Christian Messenger (Bonham, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 10, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 13, 1878 Page: 2 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Fannin County Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Bonham Public Library.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13. 1S7S.
The Breathings of the Pit.
DESTINY OF BOB INGERSOLL.
BY JUSTIN D. FULTON, D. D. -
and of society have been full
: of the breathings of the pit
which have distinguished the
utterances of a man who sud-
: denly sprang into national rec-
j ognition, won fame as an ora-
tor, attained influence in the
nation, and then revealed a
hatred toward God and relig-
ion which shocked the moral
Nev-
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that com-
pass yourselves about with sparks:
walk in the light of your fire, and in the
sparks that ye have kindled. This shall
ve have of my hand: ye shall lie down sense 01 tile community
m sorrow.—is. i:ii. j er sjnce Absalom broke away
The inspired man of God, fr0jn restraint and led Israel in
standing on his mount of vis-
of bitter hatred towards God, j the followers of the Nazarene.jof his companions wdien the
it has seemed to me I could He gazes on Stephen as his face proud reviler bowed at the foot
hear the voice that sounded in shines in the light of the throne, of the throne and called on Je-
the ear of another strong liat-1 He hears liis prayer. He marks J sus Christ in the Holy Spirit
er “Why persecutes! thou j the words, “ Lay not this sin to t to take possession of his im-
me ? It is hard for thee to kick their charge.” They were a mortal soul.
hard for God.
against
Nothing is too
the' goad.” Submis- new revelation to him. They hard for God. Jesus said “ I
sion to God's will and rule! resembled the ship on which j am the light of the world: he
brings peace. Opposition, ir-j Columbus rbde when first seen j that folioweth me shall not walk
reconciliation brings want, dis- by the red man of the forest.! in darkness, but shall have tlie'
quiet and discomfort. Gladly They told of an unexplored light of life."
ion, described in <. language
which cannot be misunderstood
the perilous journey and the
certain doom of *the infidel.
Over and against him is the
man who fears God
comfort in
were it proper would I express sea—an unexplored sea ol love,
the hope rhat ever and anon They told of a land beyond the
arises in my heart, which brings! present, that rose in dim out-
a wild revolt against parental | me into sympathy with a Sav-j line before the vision of the
rule has society been more sur ior’s love, and perhaps with a martyr, that impressed the man.
prised. The man seems bent Savior’s expectation. Imagine j of Tarsus with a new conviction,
on ruin. That cry of David, I our Lord's happiness when The arrow had pierced the heart
“ 0 my son Absalom, my son, | Saul cried out, “Lord, what of the king’s enemy. It rankled
reviewing
my son Absalom ; would God
He has ^ j |iaq dje(x for thee, O Absalom,
his life. | my son^ my . son,” expresses
\\ ith rejoicing he can declare, ^]ie sentiment that claims atten-
“ The Lord God hath given me tion whenever thought is turn-
the tongue of the learned, that! ed towards Robert G. Ingersoll,
I should know how to speak aj the son.of a Presbyterian min-
word in season to him that is
weary ; He wakeneth morning
ister, who was reared with the
greatest care, and in the midst
by morning;He wakeneth miije of the mig,lty manifestations
wilt thou have me to do ?” No
matter how this poor man re-
viles and attacks the faith that
crave cheer and comfort to those
cl
who bore* him, our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ loves him.
Would that it were mine to
there. The light of God shone
round about him. He fell pros-
trate before the Crucified, and
cried:“Lord what wilt thou have
me to do ?” Then God spoke
peace to him. The machinery
of an immortal soul was revers-
reachtheear of his soul, and! ed. The man pushing on to
touch the heart so steeled j ruin turned toward the possi-
against God. I would turn the bilities of a higher life, andbe-
ear to hear as the learned. The Gf God’s power in the home, in i face tojvard him who died for came the apostle to the Gen-
Lord God hath opened mine church where he worshiped, him, and who looks on his at- tiles.
ear, and I was not rebellious, and the community where tempt to stifle conviction with Adoniram Judson was at one
neither turned away my back, j he resided. This man is now
I gave my back to the smiters j playing the role of the prodi-
and my cheeks to them that
pfuteked off the hair. I hid not
my face from shame and spit-
supreme pity, still crying, [time apparently lost to hope.
“Father, forgiv.e him, for he He, too, was the son of a minis-
gal son. He has not yet come knows not what he is doing.” j ter. Prayers and tears were ap-
to himself. His way leadetli j He see? not the pit-falls in the parently wasted on him. He
to destruction. He is casting; way, nor the perils which thick-"was in a hotel. Beyond the
ting. For the Lord God will contempt upon the fame of his en in the air ; he breathes out thin partition was a sinner dy-
help me, therefore shall I not
be confounded; therefore have
I set my face like a flint, and I
know that I shall not be asham-
ed.” These words are full of
father, and upon the mother j hate when love should inspire, ing. All night long the moans
who carried him to the throne j him ; he has the scent of the | and death throes disturbed his
of grace day after day in the vulture and the appetite of the sleep. The next morning, on in-
arms of believing faith. His
father was a man of power.
hyena, and prowls among the quiry, he found that the young
dead and damned, finding there ! man was dead. He followed
meaning.
