Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-07-18

on edge and a.rasping-I preach the ON.
nipotent sympathy of Jesus Christ. The
sister of Hersche], the astronomer, used tc
help him in his work. He got all the cred
it; 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 ambition now, this hour. tc
clear the lens of your spiritual vision, so
that, looking through the dark night oi
your earthly troubles, you may behold the
glorious constellation of Saviour's mercy
and Saviour's love. o, my friends, do
not try to carry all your ills alone, Do not
put your poor shoulder under the Apeninnes
when the Almighty Christ is ready to lift
up all your burdens. When you have a
trouble of any kind you rush this way and
that way, and you wonder what this man
will say about it, and what that man will
says about it; and you try this prescription,
and that prescription, and the other pre-
scription. o, why do you not go straight
to the heart of Christ, knowing that for our
own SHINING and suffering race He took the
vinegar!
There was vessel that had been tossed
on the seas for great many weeks, and
been disabled, and the supply of water gave
out, and the crew were dying of thirst. At
ter many days, they saw sail against the
sky. They signalled it. When the vessel
came nearer, the people on the suffering
Ship cried to the captain of the other vessel.
"Send us some water. We are dying for
lack Of wate:." And the captain on the
vessel that was hailed responded, "Dipyo
buckets where you are. You are in the
mouth of the Amazon, and 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 the clear,
bright, fresh water, and put out the fire of
their thirst. So hail you TO- day, after q
long and perilous voyage, thirsting as you
are for pardon, and thirsting for comfort,
and thirsting for eternal life; and l ask you
what is the use of your going in that death
struck state, while all around you is the
deep, clear, wide, sparkling flood of Gods
sympathetic mercy. 0, dip your buckets,
and drink, and live forever. "Whosoever
will, let him come and take the water of
life freely"
Yet, my utterance is almost choked at
the thought that there are 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 hobbling-ou from defeat
to defeat, until they make final surrender
to retributive disaster. Oh, wish could
to oday gather up in minesarms all the woes
of men and women-all their heart-aches-
all their isappointments-all their cha
grins-and just take them right to the feet
of a sympathizing siesus. He took the
vinegar!
Mana Sahib, after he had lost his last bat
tie in India, fell back into the jnngles of
Iheri-jungles so full of malaria that no
mortal can live there. He carried with him
also ruby of great lustre and Of great val
ue. He died in those jungles: his body was
never found, and the ruby has never yet
been recovered. And fear that to-day
there are some who will fall back from this
subject into the sickening, killing jungles
of their sin, carrying gem of infinite val
ue-a priceless soul-to be lost forever.
o. that that ruby might fash gin the etsr-
nal coronation. But no. There are some,
I fear, in this audience who turn away
from this offered mercy, and comfort and
Divine sympathy; notwithstanding that
Christ, for ali who would accept His grace,
trudged the long way, and suffered the
lacefating thongs, and received in His face
the cxpectorations of the filthy mob, and
for the guilty, and the discouraged, and the
discomforted of the race, took the vinegar.
May God Almighty break the infatuation,
and lead you out into the strong hope, and
the good cheer, and the glorious sunshine
of this triumphant Gospel.