The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-08-21
THE LORD PROVIDES.
DR.. TALMAcE DIscoURSES ON THE
BENEFlCENCE OF PROVIDENCE.

AZ hollS hlttilCL, ~. a., ou ouItltity
the great Brooklyn preacher, dis
coursed OH the gospel provision for
ordinary and extraordinary needs,
His text was Joshua V, 13: "And the
mama ceased on the morrow after
they had eaten of the old corn of the
land"
Only those who have had some
thing to do with the commissariat of
an army known what a job it is to
feed and clothc five or six hundred
thousand men. Well, there is such q
host ,.s that marching across the des
crt. They are cut off from all army
supplies. There are no rail trains
bringing down food or blankets. Shall
theyall perish? No. The Lord comes
from heaven to rescue, and he touches
the shoes and the coats which in j
year or two would have been worn to
rags and tatters, and they become
storm proof and time-proof, so that.
after forty years of wearing, the coats
and shoes are as good as now. Be
sides that, every morning there is u
shower OF bread, not sour and Soggy,
for the rising of that bread is made
in heaven, and celestial fingers have
mixed it, and rolled into balls. light,
hally, and sweet, as though they were
crumbs thrown out from heavenly
bouquet. Two bntchcs of bread made
every day in the upper mansion-one
for those why sit at the table with
tho king, and the other for the march
ing ISraclitcs III the wilderness.
| do not very much pity the Israc
htcs for the fact that they had only
mamma to eat. 1t was, Isupposc, the
best food ever provided. I know that
the ravens brought food to hungry
Elijah; but l should not SO we'll have
liked those black waitcis. Rather
would have the face that came down
every morning i'll the buckets Of dew
clean, sweet, God provided edible.
But now the Israelitcs have taken the
lost bit of it III their fingers and put
the last delicate morscl Of it TO their
lips, They look out. and there is no
mamma Why this cessation of hcay-
~ supply! 1t was because the Isruc
ltes had arrived in Canaan. and they
smellcd the breath of :hc harvest
fields, and the crowded barns Of the
country were thrown open to Them
All the inhabitants had fled, and in
the name of the Lord Of Hosts the
lsraelitcs took possession Of every
thing. Well, the thrcshing- floor is
cleared, the corn is scattered over it,
the oxen are brought around in lazy
and perpetual circuit until thc corn
Is tranplcd loose; then it is winnowcd
with fan, and it is ground and it is
baked, and, 10! there is enough bread
Tor all the worn out host "And the
mamma ceased on the morrow after
they had eaten of the old corn of the
Mnd."
From among the mummics of
Egypt and Canaan have been brought
grains of corn, exactly like our Indian
corn, and recently planted they have
produced the same kind of corn, with
which we arc familiar. Sol am moi
sure which kind of grain my text re
fers to, but all the same is the mean
ing.
The dissection of this subject leads
me, first, to speak of especial relict
for especial emergency;and, secondly
Of tho old corn of the gospel for or
binary circumstances. -""'
If these Israelites s~G..ss;ns III,
WllderneesS wilde ess he'd ned, not received breat
! bccoux, heavenly bakeries, there
?" ,rst, have been n long line o
dead children half buried in the sand
then, there would have been Ions
line of dead women waiting for the
jacllals; then, there would have beer
n long line of dead men unburied
because there would have been nc
one bury thom. I would have been
told in the history Of the world that Il
great company of good people started
out from Egypt for Canaan, and were
never heard of, as thoroughly lost il
the wilderness of sand as the City o.
Boston and tho President were los
in the wilderness of waters. Wha
use was it to thom, there was plenty
of corn in Canaan, or plenty Of corr
in Egypt!
What they wanted was somcthin,
to eat right there, where there wa
not so much rs grass blade. II
other words, an especial supply for N
especial emergency. That is wha
some of you want. The ordinar,
comfort, the ordinary counsel, do no
seem to meet your case. There art
those who feel that they must have ~
omnipotent and immediate supply
and you shall have it.
It is pain and physical distress
through which you must go! Does
not Jesus know all about pain? Did
he not suffer it in the most sensitive
part of hoad and hand and foot? He
has mixture Of comfort, one drop
of which shall cure the worst
paroXysm. 1t is the same grace that
soothed Robert Hall when, after
writing on the carpet in physical
tor lures, he cried out: "Oh! / suffer
cd terribly, but I didn't cry out
while [ was suffering, did II Did
cry out?' There Is no such nurse as
Jesus-his hand the gentlest, his foot
the lightest, his ann the stl
For especial pang especial he
Is 1t approaching sorro,
long, shadowing bereavem