The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-09-24

gave rain" Do you say that was the
weather Of olden time? There have
been instances in modern times just as
marvellous There's not Christian ship
captain but could give you instances
Of divine indifference with the weather
In answer 70 prayer. 1t has been my
! good fortune TO know many ship captains.
They are In all our services. They
leave their vessels on Sunday mornings
and join us in Worship. warrant there
are enough Of them present this morning
70 take whole feet In safety across the
Atlantic. Whenever have heard them
testify 1t has nightly confirmed me in
what knew before, that God answers
prayer concerning the weather. And
there have been cyclones that started
up from the Caribbean sea, sweeping
down every sail and every smokestack
and every mast in their course, which
In answer to specific petition have been
diverted and made TO curve around some
particular ship, leaving them in calm
waters, and then resumed their original
path of destruction. The weather prob
abilities again and again have an
nounced tempest, and we were already
for 1t, but to the surprise Of most people,
the next day we saw the announcement
that the atmospheric fury had changed
its course. The probability is It struck
prayer and glanced of. II Elijah's
prayer affected the weather of Palestine
for forty-two months, I,should think
somebody now might have q prayer that
would affect it fol, a couple, OF days.
John Easter was many years ago an
evangelist In Virginia. A large out
door meeting was being held in that
State. Many thousands had assembled
in the open air and heavy storm clouds
began to gather. There was no shelter to
which the multitude could retreat. The
rain had already reached the adjoining
fields when John Easter cried out:
Brethren, be still while call upon
God to stay the storm till the gospel Is
preached to this multitude" Then he
knelt and prayed that the audience
might be spared from the rain, and that
after they had gone TO their homes there
might come refreshing showers. Be-
hold the clouds parted as they cauie
near and passed to either side Of the
crowd and then closed again, leaving the
place dry where the audience had as
sembled, and the next day the postponed
showers came upon the ground that had
been the day before omitted. Do you
say 1t only happened so? can not see
what you keep your Bibles for, and the
God you worship is not my God. Your
God is an autocrat and he is SO far on
and so far up that the world can not
touch him, and his throne is an eternal
iceberg. Ny God Is a father, here and
now, and father will give his child
what he asks for, II II is best for him to
have II. Pray about every thing that
concerns you, secularities as we'll a.
spiritualities. Take to God all your
annoyances and perplexities. The
crooked shall be made straight Some
people talk as though God controlled
things In general but not In particular;
that He started every thing under GER
tain laws and then let 1t take care OF itself,
rs an engineer might start his locomo-
tive on an iron railroad track and then
jump of. What would happen to such
locomotive is what would long ago have
happened TO our world II God had
started IL and afterward allowed IL to
look out for ITSELF There is no such
thing as general Providence. It Is q
particular Providence. God has no gen.
eral care for forest It is a care OF
every cell OF every loaf and root in that
forest. God has no general care OF the
ocean. II is care Of every drop Of
water In the liquid magnitude. God has
no general care for the human race. 1t
is care OF every individual OF that race
and OF every item OF individual history.
preach him, a God in inhnitesimals, an
everyday God, God responsive, and
one breath Of earnest prayer, though
that breath should not be strong enough
to make candle flicker, will absorb
more Of the Divine attention than II the
archangel standing at the foot Of the
throne should flap both wings.
II is remarkable how many crooked
things are in the providence OF God
being made straight About thirty years
ago our national affairs were as crooked
as deRraved American politics and bad
men and Satan could make them. From
the top Of Maine TO the foot OF Florida,
the nation was red with wrath. 1t was
wrangle and fight all the way through,
and one Of the mildest OF things that the
North and South promised each other
was assassination. During this summer
! have travelled through New York and
Ohio, and Illinois, and Indiana, and
Minnesota, and Kansas, and Nebraska,
and Missouri, and Texas, and Louisiana,
and Georgia, and North and South Caro-
lima, and Virginia, and Pennsylvania,
and I have shaken hands with tens Of
thousands Of people, and talked With
mon Of all sections and degrees, and I
have 10 toll you. II 10 al peace, and in
all the States OF the Union you could !
not now marshal military company OF
one hundred soldiers 10 fight against
tho United States Government unfeR I
you got your men out OF the peniten-
tiary. Did the corrupt and gangrened
political parties DO this work Of rectin,
cation and pacihcation? Mol II was by
Divine Interpolation that the crooked \
has been made straight.
On tho I'd Of December, 1851, Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte rode down the
Champs Elysee Of Paris, and under the
hoofs Of his horse . republic was
trampled as the rider won't TO take o
throna IA WAS tha ON tra oo ~ an ca,