The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1889-01-23

devastated q thousand other households,
had blasted yours. You go about weeping
amidst the desolatlon OF your once happy
home thinking OF the bright eyes closed,
and the noble hearts stopped and the gentle
hands folded and you weep until you have
no power to weep. Ziklag In ashes
A gentleman went TO friend of mine In
the city Of Washington, and asked that
through him he might get consulship To
some foreign port. Ny friend said TO him
"What do you want to go away from your
beautiful home for, into foreign porti''
10" he replied, ''mv home is gone My
six children are dead must get away, sir.
can't stand 1t In this country any longer u
Zilslag in ashes.
Why these long shadows OF bereavement
across this audiencel Why is 1t that in al
most every assemblage black is the predomi-
nant color OF the APPAREL Is it because you
do not like saffron or brown or violetl o,
mol You say "The world Ia not 80 bright
to us as 1t once was;" aud there Is q story
Of silent voices and OF still feet, and Of loved
ones gone, and when you look over the hills,
expecting only beauty and loveliness, you
find only devastation and woe. Ziklag In
ashes.
In Ulster County, N. Y, the village church
was decorated until the fragrance OF the
flowers was almost bewildering. The maid
ems Of the village had emptied the place OF
flowers upon one marriage altar. One of
their own number was atfianced TO minis
ter OF Christ who had como TO take her to
to his home With hands Joined, amidst q
congratuatory audience, tho vows were
taken. In three days from that time one Of
those who stood at the altar exchanged
earth for Heaven. The wedding march
broke down into the funeral dlrge. There
were not enough flowers now for the coffin
lid, because they had all been taken for the
bridal hour. The dead minister Of Christ
Is brought TO another village. He had gone
out from them less than q week before In
his strengths now he comes home lifeless.
The whole church bewailed him. The
solemn procession moved around to look up
on the still face that once had beamed with
messages Of salvation. Little children were
lifted up TO lood at him. And some OF those
whom he had comfortcd in days of sorrow,
when they passed tina. silent form, made
the place dreadful with their weeping. An
cehCi tuiDbiOu VI ll5 HOMtIH-HOIllC
Of them put in the shape OF cross TO SYM
bolise his hope, others put In the shape of
crown to symbolic his triumph. A hundred
lights blown out In one strong gust from
the open door Of sepulcher Ziklag in
ashesl
preach this sermon to-day because |
want TO rally you as David rallied his
men for the recovery of the loved and the
lost want not only 10 win Heaven, but
want all this congregation TO go along with
me. feel that somehow have n responsi.
oility in your arrival at that great city. /
have on other Sabbaths used other induce.
ments. | mean to-day, for the sake OF
variety, hoping to reach your heart, to try
another kind Of inducement. Do you really
want to Join the companiouship OF your
loved ones who have Comet Are you as anx
lous TO join them as David and his men
were 70 join their familiesl Then am
here, in the name OF God, TO say that you
may and TO tell you how.
Iremark, in the first place, IL you want 10
join your loved ones In glory. you must
travel the same way they went. No sooner
had the half-dead Egyptian been resusc-
tated then he pointed the way the captors
and the captlves had gone, and David and
his men followed after. SO our Christian
friends have gone into another country, and
II we want TO reach their companionshlp we
must take the same road They repented /;
we must repent. They prayed; we must
pray. They trusted IN Christ; we must
trust In Christ. They lived religious life; ;
we must live a religious life. They were in
some things like ourselves. | know, now
that they are gone, there is a halo around
their names; but they had their faults.
They said and did things they ought never
to have said or done. They were sometimes
rebellious, sometimes cast down. They
were far from being perfect SO suppose
that when we have gone, some things In US
that are now only tolerable, NAV be almost
resplendent But as they were like us In de-
fciencies, we ought 10 be like them In taxi
ing a supernatural Christ TO make up for
the deficits. Had itnot been for Jesus, they
would have oil perished, but Christ con-
fronted them, and said; u am the way,n
and they took II.
have also TO say TO you that the path
these captives trod was troubled path,
and that David and bis men had 10 go over
thesame difficult way. While these cap
tives were being taken of they said: 10,
we are so tired; we are so sick; we are 80
hungrym But the men who had charge OF
them said; "Stop this crying. Go on"
David and his men also found IL hard way.
They had to travel It. Our friends have
gone into glory, and II is through much
tribulation that we are TO enter into the
kingdom. How our loved ones used TO have
TO struggle. How their old hearts ached
How sometimes they had tussle for bread
In our childhood we wondered why there
were so many wrinkles on their faces. We
did not know that what we're call ID ''crow's
feet" on their faces were the marks OF the
black raven Of trouble. Did you nevor hear
the old people, seated by the evening stand,
talk over their early trials, their hardshlps,
the accidents, the burials, the dI appoint
ments, the empty flour barrel when there
were so many hungry ones To feed, the sick
ness almost unto death, where tho next dose
Of morphine decided between ghastly be-
an unbrolSen home circle, o,
yes II was trouble that whitened their hair.
IL Was trouble that shook the cup In
their hands. II was trouble that washed
the luster from their eyes with the rain Of
tears until they needed spectacles. Il was
trouble that made tho cane necessity for
their journey. DO you never remember
seeing your old mother sitting, on some
rainy day, looking out Of the window, her
elbow on the windowsill, her hand TO her
brow-looking out not seeing the falling
shower at all (you well knew she was look
Ing into the distant past), until the apron
came up to her eyes, because the memory
was too much for herf
''oft the big, unbidden tear,
Stealing down the furrowed cheek,
Told In eloquenoe sincere,
Tales OF woe they could not speak.
"But this scene of weepino o'er