The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-07-24
LOST THEIR WAY.
Sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt Tel-
mage, D. D.

Sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt Tel-
mage, D. D.
Lessons Drawn From the Sending Away OF
Sarah's Servant, Hagar-Importanco
of People Staying in tho Sphere
For Which They Are Intended.
The subject Of Dr.. Talmage's recent dis
course was: people who have lost their
way" He took for his text: "And God
opened her eyes, and she saw well OF
water, and she went and filed her bottle
with water, and gave the lad drink
Genesis xxi. l9. The eloquent preacher
said:
Morning breaks upon Beer-sheba- There
Is an early stir in the house OF old Abraham.
There has been trouble among the domes-
tics. Eagar, an assistant in the household,
and her son, a brisk lad Of sixteen years,
have become imprudent and insolent, and
Sarah, the mistress Of the household, puts
her foot down very hard, and says that they
will have to leave the premises. They are
packing up now. Abraham, knowing that
the journey before his servant and her son
will be very long and across desolate places,
in the kindness Of his heart sets about put
ting up some bread and bottle with water
in it. It is . very plain lunch that Abraham
provides, but warrant you there would have
been enough of it had they not lost their
way. God be with you!" said old Abraham
as he gave the lunch to Hagar, and good
many charges as to how she should conduct
the Journey. lshmael, the boy, I suppose
bounded away in the morning light Boys
always like change. Poor Ishmael! He
had 20 idea of the disasters that are ahead
Of him. Hagar gives one long, lingering
look on the familiar place where she had
spent so many happy days, each scene asso-
ciated with the pride and JOY of her heart
young Ishmael.
The scorching noon comes on. The air IS
sitting and moves across the desert with IN
siderable sufocation. Ishmael, the boy,
begins to complain and lies down, but Hagar
rouses him up, saying nothing about her
own WEAKNESS or the sweltering heat, Tor
mothers can endure any thing. TrudSe,
trudge, trudge. Crossing the dead level Of
the desert, how wearily and slowly the
miles slip. A tamarind that seemed hours
ago to stand only just little ahead. inviting
the travellers to come under its shadow, now
IS as far off as ever, or seemingly so. Night
drops upon the desert, and the travellers are
pillowless. lshnael, very weary, suppose,
instantly falls asleep. Hagsr, as the shad-
ows Of the night begin lap over each other
-Hagar hugs her weary boy to her bosom
and thinks of the fact that it is her fault
that they are in the desert. a star looks
out and every falling tear it kisses with
sparkle. Awing of wind comes over thehot
earth and lifts the locks from the fevered
brow Of the boy. Hagar sleeps fitfully, and
n her dreams travels over the weary day,
and half awakes her son by crying out in
her sleep, '1shmael 1shmael" And so
they 90 on, day after day and night
!. ser night, for they have lost their
way. No path in the shifting sands, no sign
in the burning sky. The sack empty Of the
-four, the water gone from the bottle. What
shall she doa As she puts her fainting
Ishmsel under a stunted shrub Of the arid
plain she sees the bloodshot eye. and feels
the hot hand, and watches the blood burst
ing from the cracked tongue, and there IS
shrtek in the desert Of Beer-sheba: eve
shall Ael we shall GteiS' St.rE, IN Tatksr-
was ever made strong enough to heSf her
son cry in vain for drink. Heretofore she
had cheered her boy by promising a speedy
end to the journey, even smiled upon him
when he felt desperately enough. Now
there is nothing to do but place him under
shrub and let him die She had thought that
she would sit there and watch until the
spirit Of her boy would'go away forever,
and then she would breathe out her own life
on lis silent heart; but as the boy begins to
claw his tongue In agony Of thirst, and
struggle in distortion, and beg his mother
to clay him, she can not endure the spec
tacle. She puts him under shrub and goes
of a bow shot, and begins to weep until all
the desert seems sobbing, and her cry
strikes clear through the heavens: and an
angel Of God comes out on cloud and
down upon the appalling grief and cries:
"Hagar, what aileth theea" She looks up
and sees the angel pointing to well Of
water, where she fills the bottle for the lad.
Thank God! Thank God!
Ilearn from this Oriental scene, in the
first place, what a sad thing 1t is when peo-
pie do not know their place, and get too
proud for their business. Hagar was an as
sistant in that household, but she wanted to
rule there. She ridiculed and ieered until
her son, Ishmael got the same tricks. She
dashed out her own happiness and threw
Sarah into great fret: and il she had
STAYED much longer in that household she
would have upset calm Aoraham's eQuilib-
rum. Ny friends, one-half Of the trouble
in the world to-day comes from the fact that
people do not know their place; or, finding
their place, will not stay in it. When we
come into the world there IS a place ready
for US. A place for Abraham. A place for
Sarah place for Eagar. A place for
Ishmael. A place for you and place for
me. Our first duty is to find our sphere;
our second is to FL 1t. We may be born in
q sphere far of from the one for which God
finally intends u.s. Sextus Y. was born on
the low ground and was swineherd; God
called him up to wave scepter. Ferguson
spent his early days in looking after the
sheep; God called hin, to look after the
stars, and be shepherd watching the focks
OF light on the hillsides Of heaven. Hogarth
began by engraving pewter pots; God raised
him to stand in the enchanted realm Of a
painter The shoenaker's bench held
Bloomfield for little while; but God called
him to sit in the chair of philosopher and
Christian scholar. The soap boiler Of Lon
don could not keep his son il that business,
for God had decided that Hawley was to be
one Of the greatest astronomers Of England
On the other hand, we may be born in a
sphere little higher than that for which
God intended US. We may be born in cas-
tie, and play in a castle conservatory, and
feed high bred pointers, and angle for gold
fish IN artificial ponds, and be familiar with
princes yet God may have htted US for a
carpenters shop, or dentists shop, or a
weaycr's shuttle, or a blackSmiths forge.
The great thing is to find lust the sphere for
which God intended US, and then to occupy
that sphere, and occupy it forever. Here is
man God fashioned to make plow. There
Is man God fashioned to make constitu-
tion. The man who makes the plow is just
as honorable as the one who makes the con
stitution, provided he makes the plow as
well as the other man makes the con
stitution. There is q woman who was made
10 fashion robs, and yonder is one in.
tended to be queen and wear 1t. II
,aans IN me that in the one case as