The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1906-03-23
VA FRIDAY, MARCH %, 1906.

Of families destroyed In this one perse-
cution amounted TO 114.4Ol." Did the
knowledge OF the word Of God make
Torquemada a true evangelist Of Je-
sus Christ? Has the knowledge Of the
Bible made some Of your friends Chris
tians and true disciples Of your Divine
Masterl Why, some OF the meanest
men you ever knew were members OF
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 intui-
lively knew their hearts had never
been touched by the living Goals Of
fire from of the altar Of the Holy Spir-
IT, You knew they were not converted
men. They may have known the Bl-
bic from I'D TO lid. Their creed or
their theology OF the head was all
right, but the Chrlstology Of the heart
was all wrong. As they studied the
word Of God they did not pray Ike
Paul: Lord. what wilt thou have me
to do? Lord, make me thy servant.
Lord. forgive my sins. Lord, help me
to save my fellow men," All, It is Inn
portant 10 study the word Of God, but
II is just as important to pray that God
will send down his Spirit upon you and
make you like unto his dear Son. Have
you your sacred Arabian deserts or
your regular hours for pleading with
and talking to God as well as your sa-
cred hours Of having God talk to youf
Can you think Of Paul out I'm that
desert unless he is praying? l cannot.
| can no more think Of a prayerless
Paul than can Of a prayerlcss Christ.
While thinking Of this matter | had a
strange dream I'm my study. / thought
II was again the year - \. ID. | was
again vending my way toward that lit
tie but in the Arabian desert which ]
have already described. | was again
sitting by the side Of the dear Apostle
Paul. He was expounding the word Of
God TO me. Then suddenly he stops
and says: II cannot go any further;
wait awhile; I must talk to my friend"
Talk to your friendT ! say. What
do you mean? / do not see any one
around. Talk 10 what friendY' why,
talk 10 my friend Jesus Christ" says
Paul. Then. without any afectation,
Paul drops on his knees and begins 20
talk to Christ just as would talk TO
my dear mother If she were alive by
my side.
And now comes the practical Ques
tlon, Where are the modern Arabian
desertsi In order to find one do We
have 10 travel 10 Damascus. ms Paul
did. and journey 10 the eastl Nny.
We have our Arabian deserts In the
western hemisphere as well as in Asia.
In our lives as Paul had In his life.
think that one Of our Arabias may be
our sick beds. Hour after hour We may
have TO lie in the invalld's room. Oh
how near to God we can then get.
Then another Arabia is when death
comes TO some Of our dear ones.
Alone, alonew we say. "All. all
alonew We are not alone. We are IN
the desert. Then another Arabia Is
when persecution or slander comes.
Our best earthly friends may turn
against us. but God never turns If we
call upon his name. Another Arabia
may be just after we have been living
over again the past. Even now We
seem TO see the dear faces Of our de
parted kindred come up. We seem 10
again see the day when we first conse-
Grated our lives to God az the church
altar.
My friend who described for me that
trip over the desert told me also about
the wonderful mlrageS. He said they
would be travelling along, when sud
denly ahead OF them would be- seen q
brook and falling waters and noun
tains and green fields and gardens
They were all there. He would turn
to his travelling companion and ask.
do you see thlsi DO you see thatT
Yes" would be the answer; Il see
them ALL" That, OF course, was only
a false vision. But here today in the
Arabian desert Of Paul / am not show
ing to you false vision as ! ask. do
you see your old homer DO you see
the family at prayersi Do you see
your father and mother taking you TO
church, Do you see the mansions IN
heaven7 Do you see your loved ones
there to greet your DO you see your
Heavenly Father beckoning you TO
conner DO you see Christ standing by
your side TO save you from SIM Do
you see the cross and the CROWN All.
this Is no mirage. no false vision. This
is the Arabian desert wherein Paul Is
communing with Christ and consecrat-
ing his life to the Divine Masters serv-
ice.