The weekly sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1886-09-16

it, WIRE out of 1t. / really think that
one-half the world may be divided into
their sphere and those who, having found
it, are not willing to stay there. How
many are struggling for position little
higher than that which God intended
them. The Eondswoman wants to be
mistress. Hagar keeps crowding Sarah.
The small wheel of the watch which
beautifully went treading its golden path
way, wants to be the balance-wheel, and
the sparrow with chagrin drops into the
brook because it cannot, like the eagle,
cut circle under the sun.
In the Lords army we all want to be
brigadier-generalsl The sloop says:
"More mast, more tonnage, more can
vas. Oh that 1 were a topsail schooner
or q full-rigged brig. or a Cunard steam
err And SO the world is filled with
cries Of discomfort, because we are not
willing to stay in the place where God
put us and intended US to be. My
friends. be not 100 proud to do anything
right disposition in this respect the
world is strewn with wandering Hagars
and IShmaels. God has given each one
of US a work to do. Everlasting honors
upon those who do their work, and do
their whole work, and are contented in
the sphere in which God has put them;
while there Is wandering, and exile, and
desolation, and wilderness for discon-
tented Hagar and Ishmael.
II. Again, l find in this Oriental
scene lesson of sympathy with woman
when she goes forth trudging in the
desert. What great change it was for
this Hagart There was the tent and all
the surroundings Of Abraham's house,
beautiful and luxurious, no doubt. Now
she IS going GU. into the hot sands of
the desert. Oh, what change it was!
And in our day we often see he wheel OF
fortune turn. Here is some one who
lived in the very bright home OF her
father. She had everything possible to
administer to her happiness-plenty at
the table, music in the drawing-room,
welcome at the door. She is led forth
into life by some one who cannot appre-
ciate her. A dissipated soul comes and
takes her out i'll the desert. Cruelties
blot out all the lights of that home Cir
Gle. Harsh words wear out her spirits.
The high hope that sh ne out over the
marriage altar while the ring was being
set, and the vows given, and the bene-
diction pronounced, have all faded with
the orange blossoms, and there she is
to-day broken-he arted, thinking of past
joys and present deSolatiOn, and coming
anguish. Hagar in the wilderness!
Here is "a beautiful home. You can
not think OF anything that can be added
to it. For years there has not been the
suggestion Of a single trouble. Bright
anu happy children fill the house with
laughter and song. Books to read. Pict-
Cup of domestic Joy full and running
over. Dark night drops. Pillow hot.
Pulses flutter. Eyes close. And the
foot whose we'll known steps Oh the
door-sill brought the whole house out at
evcntide crying: Fathers coming"
Will never sound on the door,slll again;
A long deep grief ploughed through all
thai Brightness Of domestic life. Para
disc lost. Widowhood. Hagar in the
wilderness!
How often is it we see the weak arm
of woman conscripted for this battle with
the 70 .gh worlI. May God Lave mercy
upon wumit-- III her tolls, Lex etrugS. eo,
h ..ar,I~iI.p,, l4er deSoluiiuu, ana may
the great heart of divine sympathy In
close her forever!
III. Again, 1 find in this Oriental
scene the fact that every mother i..4is
forth tremendous destinies. You say:
That ISM an unusual scene, a motaer
leading her Child by the hand" Who Is
it that she is leading? Ishmael, you say.
Who is Ishmael? A great nation is to be
founded; a nation SO strong that it is to
stand for thousands of years against all
the armies of the world. Egypt and As
syria thunder against it in vain. Gauius
brings up his army, and his army is
smitten. Alexander decides upon
campaign, brings up his hosts. and dies.
For long while that nation monopo-
Lies the learning Of the world. It is
the nation of the Arabs. Who founded
it? Ishmael, the lad that Hagar led into
the wilderness. She had no idea she
was leading forth such destinies. Nei-
ther does any mother. You pass along
the street and see pass by boye and girls
who will yet make the earth quake with
their influence. o mother, mother, that
md hot dnr Tor
may yet be liflei to hurl thunderbolts Of
war or drop Lenedictions! That little
voice may blaspheme God in the grog-
shop or cry Coward ~ to the Lords
hosts as they go out for their last VIC
tory.
years ahead, and ! see a merchant
prince of New York. One stroke of his
pen brings a ship out Of Canton. An
other stroke of his pen brings ship into
Madras. He is mighty in all the money
markets Of the world. Who is he? He
sits this morning beside you in the
Tabernacle. My mind leaps thirty
years forward from this time, and 1
| lind myself in relief association. A
| great multitude Of Christian women
have met together for a generous pur-
| pose. There is one woman in that crowd
who seems to have the confidence OF
all the others, and they all LOOK up to
| her 1Or nef cOunSei anu 1of nef prayers.
| Who is she? This afternoon you will
lind her in the Sabbath school, while The
| teacher tells her of that Christ who
clothed the naked, and fed the hungry,
and healed thes My mind leaps ior-
ward thirty years from nov, ana | find
myself in an African jungle; and there IS
a missionary OF the cross addressing he
natives, and their dusky counten"Eces
| are irradiated with The glad uidli.Ss OF
great Joy and salvation. Who - ,.e?
! Did you not hear his voice this
morning in the first song OF the
service?
My mind leaps forward thirty years
from now, and 1 find myself looking
| through the wickets Of prison. see
fAce SCARED with every crime. His
chin on his open palm, his elbow on his
| knea-a niclIIrta of deSpair. As l Opeu