The Brookhaven leader., 1889-06-27

| for theft, then for arson, now for murder.
He steps upon the trap-door, the rope Is
| fastened to his neck, the plank falls, his
body swings into the air, his soul swings
into eternity. Who Is he, and where IS
her To-day playing kite on the city conf
mons. Mother, you are to day hosting
throne or forging a chain-you are
kindling a star or digging dungeon. =.
A good many years ago Christian
mother sat teaching lessons Of religion to
her child, and he drank in those lessons.
| She never knew that Lamphier would
come forth and establish the Fulton street
prayer meeting, and by one meeting rev.
olutionize the devotions of the whole
earth and thrill the eternities with his
Christian influence. Lamphier said 1t
was his mother who brought him to Jesus
Christ. She never had an idea that she
was leading forth such destines. But,
| oh, when see a mother reckless o, her
! influence, rafting on toward destruc-
ton, garlanded for the sacrifice with
| unseemly mirth and godlessness, gayly
tripping on down to ruin, taking her chill
| dren in the same direction, l can not help
but say: There they go, there they go
Hagar and Ishmaelw tell you there are
wilder deserts than Beer sheba in many
of the domestic circles OF this day. Dis
sipated parents leading dissipated chill
dren. Avaricious parents leading avari-
cious children. Prayerless parents lead
ing praycrless children. They go through
every street, up every dark alley into
every cellar, along every highway. Hagaf
aad Ishmaeli and while pronounce their
names, it seems like the moaning Of the
death wind-Hagar and Ishmael!
L., ~ ,,A
entail scene, and that is that every wilder.
ness has well in it. Hagar and Ishmae)
gave up to die. Hagar's heart sank within
her as she heard her child crying: water
water! water" "Ah," she says, my
darling there is no water. This is a
desert" And then Gods angel said from
the cloud: "What aileth thee, Hagari
And she looked up and saw him pointing
to well of water, whore she filed the
bottle for the lad.
Blessed be God that there is in every
wilderness a well, if you only know how
to find it-fountains for all thess thirsty
souls to day. "On that last day, on that
great day of the feast. Jesus stood and
cried: "If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink" All these Otner fouut
aims you find are mere mirages Of the
desert. Paracelsus, you know, spent his
time in trying to find out the elixir Of life
"a liquid which, if taken, would keep one
perpetually young in this world, ard
would change the aged back again to
youth. OF course, he was disappointed;
he found not the elixir. But here tell
you to-day of the elixir of everlasting life
bursting from the Rock of Ages" and
that drinking that water you shall never
get old, and you will never be sick, and
you will never die. "Ho. every one
that thirsteth, come We to the waters"
All, here is man who says: Il
have been looking for that fountain q
great while, but can't find it." And he re
is some one else who says: 81 believe
all you say, but | have been trudging
along in the wilderness, and can't find the
fountain" Do you know the reason? I
will tell you. You never looked in the
right direction. co." you say, l have
looked everywhere. have looked north.
south, east aud west, and | haven't found
the fountain" Why, you are not looking
in the right direction at all. Look up,
where Hagar looked. She never would
have found the fountain at all, but when
she heard the voice of the angel she
looked up, and she saw the finger point
ing to the supply. And o, SOUL if TO- day,
with one earnest, intense prayer, you
would only look up to Christ, He would
point You down to the supply in the viii.
derness. Look unto me all we ends of
the earth and be ye saved, for l am God,
and there is none else" Look! look! az
Hagar looked.
Yes, there is a we'll for every desert Of
bereavement. Looking over the audience
to-day notice signs of mourning. Have
n r.
o, woman bereft? have you found conso-
latiou? Hearse after hearse. We step
from one grave hillock to another grave
hillock. We follow coruses, ourselves
soon be like them. The world is in mourn
ing for its dead. Every heart has become
the sepulcher of some buried JOY. But sing
ye TO God, every wilderness has a we'll in
it; and come to that well to-day, and
begin to draw water from that well. II
you have lived in the country, you have
sometimes taken hold of the rope of the
old well sweep. and you know how the
bucket came up dripping with bright,
cool water. And / lay hold of the rope
of Gods mercy to-day, and 1 begin to
draw on that Gospel we'll sweep and be-
gin to see the buckets coming up. Thirsty
souls here is one bucket of life! come and
drink of it: "Whosoever will, let him
come and take of the water of life
freely" l pull away again at the
rope, and another bucket comes
up. 1t is this promise: "Weep-
ing may endure for night, but JOY
cometh in the morning" l lay hold
of the rope again, and pull away with
all my strength, and the bucket comes up
bright, and beautiful, and cool. Here is
the promise: Come unto me all ye who
are weary and heavy laden, and ! will
give you rest" The old astrOlogers used
to cheat the people with the idea that they
could tell from the position of the stars
what would occur in the future, and if g
cluster of stars stood in one relation, that
would be a prophesy of evil; if cluster
of stars stood in another relation, that
would be prophesy of good. What SUI
! perstition
But here is a new astrology in which l
put all my faith. By looking up to the
star of Jacob, the morning star Of the
Redeemer, l can make this prophesy in
regard to those who put their trust in
God: "All things work together for good
to those who love God" | read it out on
the sky. read it out in the Bible. l read
it out in all things. "All things work to-
gether for good to those who love Cod"
Do you love Him.. Have you seen the
Nyetanthes? 1t is beautiful flower, but
it gives very little fragrance until after
sunset. Then it pours it's richness ON the
air. And this grace of the Gospel that
commend to you this day, while it may be
very sweet during the day of pros perity,
it pours forth its richest aroma after sun
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