SHEEPFOLD.
“After reading of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon, he took his text from the famous words, ‘the half has not been told,’ and declared that those words expressed his ideas about the Holy Land. He did not go into details about his journey, but with a wonderful power of seizing upon leading scenes and incidents and putting them before his audience, with their vivid illustrations and comforting lessons, the preacher held his vast congregation spellbound for about an hour. It was in itself a scene well worth witnessing, to behold this earnest and really eloquent man, with his deep and resonant voice, and genuinely magnetic manner, telling his story to breathless and sympathetic listeners, who crowded every inch of sitting and standing room in the church. This ovation was a great compliment to the humble man of God, who spoke in grateful terms of those who had sent him on his memorable journey; and every one of his people must have felt fully repaid when, in summing up the results of his trip and the analysis of his observations, he declared that, after seeing and investigating the Holy Land for himself, he felt more than ever that God’s word was true. If any one is sceptical about the Bible, its history and its sacred truths and traditions, said this preacher, let him go to Palestine, and he will be sceptical no longer.
BABYLON.
“He also went to Egypt, which is scriptural land, where Moses, the greatest law-maker of the earth, was born, and where Joseph and Abraham, and even Jesus went, and he followed their footsteps back into Palestine, through Joppa, the gateway to Jerusalem, as it also became, through Peter’s vision, the doorway of the Gentiles to God’s kingdom. The preacher then described the great astronomical miracle performed by Joshua on the plain of Ajalon, when he commanded the sun and moon to stand still; he made graphic references to his journey along the famous highway over which the Roman Emperors and the Christian Crusaders traveled to the Holy City, Jerusalem, with its four mountains, its old walls, its eight gates, its well-remembered streets, was particularly dwelt upon, and the speaker declared that it was hard for him to realize that he was actually in the great city where the prophets walked, which was blessed by the Saviour’s presence and consecrated by his crucifixion. He went straight to Calvary, he said, and his description of Calvary, as the greatest battle field the world ever saw, was very interesting, and was one of the most eloquent and vividly touching portions of his discourse. The effect on the audience was realistic and remarkable. The people leaned forward, and as the preacher alluded to Calvary as the greatest battlefield the world ever saw and said that the cross was its eternal monument, murmurs and shouts of approval went up all over the house.
THE POOL OF SILOAM.
AN EASTERN HARVEST SCENE.
“The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Tomb of the Saviour, Gethsemane, the Brook Kedron, and the Mount of Olives, were in turn dwelt upon; and the minister said that as he bowed and wept at the Saviour’s Tomb, he arose refreshed and wrote in his note-book: ‘Thank God, he is a resurrected Jesus.’