Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1908-09-30

Faithfully and earnestly he had do
nvered his message. 1t had come to
MIN from God and he had spoken q.
with the confident assurance that
spoken faithfully it would accomplish
that whereunto God had sent it. He
recalled the time when the spirit of
God first came upon MINI and how it
seemed as though his heart would
burst with its message, and he had
gone out In boldness and proclaimed
the word from one end of the land to
another.
Hear, all We people," he had cried;
"hearken, o earth. and all Tat there
in is: and let the Lord God be witness
against you, the Lord firm his holy
temple. For. behold. the Lord cometh
forth out OF his place, and will come
down, and tread upon the high places
OF the earth.''
AS he had spoken his message Of
pleading and warning, AID threaten
ing, 1t had seemed to Hill as though
he could even then feel he tread of
the Almighty's footsteps is he passed
through the land
He shall tread upoh the high
places"
How could the king Id his place
keep from trembling? Dioa't he know
that his throne would tctter under
the tread CT that mighty football?
But the king had gone ON his way
OF pleasure and sin as before The peo-
pie had continued to follow The
strange gods OF the people about, and
were content to live in the conditions
into which sin had cast them Sc
great. in fact, was their need that
they knew no need.
And Micah had marveled 1t was
the first severe testing of the proph
cts faith. and In the seclusion of
the mountain Businesses whittier
he betook himself he had learned
his lesson and had come to know that
It was for him TO speak the word as
God gave II to him, and not for him
to become the time keeper upon the
movements of the Almighty.
But God shall tread upon the high
places. The mountains shall he
molten under him, and the valleys
shall be cleft, as wax before the fire
and as the waters that are poured
|
over and over again to himself as
though he would nerve his fainting
heart and strengthen weakening
| faith.
And 80 he had gone on in his lonely
mission. How much alone he felt only
the servant of the Lord who is faith
ful in his ministry can understand
for he who walks with God wholly
lives separated life.
And that evening as he sat there
outside OF Jerusalem's gate the mem
DRY OF all this came back to him with
peculiar vividness and force. so much
so, In fact, that he felt utterly discon-
ISOLATE and wretched.
What Is there to show for all this
preaching of the word? 1t is as
though one had talked to the wind
The peoples hearts are as hard as
that stone yonder," and with a vehe-
mence that startled the prophet him.
self, he gave 1t push that sent 1t
rolling down the rocky hillside into
the brook Kedron below. AS IL
touched the bottom there came echo
ing back 10 him the reverberatng
sounds of its impact with the rocky
ground.
Hard! Yea. indeed. But the hearts
of this rebellious people shall be
broken even as that stone hath
crashed to its destruction. And the
nations about viii! be the Instruments
in Gods hands of doing this thing.
All, how they wax fat on the spoils of
battle. Nation lifts up sword against
nation, and the one rises upon the de.
caying heaps of the enemys dead"
And in vision there passed before
him the bloody horrors of battle as
even he in his short life had witnessed
1t. He remembered the coming of
the hordes Of the Assyrians. He wit
messed their devastating work IA
the anguish OF his soul he cried out
at last:
ooh. God, snail 1t always be so? Will
there be no end to the wars that give
one nation power over another? VIII
the spirit Of conquest continue ever TO
blight the land?"
The voice 1oated out upon the
| silence Of the evening darkness. and
II semed TO the prophet as though
his spirit followed the ascending
echoes of the sound as they sped up
and ever upward. 1t seemed to him
he must seek the very presence of
God for answer, for he alone could
answer Suddenly the darkness seemed
to flee away, and turning to seek the
reason for the change he saw away off
In the distance a respondent city.
This can be nothing but the city
of Cod" he whispered to himself
! Then as he looked he beheld what
seemed all the nations of the earth
marching towards the city, while
they raised their voices in one mighty
chorus, saying:
Come, and let us go up TO the
| mount ain nf the I.nrd AMI To tLn