The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-05-22

poor old woman toward the land of Judah!
They won't live to get across the desert They
will be drowned in the sea, or the iackas of
the wilderness will destroy them" 1t was a
very dark morning when Ruth started of
with Naomi; but behold her in my text in the
harvest field Of Boaz, to be afiianced to one Of
the lords Of the land and become one Of the
grandmothers Of Jesus Christ the Lord Of
glory. And it often is that path which
starts very darkly ends very brightly.
When you started out for heaven, oh, how
dark was the hour of oonviction--how Sinai
Numbered, and devils tormented, and the
darkness thickenedl All the sins of your life
pounced upon you. and it was the darkest hour
you ever saw when you first found out your
sins. After awhile you went into the harvest
field of Gods mercy; you began to CLEAN in
the fields OF divine promise, and you had more
sheayes than you could carry, as the voice OF
God addressed you, saying: blessed Is the
man whose transgressions are forgiven, and
whose sins are covered" A very dark start
ing in conviction a very bright ending in the
pardon and the hope and the triumph of the
Gospel
So, very often in our worldly business or in
our spiritual career, we start off on very dark
path. We must go. The flesh may shrink
back, but there Is voice within, or voice
from above, saying; "You must co." and we
have to drink the gall and we have to carry
the cross. and we have to traverse the desert,
and We are pounded and failed of nisrepresen-
ton and abuse, and we have to urge our way
through ten thousand obstacles that must be
slain by our own right arm. We have
to ford the river, we have to climb the noun
tain, we have to storm the castle; but, blessed
be GOD. the day of rest and reward will come.
On the tiptop OF the captured battlements We
will shout the victory II not in this world,
then in that world where there is no gall to
drink, no burdens to carry, no battles to fight.
How do | know it2 Know it? ] know it, be-
cause God says so: "They shall hunger no
more, neither thirst any more, neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat, for the
Lamb which Is the midst OF the throne shall
lead them TO living fountains of water, and
God shall wipe all tears from their eyes"
1t was very hard for Noah to endure the
soothing of the people in his day, while he was
trying to build tho ark. and was every MORN
ing quiZzed about his old boat that would never
be Of any practical use but when the deluge
came, and the tops of the mountains disap-
peared like the backs Of sea monsters, and the
elements. dashed up in fury, clapped their
hands over a drowned world, then Noah in the
ark rejoiced III his own safety and in the safety
of his family, and looked out ON the wreck of
a ruined earth. Christ, bounded of persecu-
tors, denied pillow, worse maltreated than
the thieves on either side of the cross, human
hate smacking its lips in satisfaction after it
had been draining His last drop OF blood, the
sheeted dead bursting from the sepulchres
at His cruchKion. Toll me, o GCthse-
name and Golgotha! Were there ever darker
times than those? Like the booming of the
IlihltiIut oet dEHiuSt tiie IOCks llb SUTStS Oh
Christ's anguish beat against the gates Of eter-
nifty, to be echoed back by all the thrones of
heaven and all the dungeons of hell. But the
day Of reward comes for Christi all the pomp
and dominion OF this world are to be hung on
His throne, uncrowned heads are to bow before
Him on whose head are many crowns, and
all the celestial worship is to come up at His
feet like the hummng OF the forest, like the
rushing of tho waters. like the laundering of
the seas, while all heaven, rising on their
he a i1na W hHTp anti al
lelujah, for the Lord God onnipotent reign
eth! Halloluiah, tho kingdoms of this world
have become the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus
Christi
THAT song oflove, now low and far,
Ere long shall swell from stHr to star:
That light, the breaking day which tips
The goldenspired Apocalypse"
". Again: | learn from my subject that
events which seem to be most insignificant
may be momentous. Can YOU imagine any,
thing more unimportant than the coming of a
poor woman from Moab to Judah? Can you
imagine anything more trivial than tho fact
that this Ruth just happened to alght--as
they say-just happened to alight
on that field of Boaz? Yet
all ages, all generations, have
an interest in the fact that she was to become
an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ and all
nations and Kingdoms must look at that one
little incident with thrill of unspeakable and
eternal satisfaction. SO it is in your history
and in mine; events that you thought of no
Importance at all have been of very great mo-
mont That casual conversation, that
accidental meeting you did not think
of it again for long while; but how it
changed all the phase OF your lifel
II seems to be of no Importance that Jubal
invented rude instruments of music, calling
them harp and organ; but they were tho in
PRODUCTION of all the worlds minstrelsy: and
as you hear the vibration Of a strnged instrrl-
ment even after the fingers have been taken
away from It, SO all music now of lutte and
drum and cornet is only the long-continued
strains of Juhal's harp and organ. 1t seems
to be matter Of very little Importance that
Tubal Cain learned tho uses of copper and
iron; but that rude foundry of ancient days
has its echo in the rattle of Birmingham ma
chinery, and the roar and bang of factories on
the Merrimac.
1t seemed to be a matter of no Importance
that Luther found a Bible in q monastery but
as he opened that Bible, and the brass-bound
lids foil back, they Jared everything, from
the Vatican TO tho furthest convent in Ger
many, and the rustling of tho wormed leaves
was the sound of the wings of the angel of
the reformation. 1t seemed to be y matter of
no importance that woman, whose name has
been forgotten, dropped n tract in the way of
very bad man by the name of Richard BaX-
tor. lie picked up the tract and read it, and
1t was the means of his salvation.
IN atter-days that man wrote n book called
"The Call TO the Unconvorted," that was tho
means OF bringing u multitude TO God among
others, Philip Doddridge Philip Doddridge
wrote n book called "The Rise and Progress Of
Religion which has brought thousands and
tens OF thousands into the kingdom of God,
and among others tho great Wilberforce.
Wilberforoe wrote n book called "a Practical
View of Christianity" which was tho means
OF bringing great multitude to Christ among
othors, Leigh Richmond. Leigh Richmond
wrote n tract called ''The Dairyman's
Daughter" which has been the means
of the salvation of unconveited multitudes
And that tide OF influence started from the
fact that one Christian woman dropped q
Christian tract in the way of Richard Baxter
the tide of influence rolling ON through Rich
ard Baxter, through Philip Doddridge, through
the great Wilherforce, through Leigh Rich
mond, on, on, on forever forever. SO the in
significant events of this world seem, after all.
To be most momentous. The fact that you came
up that street OF this street seemed to be Of no
Importance 70 You, and the fact that you
went inside of some church may seem to be n
matter OF very great insignifcance TO you, but
You Will find 1t the turning point in your his
tory.
" Again; see In my subject an illustra-
ton OF the beauty of female industry
Behold Ruth telling in tho harvest field
under the hot sun, or at noon taking plain
bread with the reapers, or eating tho pGrched
corn which BONy handed IN her Tho ruetons