Milford chronicle., 1888-05-25

richest man in Uz; but when his property
went and the trials came, then there were
none so much that pestered as Eliphaz the
Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and
Zophar the Naamatliite.
Life often seems to be mere game, where
/ the successful player pulls down all the other
men into his own lap. Let suspicious arise
about mans character and he becomes like
a bank in a panic and all the imputations
rush ON him and break down in a day that
character which in due time would have had
strength to defend itself There are reputa.
tions that have been half a century in build
ing which go down under some moral ex-
posule, as "a vast temple is consumed by tho
touch OF a sulphurous match. A hog can up
root a century plant
In this world, 50 full of heartlessness and
hypocrisy, how thrilling it is to find some
friend as faithful in days of adversely as in
days of prosperity. David had such a friend
in Hushai; the Jews had such a friend in
Mordecai, who never forgot their cause; Paul
had such a friend in Onesiphorus, who visited
him IN Jail; Christ had such a friend in the
Marys, who adhered to him on the cross;
Naomi had such one in Ruth, who cried
out: "Entreat me not to leave thee, or to re-
turn from following after thee, for whittier
thou goest, l will go; and where thou lodgest,
l will lodge; thy people shall be my people,
and thy Cod my God; where thou diest viii
l die, and there will he buried; the Lord do
so to me, and more also, if aught but death
part thee and me-"
III. Again; learn from this subject that
paths which open in hardship and darkness
often come out in places Of y When Ruth
started from Moab toward Jerusalem to 60
along with her mother-in-law, suppose the
people said: "Oh, what foolish creature to
60 away from her fathers house, to 60 OIL
with poor old woman toward the land Of
JUDAH They won't live to get across the
desert. They viii be drowned in the sea, or
the iackals Of the wilderness viii destroy
them" It was q 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 SO 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 confederation Sinai
thundered, and devils tormented, and the
darkness thickenedl All the sins Of your
life pounced upon you, and it was the dark
est 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 sheaves 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 starting in conviction, 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 60. The flesh may
shrink back, but there is a voice within, Or a
voice from above, saying: "You must go;"
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 misrepresentation and abuse, and we have
to urge our way through ten thousand OBJ
stacles that must be slain by our oWn right
arm. We have to ford the river, we have to
climb the mountain, we have TO storm the
castle; but, blessed be God, the day Of rest
and reward will come. On the tip top of tho
captured battlements we will shout the vic
tory; if 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 it,
Know It'll / know it because 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 in the
midst of the throne shall lead them to living
fountains Of water and God shall wipe all
tears from their eyes"
It was very hard for Noah to endure the
scoffing of the people in his day, while he
was trying to build the ark and was every
morning quizzed about his old boat that
would never be Of any practical use; but
when the deluge came, and the tops Of the
mountains disappeared like the backs Of sea
monsters, and the elements, lashed up in
fury, clapped their hands over drowned
world, then Noah in the ark rejoiced in his
own safety and in the safety Of his family,
and looked out on the wreck Of a ruined earth.
Christ, bounded of prosecutors, denied q
pillow, worse maltreated than the thieves
on either side of the cross, human hate smack
ing its lips in satisfaction after it had been
draining his last drop of blood, the sheeted
dead bursting from the sepulchers at his
crucifixion Tell me, o Gethsemane and
Golgothai were there ever darker times than
thosel Like tho booming of the midnight
sea against the rock, the surges of Christs
anguish beat against the gates Of eternity, to
be echoed back by all the thrones of heaven
and all the dungeons of hell. But tho day of
reward comes for Christ: 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 hulnming Of the forest, like the
rushing of the waters, like the laundering of
the seas, while all heaven, rising on their
thrones, beat time with their scepters: "Halle-
luiah, for the Lord God omnipotent reignethi
Hallelujah, the kingdoms Of this world have
become the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus
Christw
That song Of love- now low and far,
Ere long shall swell from star to star;
That light, the breaking day which tips
The golden spired 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
poor woman from Moab to Judahl Can
you imagine anything more trivial than the
fact that this Ruth just happened to alight-
as they say--just happened to alight on that
field Of Boazl 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 lncluenB Win thrill OF I'M
spealable and eternal satisfaction. So it is
in your history and mine; events that you
thought Of no importance at Ill have been Of
very great moment That casual conversa-
tion, that accidental meeting-you did not
think of it again for a long while. but how it
changed all the phase Of your life
1t seemed to be Of no importance that
Jubal invented rude instruments OF music,
calling them harp and organ; but they were
the introduction of all the verdi minstrelsy;
and as you hear the vibration of a stringcd
instrument, oven after the fingers have been
taken away from it, so all music now Of lutte
and drum and cornet is only the long con
tinued strains Of Jubal's harp and Jubals
organ. It seemed to be a matter Of very lit
tie Importance that TuJal Cain learned the
uses Of copper and iron; but that rude
foundry Of ancient days has its echo in the
rattle Of Birmingham machinery, and tho
roar and bang Of factories on tho Merrimac.
It seemed to 10 a matter Of no importance
that Luther found Bible in a monasteryi
hut as be opened that Bible. and the
b,.aes bound lids fall bocl fhov IN rrad avprx