The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1878-11-16
LAY SERMON,
Number FOur.


and are heavy laden, aud will Civ
you rest"
"Be not weary in well.doing for il
due time, ye shall reap ifye faint not
The departing rays Of the October
sun, are shining, bright and golden
sh'nme'ing through the tender rus
set OF the trees, as their long shodowt
are thrown upon the grass, and glo
rifying the light particles which hoa,
in The air, till they seem like anothe,
shower Of gold. Far up in the west
tern sky, the rich amber, NETS into
amethyst and not a cloud tlecks its
glorious depths.
Nearly nineteen centuries ago, this
same sun, upon such an evening i,
may be sfone upon the purple hills
of Judea. The feet of the incarnate
Deity trod those heights, and linger.
ed among their valleys. He came ia
no royal state, bnt humble ia mien,
and gentle in bearing, wherever men
suffered, his hand was extended tn
heal: His words of lofty wisdom
reached all hearts, for "he spake,
as never man spake''. Could the
eyes of his followers have been OPEN
ed, they would have cried like Elisha,
"my father my father the cbariots of
Israel, aud the horsemen thereof" for
angels mlnjStered unto him, and their
shining cohorts were ever around him,
Upon jnst snch az evening it may be
the SIMS departing rays gilded the
declivity Of OIivet, where He eat, to
speak t" the multitude, whom the
fame of his wonderful works, and bis
surprising goodness, had brought to
his teet.
Far in the distance g|ittered Gen.
nesaret. like gem in its verdant set
ting, while behind sat Jerusalem, the
holy city, like a crown upon the Hill.
He had led them away from all it's
spleudors, its dunes aud pinuacles,
the lofty courts of the temple, with
it's grand, and royal service of priest,
and Levite, its cheruhtin, and Sera-
phin, its p"rciles, with pillars crown
ct with "li|y work covered with
gold the long c"llonades where
'anght the d"ctors Of the law, he had
left il all behind bin, rs he desired
them t." d" with their past lives, and
led them int" grander temple, whose
dome was the heavens, aud whose
royal sacrifice he himself was to be.
1t must have been q strange and
varied crowd. "N"t many rich, not
many nobie.' NJ giIded ci'ariots, 10
shining armor, no silken drapery
waited 90 his footsteps-but the poor,
the sick, the blind, the heart sore,
aud weary, they for whom the earth
had % More hope, came to hear his
'ds Of wisdom. There were men
If all grades and classes-men Of dis-
appointed ambition, broken and tired
Of the cares Of llfe-publicans, and
sinners Of stiIl deeper dye-womeu
sinful aud degraded mothers wear.
led with tho monotonous, aud often
thankless troubles Of their daily lite
children young in years, but old
in sin-hearls which ached and
p'ned f"r faces which tho grave
had hidden, and tones which they
could hear no more. Over that
deep grief there lay, for many of !
them the thick gray pail If hopeless.
ness. Although God had promised
them "the gift Of life fo,evermore" a
large class, the Ladducees, denied
that there was any resurrection, go
that when, they laid their dead away,
they believed 1t was to sleep the sleep
Of eternity. Christ was to settle for.
ever the question ''if a man die, shall
he live again." for he himself was
to be 1.-The first fruit of them which
slept"
Gifted with omniscience, reading at
g'a"ce all these aching human hearts,
what an iu6uite pity must have filled
his own, he, who came to lay down
his life for then, when stretching
forth his arm, he cried, "come unto
me, all ,e who labor and are heavy
laden, and will give you rest, I will
lead you forth into green pastures
and BY the still waters, l will teach /
you that the sufferings of this pres.
cut life, are not worthy to be CON-
pared, with the joys which the eter.
nal Father has laid up for those who
love him." How like a cooling dew,
must these benign words have fallen
"po" all these hearts, scorched, and
burned by the fiery fever of life!
They were not to try to make them
selves better, there were to be no
burnt offerings or sacrifices, but leav-
ing behind them all the dark and Sin.
tul past, the were to come and lay
their burdens ut his feet.
10 hundred years! What changes,
what wonderful events what myri-
ads Of human lives !; what hopes and
what feart; what crimes and what
virtues have been crowded into that
long lapse Of time! All has changed,
but God and e rDal truth-tArougb
all the clo"d. an dust, and myths Of
the dead centu' los, his words shine,
bright and clear, he is "yesterdsY~o
to-day, and forever the samexe &C.
and loving FatheEode of wi
The same Divine Savjaeigns the co
to the poor, and huDq,is heart, the ,up
Judea, still liyg marks the weak lit
same, tender. Egg Of the souls he has a.
same omR' this hour Of pestilence no
ness ,aath, upon how many poor aud
q sS1itute homes does he look! How wv
any streaming eyes are raised to Ut
eaven; how many departing souls souls nc nc
II for aid; how many clasp their ~
lnds and lift them to the God Of the ~
idow and the orphan; how many ID
rayers ascend from holy temple and ~
scaying hearth.6re, to Him who has "
id "when the poor and needy seek