The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-07-28

to greet you at your coming. You al
ways will have friends-warm-hearte
friends, magnanimous friends--and when
sickness comes TO your dwelling, there
viii be watchers; when trouble comes to
your heart, there will be sympa,hizers
| when death comes, there VIII be gentle
| fingers to close the eyes and fold the
hands, and gentle lips to tell of resur-
rection. o, we are compassed by a
body of friendsl Every man, if
he has behaved himself well, is sur
rounded by three circles of friends
! those of the outer circle wishing him
well; those in the next circle willing to
help him; while close up to his heart
are few who would die for him. God
pity the wretch who has not any friends
He has not behaved well.
| OUR TEMPORAL PROSPERITY.
remark again, that God puts down
the limit to our temporal prosperity.
The world of finances seems to have no
| God in it. You can not tell where a
man will land. The affluent fall; the
poor rise. The ingenious fail; the igno-
rant succeed. An enterprise opening
grandly shuts in bankruptcy, while out
of the peat dug up from some New
England marsh the millionaire builds
his fortune. The poor man thinks it is
chance that keeps him down, the rich
man thinks it is chance which hoists
hir; and they are both wrong. 1t is so
hard to realize that God rules the money
| market, and has hook in the nose of
the stock gambler, and that all the COM
mercial revolutions of the world shall
result in the very best for Gods dear
children. My brethren, dc not kick
against the divine allotments. God
knows Just how much money it is best
for you to lose You never gain unless
it is best for you to gain. You go up
when it is best for you to go up, and go
down when it is best for you to 90 down.
Prove it, you say. | will Romans
viii, 2S: 'All things work together for
good to them that love God" You go
into factory and you see twenty or
thirty wheels, and they are going in
different directions. This hand is roll
ing off this way, and another hand an
other way; one down and another up
You say: "N hat confusion in fac
toryw o, mol all these different hands
are only different parts of the machin
cry. So l go into your life and see
strange things. Here is one providence
pulling you one way, and another in
another way. But these are different
parts of one machinery by which He
will advance your everlasting and pres
ent well-being, Now you know that
second mortgage, and third and fourth
mortgage, is often worth nothing. !, 1t is
the first mortgage that is good invest
ment. | have to tell you that every
Christian man has a first mortgage on
every trial, and on every disaster, and
it must make a payment of eternal ad-
vantage to his soul. How many worri-
ments it would take out of your heart,
if you believed that fully. You buy
goods and hope the price will go up,
but you are in a fret and frown for
fear the price will go down. You do
not buy the goods using your best dis
cretion in the matter, and then say: 90,
Lord | have done the best | could; |
commit this whole transaction into thy
hands" That is what religion is good
for, or it is good for nothing.
AN OLD PRovERB.
There are two things, says an old pro-
verb, you ought not to fret about.
things that you can help; and second,
things which you can not help. If you
can help them, why do you not apply
the remedy? If you can not help them,
you might as well surrender first as
last. My dear brethren, do not sit any
longer moping about your ledger. Do
not sit looking so desponding upon your
stock of unstable goods. Do you think
that God is going to allow you, Chris
tian man, to do business alone? God is
the controlling partner in every firm
and although your securities may fail,
although your store may burn, God
will, out of an infinity of results, choose
for you the very best results. Do not
have any idea that you can over-step
the limit that God has laid down for
your prosperity. You will never get
one inch beyond it. God has decided
how much prosperity ycu can stand
honorably and employ usefully and con-
troll righteously; and at the end of 1856
you will have just so many dollars and
cents, Just so much wardrobe, Just so
much furniture, just so many bonds
and mortgages, and nothing more.
will give you 500 for every penny
beyond that. God has looked over Your
life. He knows what Is best for you,
and He is going to bless you in time,
and bless you for eternity; and He will
do it in the best way.
THE WAYS OF HIS WISDOM.
Your little child says: "Papa, wish
you would let me have that knife"
NO" you say, sit is sharp knife and
you will cut yourself" He saws: 81
must have it." 'But you eau not have
it, you reply. He gets angry and red
in the face, and says he will have it;
but you say he shall not have it. Are
YOU not kind in keeping it from him
So God treats bis children. | say: 81
wish, Heavenly Father, to get that"
God says: "You can not have il" /
get angry and say: 81 will have it,"
God says: "You sh III not have it," and
do not get it. Is He not kind and
loving, and the best of fathers? Do
you tell me there is no rule and regula-
tion in these things? Tell that to the
men who believe in no God and no
Bible. Tell it not to me.
A man of large business concludes to
go out of his store, leaving much of his
Investments in the business, and he SAYS
to his sons: "Now, / am going to leave
this business in your hands Perhaps |
may come back in little while, and
perhaps not. While am gone you will
please to look after affairs After
awhile the father comes back and finds
everything at loose ends, and the whole
business seems to be going wrong. He
says: Il am going to take possession of
this business-you know | never fully
surrendered it; and heneeforth consider
| T. L
In doing 1t? lie saves the business.
The Lord seems to let us 60 on in life,
guided by our own skill, and we make
miserable work of it. God comes to our
shop or our store, and says: Things are
going wrong; come to take charge. /
am master and know what is best, and
proclaim my authority" We are mere
ly subordinates.
1t is like boy at school with long
sum that he can not do. He has been
working at it for hours, making figures
here and rubbing out figures there, and
it is all mixed up, and the teacher, look
ing over the boys shoulder, knows that
he cannot get out of it, and cleansing
The slate says: Begin again" Just so
God does to us. Our affairs get into an
inextricable ENHANCEMENT, and He rubs
everything out and says: Begin again p
Is He not wise and loving in so doing
TIE TROUBLE.
I think the trouble is that there is so
large difference between the divine
and the human estimate as to what is
enough. have heard Of people striv-
ing for that which is enough, but / never
heard of any one who had enough.
What God calls enough for man, man