Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1909-12-17
xY>~>M TZ<<<
TB=1R4AHAR
} SPE7iTlV2:;
GODS WHEAT

reapers, Gather ye together first the
tares, and bind them in bundles to
burn them; but gather the wheat into
My barn" There is In both assertions
the claim of rightful personal owner
ship. John says, He will gather His
wheat into the garner" Jesus says,
Gather the wheat into My barn"
This assurance that we are bought
with a price and belong to God, is a
strong source of confidence to the be-
lever; and is a truth reiterated again
and again. We rely upon the promise
of Christ: My sheep hear My voice,
and they follow Me, and l will give
unto them eternal life" We firmly
trust, with Paul, that "the foundation
Of God standeth sure, having this seal,
the Lord knoweth them that are His"
This security Of Gods true Israel is
affirmed by the Old Testament in it's
declaration: II will sift the house of
Israel among the nations, as corn is
sifted in sieve; yet shall not the
least grain fall to the earth"
vitality connected with the fact of
God'sownership Is another truth which
Is always inseparable from it in gen
uine Christianity. The tw are not
severed in the thought of the apostle:
THE Lord knoweth them that are
His, and let every one that nameth
the name of Christ depart from In
Equity" Thus we are reminded not
only that the ungodly are as the chatf
which the wind driveth away; but
also that the reception of Christ into
our life means a necessity the same
fulillment Of His ministry in US per-
sonally. When He enters the heart,
His work is before Him. He will
thoroughly purge his floor, burning up
the chaff with unquenchable fire, and
gathering the wheat into His garner.
| Every true Christian earnestly de-
sires a separation. We wish not only
to have our sin forgiven, but to have
its power broken in us forever. 1--WE
must through much tribulation enter
the kingdom of God" 1t is worthy of
notice that the word tribulation is
the Latin word, tribulatum, meaning
fail for threshing; and thus tribI
lation becomes the fail, falling again
and again till the pure grain is separ-
ated from the chaff.
A master of literature, in one OF
his beautiful passages, writes: Take
an ounce or two of the blacklist earth
from a beaten pathway on a rainy
day. In most cases we shall find 1t
composed of clay, SCOT, sand and wa
ter. All these elements are at help
less war with each other - sand
squeezing out clay, clay pressing out
water, at every tread of your foot, and
SCOT defiling everything. Let us sup
pose that this ounce of mud is left in
perfect rest, and that it's elements
gather together, like to like, SO that
their atoms may get into the closest
relations possible.
Let the clay begin. 1t gradually
becomes q white earth, and with the
help of fire is changed into finest por-
eelain, fitted to be kept in kings pal
aces. Or, if left longer to follow its
own instinct Of unity, becomes not
only white, but clear; not only clear,
but hard; not only clear and hard, but
so set that it can deal with light in
wonderful way, and gather out of it
the loveliest blue rays only, refusing
the rest We call it then a sapphire.
Give similar permission Of quiet
to the sand. It also becomes first a
white earth, then proceeds to grow
clear and hard, and at last has the
power Of rejecting not merely the
blue rays, but the blue, green, purple
and red rays in the greatest beauty in
which they can be seen through any
hard material whatsoever. We call
i then an opal.
The SCOT also comes out clear at
last, and the hardest thing in the
world: and for the blackness that it
had. obtains in exchange the power of
rejecting all the rays of the sun at
once in the most vivid blaze that any
solid thing can shoot. We cali it then
a diamond.
Finally, the water purifies or
unites itself and crystallizes into the
shape of a star. And for the ounce of
mud which we had by political econ
omy of competition, we have by po-
Iitfcal economy of cooperation a sap
phire, an opal, and a diamond, set in
the midst of a star of snow
The God who has that possibility
in an ounce of dust, can do as much
and more with human soul. When
Robert Moffatt, the pioneer missionary
of Africa, revisited England, he was
welcomed by the Lord Mayor of Lon
dor, who gave a banquet in his honor
az the Mansion House; and having
been introduced to the assembled mer-
chants and civic dignitaries as one
familiar with the African diamond
fields, he replied: I can tell you very
little about the diamond fields; for l
went to seek for jewels of another
kind among the lost souls of the dark
opod rocac of Africa that thnv r1iCht