The Morning herald., 1877-01-22
Sermon Of j. N. r. Otts.

There was . large congregation at the
West Presbyterian Church last night.
The subject of DR.. Otis sermon was,
Courage for Hard Times" from the
text, "And now nen see not the bright
light In the clouds, but the wind passeth
and cleanseth them" job, 81: 81. He
began by speaking of the antiquity,
beauty and sublimity of the book of Job.
In it's imagery, he said this book has much
to say about the clouds, and the thought
had occurred to him that the book Of Job
stands In tho written volume of revelation
as the clouds do in the unwritten volume
of nature, as grand poem sublime In it's
very disorder, mystic painting inwhich the
Creator is revealed and yet concealed, in
which the face of God is seen sometimes
frowniDg in anger and sometimes smiling
In love; sometimes In the splendors of
light, and sometimes in the sublimities of
darknt -, but always under cloud Of
mystery,
There was dark c'oud over the life of
Job. He saw hard times and felt the hand
of adversely most heavily. Men could not
see any bright light in that dark cloud. His
friends came to comfort him, but they only
tormented him instead of sympathizing
with him they blamed him for being In
trouble. But by and by the wind of Gods
providence passed over, and blew away the
dark clouds, and the bright light appeared.
In the darkest day he trusted In God. and
said that he would trust him though he
should slay him. As there was to the dark
cloud over Jobs life bright side, so there
Is bright light in every cloud. The
heavenly side OF every cloud Is bright. .ln.
. "Be still, sad heart, cease .repiDtnR,
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining"
There was the poet, Cowper: there WAS
"a dark cloud over his life. But by and by
the cloud rifted, and he saw the clear blue
sky above. He then wrote the hymns that
we now sing, and from which we draw hope
and courage tor our hard times. When the
wind of Cod providence passed over, clear.
cd away the cloud, and he saw the bright
light, then he sung
"Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are big with miseries, and shall break
In blessings on your head"
rs There Is cloud Of some kind over every
mans life. All have their troubles, their
dark days. Gods providences are full Of
mysteries. When. we cannot comprehend
Gods dealings with us, we must wait. It
will all come right In the end. God has all
eternity to work out bis plans. Life ts like
q novel. The first years, like the first
chapters, begin well in the middle years,
as 10 the middle chapters, there are the
trials, the hard times but trust In God, do
the best you can, wait upon the Lord and all
will come right in the end. There Is
bright light In the clouds, but We must
wait till the wind passeth and blews the
darkness away, then in the eventide there .
will be hight. .u
In every mystery Of life there is an OK
planation. The wind spoken of In text that
eventually brings the explanation, 10 the .
providence of God. That providence rules
over everything. Trust In God and DO
O fear not in world like this,
And thou shalt know ere long, .
Know how sublime thing D 10, e.. ,
To suffer and grow strong. ...
We have light enough row for oil practi-
cable purposes, to show us our duties, and
10 leave us ipexcusable If We neglect them.
Do riRht now, and wait for the light In the
future. The present hard times are sent
upon us to try our faith. God puts every
man to the test. Thus he fits us for lie,
and prepares us for DEATH "
This life Is preliminary and preparatory
10 higher one. All It's inequalities Will be
explained and rectifed in the great eternity
that comes after, Lazarus will have biz
rood things then; Dives his evil things.
The present life is q twilight; to the good tho
morning twilight that introduces the day;
70 the bad the evening twilight that ends
In the night. Stand on Gods side, and Goa
will give YOU triumph in the end.