all wrong. AS they studied the
word Of God they did not pray Ike
poul. Lord. what wilt thou have M
TO do? Lord, make me thy servant
ord forgive my sins. Lord help m'
70 save nv fellow men," All, it Is i'm
nortant TO study the word of God, Du
# is lust as important to pray that Go'
will send down his Spirit upon you ant
make Won like unto his dear Son. Hay'
Won YOUR sacred Arabian deserts O
,, vour regular hours for pleading VIII
and talking to God as well as your sa
cred hours of having God talk to you!
Can Won think Of Paul out III ina
. desert unless he is praying cannon
7 can no more think of a prayerles
. Paul than | can Of prayerless Chrls'
While thinking Of this matter l had
7 strange dream in my study. though
II was again the year 50 A. u. wa
again vending my way toward that III
tle hut in the Arabian desert which
have already described l was agal
= sitting by the side of the dear Aposti
= Paul. He was expounding the word 0
= Cod TO me. Then suddenly he stop
and SAYS: II cannot go any further
. wait awhile; I must talk to my friend.
"Talk to your friend?" | say. "Wha
7 do YOU mean? l do not see any Oh
around. Talk to what friend| "Wh.
4 talk to my friend Jesus Christ" say
- panl Then. without any affectatiol
o Paul drops on his knees and begins
=. talk to Christ just as l would talk
y nv dear mother If she were alive I
rs my side.
le In my dream he did thus every lit
10 while rs studied with him that da
le And do you know he prayed so ofte
lt that in nv dream l could feel th'
b. Christ was Just by our side and not
re dead Christ, as some Of us think. LII
Of night | went to sleep quite early, for
~ was much fatigued. But in the mldd
Id Of the night | was awakened. In tn
humble hut | heard again the nigh
IN voice of Paul praying, praying, pra
er ing. Oh. he seemed to be praying mo
n. of the time. Was it a dream? Was n
Elk Paul praying Paul? AS in my dreal
ed have YOU a Pauline Arabian desert f
70 your sacred hour Of prayerP
s- Paul In the Desert.
ut But | believe there was still anoth
~ reason why Paul disappeared into I
y Arabian desert and stayed there I
~ three long years. He wanted to stu'
j" the word of God. He wanted to get L
eu heart mellOwed and spiritualized
. prayer Oh, yes; but, more than thi
W he wanted to get the hearts of the pc
~ ple into the condition where they wou
10 be willing to trust him and believe
~ his message In other words, he wal
~ ed his Arabia to be a place where
n could walk hand in hand with Chrl
- He wanted it also to be the place
~ testing, where men and women wor
80 80 learn to believe that his profession
-, Jesus Christ was sincere.
10 Is it to be wondered at that
,ot Christian people were afraid of Pa'
an What the inquisitor Titelmann was
70 the Christians Of the Netherlands 81
,or was to the early Christians. The me
nd mention Of his name struck them W
no CONSERVATION. Methinks we can ht
-, the poor Christians Of Damascus c
rv ing when they heard he was comil