The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-05-24

and in the church, and in the world, that
through darkness and storm and trouble
men, women, churches, nations are de-
veloved.
Ii. Again, see in my text the beauty
of unfaltering friendship. l suppose
there were plenty of friends for Naomi
while she was in prosperity, but OF all
her acquaintance, how many were will
ing to trudge off with her toward Judah,
when she had to make that lonely jour-
neyi One-the heroine of my text. One
= absolutely one. suppose when
Naomi's husband was living, and they
had plenty of money, and all things went
well, they had great many callers; but
suppose that after her husband died,
and her property went, and she got old
and poor, she was not troubled very
much with callers. All the birds that
| sung in the bower while the sun shone
have gone to their nests, now the night
has fallen.
Oh, these beautiful sunfowers that
spread out their. color in the morning
houri but are always asleep when the
sun is going down. Job had plenty of
| friends when he was the richest man in
Uz; but when his property went and the
| trials came, then there were none SO
| much that pestered as Eliphaz the Tema-
mite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar
the Naamathite.
Life often seems to be a mere game,
|. where the successful player pulls down
Fall the other men into his own lap. Let
suspicious arise about a mans character
| and he becomes like 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 rep
utations that have been half century
in building, which go down under some
moral exposure, as vast temple is con-
sumed by the touch of a sulphurous
match. A hog can uproot a century
plant.
In this world, so full of heartlessness
and hypocrisy, how thrilling it is to find
some friend as faithful in days Of adver-
sity as in the days of prosperity. David
had such friend in Hushai; the Jews
had such friend in Mordecai who never
forgot their cause; Paul had such a friend
in Onesiphorus, who visited him in Jail;
Christ had such in the Marys, who ad-
hered to him on the cross; Naomi had
such one in Ruth, who cried out: "En-
treat me not to leave thee, or to return
from following after thee for whittier thou
| goest, l will go; and where thou lodgest,
1 will lodge; thy people shall be my peo-
pie, and thy God, my God; where thou
diest will die, and there will be 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 joy.
When Ruth started from Moab toward
Jeruralem, to go along with her mother
in-law, / suppose the people said: "Oh,
what foolish creature to go away from
her fathers house, TO go off with 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
jackals of the wilderness will destroy
them" 1t was a very dark morning
when Ruth started off with Naomi; but
behold her in my text in the harvest
field of Boaz, to be affianced to one Of
the lords of the land, and become one of
the grandmothcrs of Jesus Christ, the
Lord of glory. And SO it often is that a
path which starts very darkly ends very
brightly.
When you started out for heaven, oh,
how dark was the hour of conviction
how Sinai thundered, and devils tor
mented, and the darkness thickened !
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 while 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
transgressfons are forgiven, and whose
sins are covered" A very dark start
ing in conviction, very bright ending
in the pardon and the hope and the
triumph of the Gospell
SO, very often in our worldly business
or in our spiritual career, we start off Oh
very dark path. We must go. The
flesh may shrink back, but there is a
voice within, or voice from above, say
ing: "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 mis-
representation and abuse, and we have to
urge our way through ten thousand OBJ
stacles that must be slain by our owr
right arm. We have to ford the river,
we have to climb the mountain, we have
to storm the castle. but, blest be God. the
day of rest and reward will come. On
the tip top of the captured battlenents
we shall shout the victory; II not in this
world, then in that world where there is
no gall to drink, no burdens to carry, nc
battles to fight. How do l know it
| Know it'll know it because God says so
'They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more, neither shall the sur
light on them, nor any heat, for the
Lamb which is in the midst Of the throne
! shall lead them to living fountains O
, water, and God shall wipe all tears from
their eyes,"
! 1t was very hard for Noah to endur,
! the scoffing of the people in his da,
while he was trying to build the ark, and
was every morning auizzed about his olt
: boat that would never be Of any practi
, cal use; but when the deluge came, ant
I the tops of the mountains disappeared
, like the backs of sea monsters, and tn
I clements, lashed up in fury, clappet
3 their hands over o drowned world. thel
D Noah In the ark rejoiced in his owl
safety and in the safety Of his family
a and looked out on the wreck of a ruinet
y earth.
9 Christ bounded of prosecutors, deniet
Q pillow. worse maltreated than tn
e thieves on either side of the cross human
hate smacking its lips in satisfaction
after it bad been draining his last dro
of blood, the sheeted dead bursting from
the sepulchers at his crucifixion
Tell me, @ qethsemane and Golgo
's thai were there ever darker time
r than those9 Like the booming of th
g midnight sea against the rock, the surge
d of Christ's anguish beat against the gate
II of eternity, to be echoed back by all tn
It thrones of heaven and all the dungeon
d of hell. But the day of reward come
d for Christ; all the pomp and dominion Q
d this world are to be hung on his throne
Z, uncrowned heads are to bow before hir