Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1888-07-14

Erred all over tho floor again, il lhey wcro
scattere1 by tho Same hands With what q
ruthless ploughsharo bereavement rips up tho
heart But Jesus knows all about that. You
cannot tell him anything new in regard
to bereavement lie had only few friends
and Whom He lost one il brought tears to His
.yes. Lazarus hnd often entertained FL ri at
bis house Now Lazarus is dead aud buried,
md Christ breaks down with emotion-the
:onvulSion of grief suiddering through all
The ages of bereavement. Christ knows wllat
t is to 80 throughhhe house missing n familiar
inmate. Christ knows whnt il is to see nm
inoccup:ed place ut the tube. We're thcrs
lot four OF them-Alary nn.l Martha, anil
Christ md lazarus I.nnrlv and afflicted
Christ His great loving eyes filled with
tears, which drop from eye to cheek, and
from cheek to board, and from beard to
robe, and from robe to floor. Oh, yes. yes,
He knows all about tho loneliness and tho
hcartbrcnk. Re took the vinegar!
Thpn there is the sOurness OF tho death
hour Whatever else we may escape, that
acid sponge will bo pressed TO our lips.
sometimes have curiosity to know how /
will behave when come to die. Whether
will be calm or cxcitod-wiethcr l will DO
.iled with "reminiscences or anticipation.
cannot say. But come to the point,
must and you must. In tbs six thousand
years that have passed, only two persons have
rot into the eternal world without death and
do not suppose that God is going to send n
carriage for us with horses Of lame, todraw
is up tho sleeps of heaven; but suppose we
will have to go like the preceding genera
lions. An officer from tho future world
will knock at the door of our heart and
serve on us tho writ of ejectment, and we
will have to surrender. And we will wake
Up after these autumna and wintry, anu
from our vision-we will wake up into O
"oalm which has only one season, and
that the season OF everlasting love.
But you say: 81 don't want to break
'Sut from my present associations. 1t is
20 chilly and 80 damp to 60 down
The stairs Of that vault. 1don't want any
hing drawn 80 tightly over my eyes. If
,herc were only some way OF breaking
through the partition between worlds with:
,ut tearing this body all to shreds.
wonder il the surgeons and the doctors can
not compound mixture by which This body
md soul can all tile timo be kept to-
,cther! Is there no escape from
This separationl' None absolutely
lone. So | look over this audience to-day
the vast majority of you seeming in good
health and spirits-and yet realize that in
short time all Of us will be gone-gone from
.arth, and gone for ever. A great many men
tumble through the gates of the future, rs it
we're, and we 10 not know where
;hey have gone, and they only add
gloom aud mystery to the passage;
but Jesus Christ SO nightly stormed
'he gates Of that future world that they have
never since been closely shut. Christ knows
what it is TO leave this world, of the beauty
Of which He was more appreciative than we
ever could be. He knows the exquisteness
If the phoSphOrcsence of the sea: lie trod 1T.
tie knows the glorcs of the midnight heav-
ems: for they were the spangled canopy of
Ills wilderness pillow. He knows about
inc lilies. lie twisted them into His sermon
lie knows about the fowls of the mir; they
Shircd their way through his discourse
He knows about the sorrows OF leaving this
beautiful world. Not taper was kindled in
Tho darkness He died physicianloss. lie
lied in cold sweat, and dizziness, and hemor.
.hage, and agony that have pitt Him in SYM
oathy with all the dying. lie goes through
Christenlom, anil He gathers up tho stings
out Of al; The death pillows, and Ho puts
ihcnl under his own neck and head. Ho
gathers on His own tongue the burning
.hirss Of many generations. The sponge is
soaked in this sorrows of al those who per-
shed in icy or fiery martyrdom. While
heaven was plying, and earth was mocking,
and hell was deridin9, He took the vinegar!
To all those in this audience TO whom lilo
has been an acerbty--a dose they could not
swallow, II draught that set their teeth on
a.lge and rasping-l preach the omnlpo-
tent sympathy Of Jesus Christ. Tho sister
Of Icrschel, the astronomer, used to
help him in his work. lie got all tho
.roit; she got none. She used to
spend much OF her time polishing the
telescopes through which he brought
the distant worlds nigh, and it is my ami
bt:on now, this hour, to Gear the lens OF
your spiritual vision, so that looking through
the dark night of your earthly troubles you
may behold the glorious constellation Of II
Gaviour's mercy and Saviour's love. o, my
friends, do not try to carry all your ills
alone. ~" "Cs ,sshanthe Almighty Christ is
ready TO lift up oil your burdens. When you
have q burden of any kind, you rush this
way and that way; and you wonder what
this man will say about 1t, and what that
man will say about it: and you try this pre-
scription, and that prescription, and the
straight to the heart of Christ knowing that
COR our own SHINING and suffering race, He
,ool the vinegar
There was vessel that had been tossed on
the seas for a great many weeks, and beeii
disabled, and the supply of water gave out,
AMI the crew wcro dying Of thirst. After
many days, they saw n sail against the sky.
They signaluel it. When tho vessel came
nearer. the people on the suffering ship criei
to the captain OF the other vessel: Seila
US some water. We are dying for lack of
water.n And the captain on the vessel that
was hailed Responded: dip your buckets
where you are You are in the mouth Of the
Amazon. ami there are scores OF miles OF fresh
water all around about you, and hundreds
of feet deep And then they dropped their
buckets over the side of the vessel, and
brought up tie clear bright, fresh water,
aud put ont the fire of their thirst So | hail
YOU to-day, after a long and perilous voyage,
thirsting as you are for pardon,
und thirsting for comfort and thirsting
for eternal life; and | ask YOU what is the use
of your going in that dcatf-struck state.
while al around you is the deep, clear, wide,
sparkling fool OF Gods sympathetic mercy.
O, dip your buckets, and drink and live for
ever. "Whosoever will, let him come anu
take of the waite? OF life freely
Vet my utterance is almost choked ut the
thought that there arc people here who Will
refuse this divine sympathy: and they will
try to fight their own BATTLES, and drink
their own vinegar, and carry their own
burdens; and their life, instead of being
triumphal march from victory to victory
will be n hobbing-on from defeat to defeat,
until they make final surrender to retributive
disaster. q, wish could today gather up
my arms all the woes OF mon and women
Mi their leart-achcs-all Their dsappont-
mcnts--all their chagrins-and just, take
them right to the feet of sympathizing
Jesus. He took the vinegar.
Mana Sahih. after he had lost his last bat.
Ito in India fell back iuto the iungle' OIL lheri
-iunges so full OF malaria that no mortal
can live there He carried with him also
a ruby of great lustre AMI OF great
value. lie died in those .1ungles;
his body WIS never found, and the ruby
has never yet been recovered. And l fear
that TO day there are some who will fall
back from this subject into the sickenlDS.
killing iuugles of their sin. CARRYING gem OF
infinite vaIue-a priceless Soul-to he lost
forever. o, that that ruby might lash
in the eternal coronation. But no.
There are some, fear, i'll this audience who
turn away from this offered mercy, and conf
tort, and Divine sympathy; Notwithstanding
tbat Christ, for all who would accept Ills
grace, trudged the long way, and suffered
;he decorating thongs, and RECEIVED III HIS thi;
lace the expector.tlons OF the ,. illtny
mob, and for the guilty, and the discour-
aged, and the diScomforted Of the race, TOOK
The vinegar. May God Almighty break !hs