Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-07-03

depicting process, but know, my brother,
that you are robbing only one man
and that is yoursclf-of one of the
most comforting, beautiful, pathetic
and triumphant lessons in all the ages.
| can tell you who these purveyors
were: they were ravens. / can tell
you who freighted them with provisions:
God. l can tell you who launched
them: God. l car tell you who taught
them which way to fly: God. / can
tell you who told them at which cave
to swoop: God. can tell you who in
troduced raven to prophet and prophet
TO raven: God. There is one passage
! viii whisper in your ear, for | would
not want to utter it aloud, lest some
one should drop down under its power:
IF any man shall take away from the
words of the prophecy of this book,
God shall take away his part out of the
book Of life and out Of the Holy City"
While, then, this morning we watch
the ravens feeding Elijah, let the
SWIFT DOVE OF GODS SPIRIT
sweep down the sky with divine food,
AMI on outspread wing pause at the lip
Of every soul hungering for comfort.
On the banks of what rivers have
been the great battles Of the worldp
While you are looking Over the map Of
the world to answer that, | will tell you
that the great conflict to-day is
on the Thames, on the Hud-
son, on the Mississippi, on the
Kennebec. on the Savannah, on the
Rhine, on the Nile, on the Gauges, on
the Hoang-Ho. 1t is a battle that has
been going on for six thousand years.
The troops engaged in it are fourteen
hundred millions, and those who have
fallen are vaster in numbers than those
who march. 1t is n battle for bread.
Sentimentalists sit in a cushioned chair,
in their pictured study, with their slip
pered feet on "A damask ottoman, and
say that this world is a great scene of
a~varice and greed. 1t does not seem
so to me If it were not for the abso-
lutte necessities Of the cases, nine-tonths
Of the stores, factories, shops, banking
houses of the land would be closed to-
morrow. Who is that man delving in
the Colorado hills? or toiling in a New
England factory? or going through a
roll of bills in the bankP or measuring
a fabric on the counterp He is "A cham
pion sent forth in behalf of some home
circle that has to be cared for. in be-
half of some
CHURCH OF GOD
that has to be supported, in behalf of
some asylum of mercy that has to be
sustained. Who is that woman bend
ing over the sewing machine, or carry
ing the tundle, or sweeping the room,
or mending the garment, Or sweltering
at the washtubp That is Deborah, one
of the Lords heroines, battling against
Amalekitish want, which comes down
with iron chariot to crush her and hers.
The great question with the vast ma
jority of people to-day is not Home
Rule" but whether there shall be any
home to rule; not one of tariff, but
whether they shall have anything to
tax. The great question with the vast
majority of people is: "How shall 1
support my familyp How shall l meet
my notesP How shall ! pay my rent9
How shall l give food, clothing and ed
ucation to those who are dependent
upon meP" Oh. if God would help me
to-day to assist you in the solu-
ton Of that problem, the happi-
est man in this house would be
your preacher! have gone ont on a
cold morning with expert sportsmen to
hunt pigeons; l have gone out on the
meadow to hunt for quail; | have gone
out on the marsh to hunt for reed birds;
but this morning am out for ravens.
Notice in the first place in the story
Of my text, that these winged caterers
came to Elijah directly from God.
II have commanded the ravens that
they feed thee" we find God saying in
an adjoining passage. They did not
come out of some other cave. They
did not just happen to alight there,
o FREIGHTED THEM.
God launched them and God told them
by what cav to swoop. That is the
same God that is going to supply you.
He is your Father. You would have
to make an elaborate calculation be-
fore you could tell me how many
pounds of food and how many yards
Of clothing would be necessary for you
and your family; but God knows with
ont any calculation. You have a plate
Mt his table and you are going to be
waited on, unless you act like "A naughty
child and kick and scramble and
pound saucily the plate and try to up
set things. God has a vast family; and
everything is methodized, and you are
going to be served if you will only wait
your turn. God has already ordered
all the suits of clothes you will ever
need, down to the last suit in which
yon shall be laid out. God has already
ordered all the food you win ever eat,
down to the last crumb that will ever
be put in your mouth in the dying sac
rament. 1t may not be just the kind
of food or apparel we would prefer.
The sensible parent depends upon his
own Judgment as TO what ought to be
the apparel and the food Of the minor
of the family. The child would say:
''Give me sugars and CONNECTIONS.
s.Oh, no." says the parent, ''you
must have something palmer first.
The child would say: "Oh,
r;yo mo fhoca Uraat hIotphps