Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1888-09-13

| words, 20 comfort othefst We muss h"ss
faith IN God. braeticle experience, and good,
Rut there are thFee or four cp~nsiderations
| Thai / wiEI bring this morning to. those who
ara sorrowfIf and distressed. and that we
can always bring thenit knowing that they
| viii effect d cure. And the graf confederation
is. that God sends our troubles m love, l
eaea haar rsopIs in their Foubles say
.Why / wonder what God has against me!
They seem to think God has some grudge
against then. because troHble and misfor-
tnne have come. oh no. Do you not re-
member that passage OF scripture, "nom
ths Lord loYeth He chastenethy a eeiin
comes in with a very bad splinter IN Tvs naaq,
and Won try TO extract ii. IL Is a very PAIN
fuI operation. The child draws. back rom
YOU. but you persist. You ARE go
Inc IN take that splinter ont, so you take
The chiId with a gentle but Arm grasp: for al
though there maj be pain IN n, the sPiih.ef
must come out. And il IL love that dictates
n and makes you persist. NJ friends, real
~ tbint that nearly all cur sorrows in this
wortd are only the hand of our Father ex-
tractinp some thorn. IL all these sorrows
,rare sent by enemies, | would say, arm
yourself against them; ard, as IN tropicai
chimes, when q tiger come, down from tiis
mountains and carries on = child rom ths
village. the neighbors band together and 80
into the forest and hunt TIVE monster. 80 /
would have you. If | thought these misior.
/ times we're sent by an enemy, go out and
hattie against them. But no; they come
from a Father so kind. so loving, 50 gentle,
that the prophet, speaking OF bis tenderness
and mercy. drops the idea o. iatner. ana
saws, CAS- one whom hls motbef eotutottetn,
40 will | comfort you
Again, I remark, there is comfort In the
thouyI,t tbat God, BIZ oil this process, - go-
ing 10 make you useful. Do you know thai
those who accomplish most for God ana
heaven rave ali been under the harrow
SHOW me n man that has done anything for
Christ in this day, in O public or private
Mace. who has had no a and whose
path has been smooth. All. no -
once went through an AZ factory. and !
saw them take the bars OF iron and thrust
them into the terrible furnaces. Thea be-
swpated workmen with long tongs stirred
the blaze. Then they brought out 2 par Q.
iron and put ID into a crushing machine, ana
then they put 1t bet " jaws that bit it IN
twain. Then they put 10 on an any1i, and
therp we're great hammers swung by ma
chiuery-each one and o half tons in weight
that went thump, thump, thnmp: II that
iron eoHId have spoken it wouid ave said;
aWby all this beating7 Why must i be-
ponnded ans more than any other iron3'
The workman wouli have said: want
10 make axes of you-keen, sharp axes
axes with which to hue down the forest, and
build the ship. and erect houses. and carry
on n Thousand enterprises of CIVILIZATION.
That's the REASON We pound you. now:
God puts a soul into the furnace OF trial and
then ID is brought and run through the crush
ing machine, and then IL comes down on the
anvil. and npou il bIos nfter blow, blow aft
or blow, and the soul cries out: Z. Lor6l
what does this mean p God says: II want
TO make something very useful out OF you
You shall be something to hew with
and something to build with. IL Is
q practical process through which | ain put
ting you" Yes. nv Christian friends. We
want more tools in the churrh of God. Not
more wedges to split with; we have enough
Of these. Not more hores with which to drill:
we nave too many bores, What we really
want is keen, SHARP, eiLtempered axes,
and if there be any Other way Of making
them thar in the hot furnace, and on the
hard anvil. ard under the heavy hammer
/ do not know what it Is. Remember
that IL God brings any kind Of chastise-
mcBt upon you, it is only to make you
useful. Do not sit down discouraged;
and say. II have no more reason for living
| wish | we're dead" Oh, there never was 80
ordeal you have been consecrated O priest of
the Most High God. Go out n do your
whole work for the Master
Again. there is comfort in the thought that
all our troubles are a revelation. Have you
ever thought OF it in that connecticut The
man VINO HAS never bfPt NfiTOlku fHurtGSS
mcnt il ignorant about a thousand things
in his soul be ought TO know. For instance,
here Is a man who prides himseif on his cheer
fulness of character. He has no patience
with anybody VIII is depressed IN spirits.