They emoody ^ie! He preached as an evangelist j companionship and subjects of his lost spirit on its terrible
experience of every true believ- -n valqous portions of the coun- admiration. It is impossible journey. He was convicted and
er. They enable him Jo ash try, and served churches as to contemplate such a ruin converted, and became the j)io-
with absolute confidence, “A ho pasj-or xt is related of him I without experiencing emotions neer missionary to Burmah.win-
is among you that feareth the j tliat he preached a. sermoin from ; of sorrow which bailie the pow- ning the distinction of being
Lord, that obeyetli the voice ol plie fext n Q.od love,” and ers of description. Let the Jesus Christ’s man.
HOPE ON.
It has been remarked
near each other in their origi-
liow
Ilis servant, that walketli injthatas a result one hundred the grace of God be welcomed,
darkness and hath no liglifc ? | souis were' born into the king-; and this man, rushing blindly
Let him trust in the name of dom The prayers of these j on to the.thick bosses of Jelio-
the Lord, and stay ux>on his. parents are registered in heav- vali’s buckler would be chang | nal fountains are the stiearns
God. ’ - en. Let not Christians despair. I ed. The might of wing which °* belief and unbelief; like riv-
tiiere is another side. < Ingersoll’s blasphemy and vile-; distinguishes the eagle as he jers "’hose sources are seen by
There are those who make: ness are xn’oducts of sin. He battles with the storm cloud one x>oised condor, and whose
light of a faith in God. They refuses to honor liiS father, but
n
treat it
and rides triumphantly on des-
mouths are divided by a con li-
as superstition, and J says instead, “ I have no res- pite the tempest would he used nent-- One man leeeh es Jesus
speak of it as if it were a relic pect for any human being who to carry tidings of salvation to Clnist as Sa\ ior and as Ilulei,
of the dark ages. They scorn believes in hell. I have no res-1 the lost. The terrible nature und is sa\ ed. Another as fa\-
tlie fountain filled with blood pect for any man who preaches ‘ that challenges public opinion orably sitimted^ rejects^ Him
drawn from Immanuel’s veins, it.” AYell did David say: I and tramples on all tlie finer
“ Why boastest thouthvself in feelings of the Christian heart
mischief, O mighty man ? The! would be converted to the uses
and prefer to hew out for them-
selves cisterns, which the}’
name reservoirs of hope. They
lefuse to sacrifice “ a real world
that they have, for one they
know not of.” They call be-
lieving in Christ enslavement,
and refer to the light of Chris-
tianity as “ the darkness of
barbarism,” which filled the
future with heavens and with
hells, with “the shining peaks
of selfish joy, and the lurid
abysses of flame.” To such
God says : “ Behold, all ye that
kindle a fire, that compass
yourselves about with sparks ;
walk in the light of your fire,
and in the sparks ye have kin-
dled.” The opposer, the rebel-
lious, the despiser, may go on.
The fire kindled is short-lived.
The sparks by which he sur-
goodness of God endureth con- j of religion. This is not idle
and is lost. They walk the
same paths, attend oftentimes
the same church, live under the
the same roof. One believes in
Christ, and comes into the fel-
thee out of thy dwelling-place,
and root thee out of the living.”
