Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-07-25

J great tribulation, had their robes washet
and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
} Would God that we could understand tha
! our trials are the very best thing for us.
we had an appreciation of that truth, ther
we should know why it was that Johr
Noyra, the martyr, in the very midst of thu
flame reached down and picked up one o.
the faggots that was consuming him, and
kissed it, and said: "Blessed be God fol
the time when l was born to this prefer.
ment." They who suffer with Him on
earth shall be glorifed with Him in heav.
en-. be content, then, with such things as
you have.
Another consideration leading us to the
spirit of the text is the assurance that the
Lord will provide somehow. Will He who
holds the water in the hollow of His hand
allow His children to die of thirst? Will
| he who owns the cattle On thousand hills
and all the earth's luxurlancs of grain and
fruits allow His children to starve? Go out
| tomorrow morning at o'clock into the
woods and hear the birds chant. They
have had no breakfast, they know not
where they will dine, they have no idea
where they will sup; but hear the birds
chant at o'clock in the morning. "Be-
hold the fowls of the air, for they SOW not,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are you not much better than they?"
Seven thousand people, in Christ's time,
went into the desert. They were the most
improvldent people ever heard of. They
deserved to starve. They might have tax
en- food enough to last them until they got
back. Nothing did they take. A lad who
had more wit than all of them put together
asked his mother that morning for some
loaves of bread and some fishes. They
were put into his satchel. He went out
into the desert. From this provision the
seven thousand were fed, and the more they
ate the larger the loaves grew, until the
provision that the boy brought in one
satchel was multiplied 80 he could not have
carried the fragments home in six satchels.
CO." you say, etimes have changed, and
the day of miracles has gone" 1 reply
that, what God did then by miracle, He
does now in some other way, and by natur-
al laws.
81 have been young" said David, "but
now am l old; yet have never seen the
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging
bread" 1t is high time that you people
who are fretting about worldly circum-
stances, and who are fearing you are COM
ing tc want, understood that the oath of
the Eternal God is involved in the fact that
you are to have enough to eat and to
wear.
Again: remark that the religion of
Jesus Christ is the grandest influence to
make man contented. Indemnity against
all financial and spiritual harm! 1t calms
the spirit, dwindles the earth into insigui-
ficance, and swallows up the soul with the
| thnnnht nf ho, hoo,
| going about from place to place expecting
to find in change of circumstances some,
| thing TO give solace to the spirit, commend
you, this morning, to the warufshearted,
earnest, practical, common-sense religion of
| the Lord Jesus Christ. "There is no peace,
saith my God, for the wicked" and SO long
| as you continue in your sin you will be mis-
erable. Come to Christ. Make Him your
portion, and start for heaven, aud yon will
be happy women.
Yet, my friends, Notwithstanding all
these inducemdnts to spirit of content-
ment, have to tell you this morning the
human race is divided into two classes
those who scold and those who get scolded.
| The carpenter wants to be anything but a
carpenter, and the mason anything but a
mason, and the banker anything but a
banker, and the lawyer anything but law
yer, and the minister anything bat min
lister. and everybody would be happy if be
were only somebody else. The anemone
wants to be sunfower, and the apple or
chards throw down their blossoms because
they are not tall cedars. and the scow wants
to be schooner, and the sloop would like
to be seventy-four FOUNDER, and parents
have the worst children that ever were, aud
every body has the greatest misfortune, and
everything is upside down, or going to be.
Ali my frionds, you never make any ad.
vance through such spirit as that. You
cannot fret yourself up; you may fret your
self down. Amid all this grating of tones
| strike this string Of the Gospel harp:
"Godliness with contentment is great gain.
We brought nothing into the world, and it
is very certain we can carry nothing out;
having food and raiment let US Herewith
be content"
Let US all remember, if we are Christians,
that we are going after awhile, whatever
be our circumstances now, to have glori-
GUS vacation. AS in summer We put of
our garments and go down into the cool
sea to bathe, SO we will put off these gar
ments of flesh and step into the cool Jordan.
We will look around fer some place to lay
down our weariness, and the trees will say:
''Come and rest under our shadow; and
the earth will say: "Come and sleep in
my BOSOM and the winds will say: "Hush!
while l sing thee cradle hymn; and
while six strong men carry us our to our
last resting place, and ashes come to ashes
and dust to dust, we will see two SCARED
feet standing amid the broken soil, and a
lacerated brow bending over the open grave,
while voice, tender with all. affection and
mighty with all llomnipotence, will declare,
81 am the resurrection and the life; he that
believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live." Comfort one another with
| these words.
QUITE RELIEF.-Any body been in
while / was out.
New Boy-Yes a female shoplifter.
"Eh Wha-what did you do ?''
81 tried to call the police, but she boxed
my ears and told me I'd got to behave"
"Then what did you do ?"
81 couldn't do nothing, an she emptied
the money drawer into her pocket"
"Great jjnks Didn't she say anything
more p''
'tNothin', 'cept she 'spected you were
drunk again.
ooh That's all right That's my wife. y
Bishop Thompson, of Mississippi tells this
capital joke at his own expenee He says
that as he stepped off the cars one day a.
jackson, Miss, he was approached by al
enterprising dusky drummer for hote