Oh, it is easy for him to be cheerful, with his
fine house, his filed wardrobe, and weli-strung
instruments Of music, and tapestried parlor,
and plenty Of money in the ban waiting for
some permanent investment. It is easy for
him to be cheerful But suppose his fortune
goes to pieces, and his house goes 10 n
under the sheriiys hammer, and the hanks
will not have anything to do with his
paper. Suppose those people who were
once elegantly entertained at his table get
SO sbortsightei that they can not recog-
nize him upon the street How then? Is ii
so easy TO be cheerful IL is easy to be cheer
full in the home, after the days work is done.
and the gas is turned on, and the house is
full OF romping little ones. But suppose the
piano is shut because the fingers that played
on it will no more touch the keys. and the
childish voice that asked so many questions
viii ask nc more. Then it Is so easy? When
o man wakes up and finds that his resources
are all gone he begins to rebel, and he says,
"God is hard; God is outrageous. He had
no business to do this to me" Ny friends,
those of us who have trouble know what g
much God has to put up with, and how
much we need pardon. Ii is only in the
light of q flaming furnace that we can learn
our own lack of moral resources
There is also a great deal of comfort in the
fact that there win b afamiiy reconstruction
in a better place. From Scotland, or Eng
hand, or Ireland. a child emigrated to this
country. Ii IS very hard parting, but he
comes. after a while writing home as to shat
a good land it is. Another brother comes.
n sister comes, and another, and after awhile
i;ie mother comes, and after n while tliefather
comes. and now they are all here, and they
have a time of great congratulatioa and q
very pleasant reunion. Well it isjust 20 with
our families; they are emisrating to a better
land Now, one goes out. Oh. how hard il
v TO part with hinii Another goes. Oh, how
hard ii is to part with heri And another,
and another, and we ourselves will after a
while go over, and then we will oe together.
Oh. what a r~eunioni DO you believe that7
Yes you say. You do noti You do not
believe it as you 10 other things. If you did.
and with the same emphasis, Why it would
take nine-tenths of tho trouble of
your heart. The fact is, heaven to
many of us is a great fog. II is away of
somewhere, filled with an uncertain and in
definite population. That is the kind
OF heaven that many of us dream about; hut
1t is the most tremendous fact in oil the uni
verse--this heaven of the Gospel. Our de-
patted friends are not afoat. The residence
IN which you live rs not so real as the resi-
dence in which they stay. You are afoat.
you do not n in the morning what will
happen before night. They are housed and
safe forever. Do not, therefore. pity your
Departed friends who have died in Christ.
They do not need any Of -FOUR pity. You
might "a well send a letter OF confidence to
Queen sietorin on her obscurity, or to the
Rotosrhiids on their poverty, as to pity
those who have o the palm. Do not saw
OF those who are parted. Poor childis
"Poor father,' Poor motheri' They are
not poor. You are poor-you whose homes
nave been shattered-not they. You do not
dwell much with your families in this world.
All day long you are off tn business. VIII il
not be pleasant when you can be together nh
the while7 II you hare had four children and
one Is gore, and anybody asks how man
children you hare, do not be 81 infde} ma to
say ,nree. Say four--one in heaven. Do not
think the grare ia unfrienJ,y
fou go in your room and dress for some
grand entertainment, and you come forth
neauthuily appareled; and the grave is only
the place where we go to dress for the ploriors
resurrection. and We will come ont radiant.
RADIANT, mortality having become immortal.
ny. oh. how mnch coincidence there il in
,His thoughti IeSpcct TO SIZE my kindred in
heaven; ! expect To see them rs certainly as
expert to go home today. Az, l shall more
certainly ser them. Eight or 10 will come
up from the graveyard back of St,mervilLe
anu one will come mp from the mour tains
back OF hntoy. China; and another will come
up IRON the sea on Cape Hatteras; and IN
.lh come up from Greenwood; and i shall
know them better than | ever knew them
here. And your friends-they may be across
lie sea, but the trumpet that sounds here
VIII sound there. You will come nm 81, mat
Tue same day. Some morning Won have
oversight Yourself, and you open your ewes
ana see that the sun is high in me
heavens, and you say. II have
oversight, and ! must be up and OF. ;, So van
VII OPEN your eyes on the morning of the
resarrection, IN the full blaze OF Gods light.
On YES, you will come up, and tbere viii 4,
rsnnion, a reconstruction of your family I
ne what ~halburton, | think it was-cood
old NJ. Hnlhnrtnn-aaiI 4. ~. SVo'