The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-11

The third idea conveyed by the text Is that OF
impartiality. We have our favorite beds Of
flowers IN our garden; we may water some,
while we neglect o'hers which need the rain as
much, OF even more. But when the rain
comes down u waters all alike will not say
that God eQualizes His gifis; but no one can
claim that he has been utterly destitute OF good
thoughts and impulses through his whole life;
that he has never felt the tender appeale of
Jesus from the cfoss And these were the
oropplngs OF the heavenly shower cent by God.
III ls the same with churches as with individu-
an, as, NO one church can claim to monopolize
tbe mer cies of God, on the ground that il Is the
tIue ehurch, that the fruits of Hrs Spirit car oe
tbe ~ aone; Tor they are found wherever
er ope n44spel OF Christ is preached. Suppose we
S,re, ore aDo9t 10 lay out garden, and find the
biiHO aua 10 oe uneven. here hill, aud there a
th ii G Gnu rayine between. Que will saw tha.
snrcoCn ieSOI siema made mistake in not making .
sTbIiIadce TaId uniform. Another will ask the
ibst tbst tSe we lay ba 1t SutlD Then one will How
ttn". Iue peOs snould all be souar- -Aaintaln
Is the only orthodox shape o as that
ANOTHER, they should all b Nay, says
be ro1pS Sninf Rn SsTa SSsm9ads chat SSong Ssg h ana
viii be best to Law e VIII suggest that IL
ground, and that ,6 out ar5 Sae & beds to suit the
II is host are not all of the same shane
fashioned 30 let each one have hls own bed,
buiId after his own ideas. But some will
tba' ~ihick fence about their beds-so thick
:, no one can see through it.. Then they will
yalmly fold their arms and exclaim, THE gar
den Of the Lord are .wep But they don't see
! however, see it all, and do lot stop for the
fence. They want the honey and they hop
over the fence 10 gather it. The rain descends
upon the whole garden alike; and SO the sun
shines over 1t all, only it al ways leaves shadow
behi0d the thick fence. Let each, then, have
! bus own particular bed, but let him not become
| so absorbed in il that he can see no other beds
= leI him take a look around the whole garden,
! let him say a kind word to the gardener in each
bed, aud now and then let hin take spade aud
! turn a sod for q neiyhbor-he Will be able TO
all m al q VVh he
! returns 10 his own.
1t was said that God Tained mama upon
Israel So He now rains bread upon us. He
| sends it to Us through the blessed showers which
fall upon the earth. No forest trees would be
robed anew, no song of the blackbird and the
thrush would be heard, without these show wers.
So there would be no life Of faith, no death OF
hope, II He did not cause His mercies to descend
| upon us.
What, then, is our duty? We must pray for
the rain. We may pray for the physical rain,
aud it may not come; but there can be no hesi-
taiiOn when we pray that He will send do Wn
His heavenly. shower, His Holy Spirit And
| how beautiful is the saying, al will pour NJ
81 Irit upon thy seed, and Ny blessing upon thy
offsprne.n 1t is, indee1, Joyous to see the chill
dren OF the pious coming to the Lord. Why
Will you not say that you Will have your fathers
aud Your mothers God for your God? How
much longer will you run the fearful risk of
dyng without sharing His mercy
We must improve the shower. The rain will
not do everything for the harvest. The farmer
works and does not leave everything to nature.
so, too, must We work-must work out our own
ealva,io with feaf and trembling. We must
BEGIN this WORK now, giving diligence to make
our Calling and election sure. If God has not
commenced already, we must begin before Him.
We must SOW in righteousness aud reap in
mercy, praying for the sho ower-aud God will
send IT. We must begin the work ourselves,
expecting Him to aid us. Though we cannot at
hrst experience the slightest degree of faith, it
will soon be manifest
And we must not resist the shower. Some
times we do not wish the shower. One man has
his hay out, and others are going on a picnic;
AMI, although they all acknowed1e that the
EARN needs the rain, they do not wish it to de-
scend becausei il will inconvenience them. But
he is noBstrously wicked who Is vexed and
grieved when the heavenly shower comes. As
ii approaches, it casts shadow over ones mind,
aud he becomes thoughtful and gloomy and un-
com Ortabe, Then he plunges into pleasure or
business INTO anything. to get rid OF these serious
thoughts, the brst dropplugs of the shower.
There are many who remember, with sorrow,
the time when they were not calOus an / in.
different, as at present But they resisted
the shower, and if they continue TO resist
II, they will be obliged to receive the tempest OF
His wrath. Aud, aga n, one says, 81 am like
the mown grass; want the shower, but it does
not Gomez What shall you do? Go to the
mount of prayer, and implOre God for rain; send
hope TO the mountain top, 10 look wistfully
around fer it. But hope returns, saying that
there are are no tidngs Of the shower. Send
the scVenth-yea, to the seventy and
seventh time. God has promised the
Iain-has assured you that He would send
1t. At last comes the JOYFUL tidings, "Behold
there arisPth little cloud oIt OF the sea, like a
mans hand" Oh, be of good cheer; it is the
signal of the coming abundance Go home
rejOicingl Who knows but that tonight there
will be a tul6lment OF the teXt:-"He shall come
down like rain upon the moWn grass; as showers
that y ater the earth W