The national leader., 1889-02-02
there are Amalekitish disasters, and
there are
AMALEKITIsH DISEASES,

HOn0, making as devastating WOIh do
the day when Ziklag took fire. There
are families in my congregation whose
homes have been broken up. No bat
tering-ram smote IN the door. no ICON
oclast crumbled the statues, no fame
leaped amidst the curtains; but so far
as all the Joy and merriment that once
belonged to that house are concerned,
the home has departed. Armed dis
eases came down upon the Quietness of
the scene-scarlet fevers, or pleurisies,
or consumptions, or underlined disorders
came and seized upon some members
of that family, and carried them away.
Ziklag in ashesl And you go about,
sometimes weeping, and sometimes en-
ragged, wanting to get back your loved
ones as much as David and his men
wanted to reconstruct their despoiled
households. Ziklag in ashes!
Some OF you went off from home.
You counted the days of your absence.
Every day seemed as long as week.
Oh, how glad you were when the time
came for you to 60 aboard the steam
boat or rail-car and start for homel
You arrived. You went up the street
where your dwelling was, and in the
night you put your hand on the door
bell. and, behold it was wrapped with
the signal of bereavement, and you
found that Amalekitish Death, which
has devastated thousand other house
holds, had blasted yours. You go
about weeping amidst the desolation 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 more
power to weep. Ziklag in ashesl
A gentleman went to friend of
mine in the city of Washington, and
asked that through him he might get a
consulship to some foreign port. My
friend said to him: "What do you
want to go away from your beautiful
home for, into foreign port?" 'Oh, "
he replied, "my home is gonel My six
children are deadl I must get away,
sir. 1 can't stand it in this country
any longer" Ziklag in ashesl
| Why these long shadows of bereave-
ment across this audience? Why is it
that in almost every assemblage black
is
THE PREDOMINANT COLOR
of the apparel? Is it because you do
not like saffron, or brown, or velvet?
Oh, mol You say: 1.-The world is not
! so bright to us as 1t once WaS"; and
there Is 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. Zlklag in
ashes!
In Ulster County, New York, the
village church was decorated until the
fragrance Of the flowers was almost be-
wildering. The maidens of the village
had emptied the place Of flowers upon
one marriage altar. One of their own
number was affianced to minister Of
Christ, who had come to take her to
his home. With hands joined, amidst
congratulatory audience, the 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 dirge. 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 a
week before in his strength; now he
comes home liteless. The whole church
bewalled him. The solemn procession
moved around to look upon the still face
that once had beamed with messages of
salvation. Little children were lifted
up to look at him. And some of those
whom he had comforted in days of sOr-
row, when they passed that silent form,
made the place dreadful with their
weeping. Another village emptied of
it's flowers-Some of them put in the
shape of cross to symbolic his hope,
others put in the shape of crown to
symbolic his triumph. A hundred
lights blown out in one strong gust
from the door of sepulchrel Ziklag
in ashesl
L preach this sermon to-day because
l want to rally you as David rallied his
men, for
THE RECOVERY OF THE LOVED
and the lost. 1 want not only to win
heaven, but I want all this congrega-
tion to go along with me. l feel that
somehow have responsibility in your
arriving at that great city. l have on
other Sabbaths used other induce
ments. 1 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 companion
ship of your loved ones who have gone?
Are you as anxious to join them as
David and his men were to join their
families? Then l am here, in the. name
of God, to say that you may, and to tell
you how.
l remark, in the first place, if you
want to join your loved ones in glory
you
MUST TRAVEL THE SAME WAY
they went. No sooner had the half
dead Egyptian been resuscitated than
he pointed the way the captors and the
captives had gone, and David and his
men followed after. So our Christian
friends have gone into another country,
and if we want to reach their compan-
ionship 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 a religious life; we must
| live a Religions life They were in