The righteous also shall see
and fear, and shall say of him
is
tinually. Thy tongue devisetli dreaming. It is history. There
mischiefs, like a sharp razor are better uses - for man on lowTslnp of eternal love;^ his
working deceitfully. Thou | earth than to contend against pnth grows brighter and bright-
lovest evil more than good, and God and uproot and destroy all er as ^ie 3 ears run on’ and,
lying rather than to speak the tendrils of love, of service, *^e ^le (^aT star ^la^ Pre(^des
righteousness. God shall like- j ol beneficence. There are bet- dae ^a>T changed into the
wise destroy thee forever; He ter uses for men in the next! brightness of the morning and
shall take thee^awav,and pluck world than to consign them to ;so ^ost Horn sight. The other
eternal woe. I)o you want!disbeUeves, and goes blind!v
X>roof of it? Then look to Cal- anc^ madly dowrn the steep pla-
vary. What signifies those jces impiety. Could we un-
three crosses on the hillside ? | covei‘ Ingersoll s past,we should
“Lo! this is the man that Two are for malefactors. One jsee him at a family altar, his
made not God his strength, but j is for the innocent Christ. Why j hand held in his mother s grasp,
is He there? That is His place, j while his father wrestled like
He came to stand among the; Jac°h of old. He stood by the
lost, to live among them, to die hue dividing fiea\ en and hell,
among them, as well as to die might ha^ crossed. He
for them. He is here beside stops* Satan takes possession,
that I could feel that the church this terrible blasphemer. He; anc^ riie boy becomes this craz-
rouhds himself shall; yield but was notin any wise to blame, loves him with an eternal love.' ^ blasphemer. Give him not j surroundings are the flames
a momentary glow, and “this The boy was reared amid the; Do you want proof of thejuP* Augustine was worse than wnieh dry up the sources of
shall ye have at my hand: yeiX)rjerg oD Brierwood parish, might of Divine grace and of he, and yet his mother clung to q1Gpe and burn up the tree,
shall lie down in sorrow.’ He saw’ poverty as only minis- its mission ? Look towrard Da- ‘ him, an^ was permitted to w ear sayS the Psalmist, “Theip
An indescribable anguisli has!Iters’ children see it. and drank mascus. There goes a man as I bur son’s soul as a star in^ the sorrows shall be multiplied
trusted in the abundance of his
riches, and strengthened him-
self in his wickedness.”
the secrets of this life
w’e may not knowr. Would
No longer can we continue to
delight ourselves with 'the radi-
ance of hope. Our duty com-
pels us to describe the perilous
journey that lies before this
man of sin.
More than twenty-five centu-
ies have gone since Isaiah por-
trayed his doom. Opposition to
God is as old as sin. It began
before Adam, before Edeny
when Satan lead off his revolt
in heaven and compelled God
to locate hell as the prison-
house of the damned. There is
nothing new in Ingersoll’s im-
peachment of God. This op-
position has assumed different
forms, but it has been charac-
terized by the same purpose.
In the days of the apostles fire
and sword served as arguments.
A century passes, and then
men began to wield the pen in
defense of* heathenism. The
carnal heart at enmity with
God loved sin, and lavished
upon its debasing forms of
wdckedness its wildest admira-
tion. At the foot of the cross
Cmsar was preferred to Christ.
Cmsar was as bad in morals
and in life as Thomas Paine.
In him there was nothing lova-
ble. His face was hideous—it
was covered with ulcers. His
entire life was so great a dis-
grace that Rome kept him hid-
den from the popular gaze; and
yet such is the tendency of sin
that Ingersoll found his counter-
part in those who cried,“Crucify
Him: we have no king but Cae-
sar.”
Julian, or?e of the most tal-
ented men of any age, attempt-
ed by j>en and sword to banish
Christ. He lived a wretched
life and died a miserable death,
and his name is covered with
infamy. The words of the proph-
et describe the condition of the
•
class, among whom are poets
and artists, geniuses of high
rank ^nd mental powers of the
most remarkable brilliancy.
They kindled their fires, they
surrounded themselves with
sparks,they made light of God’s
mercy and of the sinner’s doom,
and they have found their “bed
of sorrow'.”
An infidel is more than a dis-
believer in the divine origin of
Christianity. He is the oppo-
nent of the Infinite, and seeks
to be a rival. Having arrogant-
ly abandoned the guidance and
teachings of the Most High,
he plunges down the steeps of
error, and leaping upon the
barriers to perdition, goes
down into pitiless ruin. His
portion is darkness, and his
possession of many hearts, from the cup of sorrow as only
The fires are being kindled, and ministers’children drink from
the young, the intellectual, the it. Something lias hardened more skilled in learning and °* 'Tames lnglis, one ol the
not. For wTeeks and months ness. At times as I have read loves Him. He is notorious m
.
literature, the newspapers, the • his w’ords, which reveal so much Jerusalem, and is the dread of
much worse than Ingersoll as erown of her rejoicing. M ell. that seek after another God.’x
lie is mightier in. philosophy, ^ 1^‘Bmember the early career j qqiey siian X>e left \valk in,
the fitful gleams of the light
they have kindled, and shall,
be compelled at the end of
their thorny way to lie down
in sorrow.
(ContinafNJ on third 1'ageq
enterprising are surrounding and maddened him. His cliast-j wilder in fanaticism. He, too, j saintliest ol men afterward,
themselves with sparks. They ening’has not yet yielded the! hates our Lord, and has no res- (‘ame *° town where his
are in perij. They believe it peaceable fruits of Hghteous- pect for any Iranian being that; riWy^issipa^
not. For weeks and months tipss At tinios ns T liavw rond loves T-Tim TT<» w nntnrimio in went Up for’ him Never (“In,
I forget his looks and the looks
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Burnett, Thomas R. Christian Messenger (Bonham, Tex.), Vol. 4, No. 10, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 13, 1878, newspaper, March 13, 1878; Bonham, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth913271/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bonham Public Library.