The Forrest City times., 1888-09-01

thr sf Knowing that we held tho rope.n
 There afe said Co bs about sixty nine thou sand ministers of religion in ibis country. About fifty thousand 1 warrpnt catnc from early homes which had to struggle for tho necessarles of life.
 The sons of rich bankers snd merchants generally become bankers and merchants The most of those who become minis ters are the sous Of those who had terrific struggle to get their everyday bread. The collegiate and theological edu- cation of that son took every luxury from the harental table for eigh, years. The other children wefe fnore scantly aupsreled. The son st college every little while got bundle from home In 1t were the socks that mother hsd knit, sitting up late at night her sa2ht not as good as once it was
 And there also were some delcaces from the sisters hand for tks sorscpus eppctlte of a hungry student The father swung The heavy cradle through tha wheat, the sweat rolling from his chin believing every step of the way, and then eittlnk down under the chetry tree at noon th nklnT to hlnself: 'I am fearfulls tired, but it will pay if l can once Sec that hcy through college, and If l can know that he will be Ifeaelirg the Go.Iel ai- ter am dead" The younger childreu want to know why thcy can't have this and that as others do and the mother says: "Bc patient my children, uniil your brother graduates, and then you shall have more luxures, but we must see that boz through"
 The years go by, ihe son Las been ordain. ed and Is preaching the glor ous Gospel, and great revival comes, and souls by scores aud hundreds accept the Gospel from the lips of that young preacher. and father and mother, quite old now, are ylsitiug the son at the vll- lage pafsouage, and at the close Of Sabbath of mighty blessing, father aud mother retire to their room, the son lighting the way rnt asking them If he cogld do anything to make them moro comfortable, saying fl they want ed anything in the night just to knock m the wall. And then all alone father and mother talk over the gracious influence Of the day, and say; Well it was worth all we went through to educate that boy. IL was a hard nnll, but we heli on iiIl the work was done. The world may not know ii, hut, moth- CT, We held The fope. didn't wef' And the yo.ce tremu ous with joyful emotion, responds: "Yes, father; we held The rope, 1 feel my work is done. Now Lord lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation" PshswW says the father. "l never felt so much like living In my i;fo now wan, to see what that fellow is going on to do, he has begnn SO wellm
 Something occurs to me an'te personal [ Was tue yduuagss Of large family of children My parents were neither rich nur poor; four of the sons wanted collegiate education. and Tour o9iained it, but not without great home sifiggie. We never Heard tue old people say 6nee that ihcY wcre denvina theiriselYes fo effect this, but l remember now that my paiu..s Qways locke lirei l don't think that they ever got rested until they lay dowa in the sommervillc cemcter', Mother woll sit down In the evening, and say: Well. l don't know what makes me feel so tredf' Father would fall imined atelg 10 sleep. seated by the evening stand, ,oyercom, with the days fat gues. 0uj Of tue four brothers nfter D eachlng the gospel for about fifty years entered upon hls heavenly rest Another of \ tla farr f.. h., h.r sf1 of tfa eaftb. a missionary of the eros. Two of ns are ln this land in the holy miuIsirr. and ] tbink nll uf us are willing to acknow edge our ob igstiou to the old folks at home Abru; twentyiwu years ago the other put down he burlers of this l.s, hut they stiil hold the rope.
