Sharp County record., 1888-08-16

b. +6e believer as a friend. You have COM
,oercial friends and you nave 4"i"l's
friends. To the commercial trlenu you
go when vou have business troubles ou
can look back to some day~-lt may Ii" 20
been ten or twenty years ago-"nen' Il
Won had not had that friend, you Woulu
have been entirely OverthroWn III DuSI-
nose Rut want ia tell you this morning
of Jesus. the best business triepd q man
ever had. He can pull you out oL 'Eo
worst perplexites. There are peoPIo ~
tbIs audience who have got in the haoIV
of rnttino down all their worldly troubles
at the feet Of Jesus. Why ChrlSV llee'S
tbp business man on the street ana says
uOh. business man, ! know al! thy
troublos, [ will be with thee, lWlll see
thee through" Look out how you try 10
corner or trample on man who IS PACK
od nm bv tbe Lord God Almighty LOOK
ont how YOU trample on Him. Oh' tnere
i . fnancier that many of our business
non have not found out. Christ owns all
fine boards of trade, all the Insurance.
companies and all the banking HOUSES
They saw that the Vanderbllts own IIe
railroads.; but Christ owns the Vanuer
bilts and the railroads, aud all the ploI-
tiras Of stock gamblers shall be put 10
confusion. and God, with his little tlnger,
sbaIl wine out their infamous proJectS'
How often it has been that we have seen
mon gather up riches by fraud, IN
nvramid of strength and beauty, aud the
Lord came and blew on 1t and II was
gone; while there are those here to-day
who, if they could speak out IN TINS as
semblage, or dared to speak out, would
say:
"The best friend I had in 1887, the best
friend had in 1851 the best friend had
at the opening of the war, the best Irlenu
[ ever had has been the LORD Jesus
Christ. would rather give up all oIue'
friends than this one"
But we have also family friends Ihey
come in when we have sickness IN the
household. Perhaps they say nothing;
but they sit down and they weep as the
light goes out from the bright eyes, ana
the white petals of the lily are scattered
in the blast Of death They watch through
the long night by the dying couch, ana
then. when the spirit has gone, soothe you
with great comfort. They say: "D0nt
cry. Jesus pities you. All is well, You
will meet the lost one again" Ihen,
when your son went off, breaking your
heart. did they not come and put the story
in the very best shape aud prophes the
retnrn of the prodigal? Were they not
| in your house when the birth anger
! fapped its wings over your dwelllh9'
! And they have been there at the bapuSnS
and at the weddings. Family friends! !!
But have to tell you that Christ is the
best family friend o, blessed is that
cradle over which Jesus bends. Blessed
is that nursery where Jesus walks
Blessed is that sick brow from which
Jesus wipes the dampness Blessed IS
that table where Jesus breaks the bread
Blessed is that grave where Jesus stands
with his scared feet on the upturned sod,
saying:
81 am the resurrection and the life; he
that believeth in Ne, though he were
dead, yet shall he live"
"God is our refuge and strength, an
ever-present help in time of trouble;
therefore we will not fear, though the
earth be removed, though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea, though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
J though the mountains shake with the
/ swelling thereof. Selah."
The other day there was sailor who
came into the Bethel in New York and
said:
"My lads Che was standing among the
sailors) / don't know what's the m matter
with me- used to hear a good deal about
religion and about Jesus Christ. | don't
| know that | have any religion, or that
know any thing much about Christ, but
when was in mid-Atiantic [ looked up
one day through the rigging and there
seemed to come light through my soul. |
have felt different ever since and | love
I those that once hated, and | feel a joy l
can't tell you, | really don't know what
is'the matter with me-"
A rough sailor got up and said:
"My lad, l know what's the matter Of
YOU. You have found Jesus. Iti enOug b
to make any man happy"
| His worth, if all the nations knew,
Sure the whole earth would love him too.
Iremark again; Christ is precious to
| the believer, as a final deliverer. Ou
| and must after awhile get out Of this
world Here and there, one perhaps may
| come on to eighty, to ninety years Of age,
| but your common sense tells you that the
next twenty-five years will land the ma
jority of this audience in eternity. The
next ten years will thin out great many
Of these family circles. This day may do
the work for some of US. Now, why do
say this? To scare you? No; but just as
would stand in your office, if l were a
business man and you were business
man, and talk over risks. You do not
consider it cowardly to talk in your store
over temporal risks. Is it base in us this
morning to talk a little while over the
risks of the soul, that are for eternityE
In every congregation death has the last
year been doing a great deal Of work,
| Where is your father? Where is your
mother? your child? your brother? your
sister? o, how cruel does death seem to
! be! Will he pluck every hOwer2 Will
he poison every fountain? viii he put
! black on every door knob? ill he snap
every heart string? Can keep nothing ?
| Are there no charmed weapons with
which to go out and contend against him?
Give me some keen sword, sharpened in
! Gods armory, with which may stab him
| through. Give me some battle-aXe that |
may clutch it, and hew HIM from helmet
| +o sandal Thank God thank God that