Bible Truths Illustrated by J. C. Ferdinand Pittman

—
BIBLE TRUTHS ILLUSTRATED
forever poised in midair. The natives call them "lost souls,"
seeking rest and finding none. Assuredly, men who have no
personal rest in the truths of God's word, if they are not
unsaved themselves, are, at least, very unlikely to save others.
— Spurge on.
243. Three natural philosophers go out into the forest, and
find a nightingale's nest, and forthwith they begin to discuss the
habits of the bird, its size, and the number of eggs it lays ; and
one pulls out of his pocket a treatise of Buffon, and another of
Cuvier, and another of Audubon; and they read and dispute
at length the quarrel runs so high over the empty nest that
they tear each other's leaves, and get red in the face, and the
woods ring with their conflict ; when, lo ! out of the green
shade of a neighboring thicket the bird itself, rested, and disturbed
by trjese side noises, begins to sing. At first its song is
soft and low, and then it rises and swells, and waves of melody
float up over the trees and fill the air with tremulous music, and
the entranced philosophers, subdued and ashamed of their
quarrel, shut their books and walk home without a word. So
men who, around the empty sepulchre of Christ, have wrangled
about the forms of religion, about creeds, and so forth, when
Christ Himself, disturbed by their discords, sings to them out
of heaven, of love and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, are
ashamed of their conflicts, and go quietly and meekly to their
duties. H. W . Beecher.
DEATH
244. The fear of death appears to be natural. By the side of
death, like a spectre, stands sin, "for the wages of sin is death"
(Rom. 6:23). Even Christians do not always contemplate
death's approach fearlessly. Temperaments differ, and the presence
of painful apprehension upon contemplation of death is no
evidence of unholiness, nor is the absence of fear a proof of
sanctity. It is well to familiarise ourselves with thoughts of
death ; to bring our souls close up to it, as we lead a timid
horse closely to an obstacle that must be faced. After all, true
courage does not consist so much in being fearless, but in
triumphing over fear.
till