 men and Eonier here assembled you brag sometimes how you have fought yof,r way in the world, hut l think ihcra have been helpful influences that you have never fuliS acknowledged. Has there not been some influence iu your eary or present home that the world cannot seel Does there not reach to you from among the Cana tian hills or western lrairie, or from sou hern plantation, or from English or Scottish or Irish homs cord of influence that has kept you right when you would have gone asiray, and wh oh, after you had made a crooked track, recalled youi The rope may be as long as thirty years or five hundred miles long Of three thousand miles long, but hands that went out of sgitt L,na ago still hol,l the rope You want very s~ift horse, arI you need to reward him sharp spurs, and to let the relns lie loose upon the neck, ana 10 give a shout to a racer, if YOU ste going 10 ride out of reach of your mothers prayers. Why, a ship crossing the Atlantic fin seven days can't sail away from thail sailor finds them on the lookout as he takes hls place. and finds them on the mast as he climbs Inc ratlines to disentangle rope in the teInpes., sht finds them swinging on the hammock wien he turns id. Why not be frank and ac- know ledge 1.-the most Of us would long ago have been dashed 10 pieces had not gracious and loving hands steadily and lovingly and nightly held the rope.
 But there must come lime when we shall find out who these Damascenes were who lowered Paul in the basket anl greet them and all those who have rendered 10 God and tbe world unrecogu zed ant unrecorded services That is going to be one of the glad settlements of hcaven-the bunting up aud picking out of those who did good on earth and got no credit for it. Here the Church has been going on nineteen centuries, and this Is probably the first sermon ever rec ognizlng the services O. the people In that Damascus balcony. Charles G. Finncy sald to dying Christian; .Giy. my love to st Paul when you meet him When you and meet him. as we will, I shall ask him 10 Introduce mo to those people who got b m out Of the Damasccne peril.
 We go Into long sermon to prove that we will be able to recognize people m heaven, when there Is one reason we Tall To present, and that is better than all--Goi will Introduce ns We shall have them all pointed oui You would not be guilty Of the impoliteness of having friends in your parlor not intro duccd. and celestial politeness will demand that we be made acquainted with all the heavenly household What rehearsal Of old times and recital Of stirring reminiscences If efl, fail n fyiv. introduction f.D1 will take Us through, and before our first twenty four hours in hcaven-if 1t were c ,lculated bv earthly epieces--hage passed, We ehall meet and talk with more heafcniJ celebrities than in our entire mortal stale we met Tit1 earthly celehritie4 Many who male greet noise Of usefulness will sit on the last seat bs the front door In the heavenly temple, while right up within arms reach Of the heavenly throne will be many who, though they could not preach themselves or do great exploits fJr God nevertheless heli the rope.
 Come let us 20 right up and sccost thnee on this circle of heavenly thrones. Surelv, they must have killed in battle million men. Surely they must have been buried with all the cathedrals sounding a dirge and all the towers of all he cities toll ing he national gref Who art thou. mighty one 10 henyenl ' aI lived by choce the unmarried daughter in An humble home that l might take re of my parents in iber nlJ age. and l endured without complaints all their querulou>ness and admin siered tV all their wants for twenty years"
 Let us pass on round the circle of thrones. Who aft .hou mighty one Of heavcuf 'I was for thirty years Chrlstian invalid, and snf- fered all the while. occasiouails writing a note of sympathy for ihosc worse of than l, and was general conf lant Of all those who had trouble and once in a wh ie was strong enough to make a garment for that poor fam ily in the back laue'' Pass on to another throne. Who art thou mighty one Of hcayeni
 "l was the mother who raised whole family of children for Col and thes are out In ih, world Christian merchants. Christian meciian- les. Christian wives, and have had ful re- ward of all my toll" Let us pass on in iiie circle of thrones 'I had Sabbath school class, and they were always on my heart, and tbey all entered the kingdom Of God and am waiting for their arrival"
 But who art thou. the mighty one of heay. en on this other thronei In time ot bitter persecution owned house in Damascus, house on the wall A man who preached Christ was bounded from street to street, and hid him from inc assassins and when found them breaking in my house and could no longer keep him safely, l advised h m it flee for his life. and q basket was let down over the wall with the maltreateI man in II, and was one who helped ho d tie rope, |, And I said: 'Is that ali' an1 he answered, "Ihat is alt" And while l was lost in amaze ment, l hearl a strong voice that sounded as though it might once have been hoarss from many exposures and triumDbant ai