The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-01-18

good hiding place. When JchosheDi
rushes into the nursery of tho King and
picks up Joash, what shall she do Will
him? Shall she take him to some room
in the palace? No; for the ollicia
desperadoes will hunt through ever,
nook and corner Of that building. Shall
she take him to the residence of som,
wealthy citizen? No; that citizen woul,
not dare to harbor the fugitive. Iiu
she has TO take him somewhere. Sh,
hears the cry of the mob in the streets
she hears the Shrek of the dying nobil
ity; so she PUSHES with Joash unto th'
room of the temple, into the house o
God, and then she puts him down. She
knows that Athaliah and her wicked
assassins will not bother the temple {
great deal; they are not apt to go very
much 10 church, and so she sets down
Joash in the temple. There he will be
hearing the songs of the worShiper,
year after year; there he will breathe
the odor of the golden censers. in that
sacred spot he will tarry, secreted until
the six years have passed, and he come
to enforcement.
Would God that We we're IA wise as
Jehosheba, and knew that the church Of
God Is the best hiding place. Perhaps
our parents took US there in early DAYS,
they snatched us away from the world
n hid US behind the baptismal fonts
and amid the Bibles and the psalm
books. o, glorious inclosurG! We have
beer breathing his breath of the golde II
censers all the time, and VI have seer
the lamb on the altar and we have
handled the plants which are the pray.
ers Of all saints, and we have dwelt III
der the wings of the cherubim. Glori.
GUS Enclosure! When my father and
mother died. and the property was set
tied up, there was hardly any thing left;
but they endowed us with "A property
worth more than any earthly possession,
because they hid uS in the temple. And
when days of temptation have come
upon my soul have gone there for shell
ter; and when assaulted of sorrows |
have gone there for comfort, and there
I mean to live. | want, like Joash, to
stay there until coronation. | mean to
be buried out of the house of God.
o men Of the world-outside there, be-
trayed, ca~ricatured and cheated OF the
world, why do you not come in through
the broad, ~wide-open door of Christian
communion? ] wish | could act the
part of Jehosheba to-day, and steal you
away from your perils-and hide you in
the temple. How few Of US appreciate
the fact that the church of God is a hid.
l-r rIaao 1hApa ~ az - n .,n,lIn
who put the Church at SO low u mark
that they begrudge it every thing, even
the few dollars they give toward 1t.
They make nc sacrifices, They dole a
little out Of their surplusage. They pay
their butchers bill, and they pay their
landlord, and they pay every body but
the Lord, and they come in at the last
to pay the Lord in His church, and frowu
as they say:
."rhere, Lord, 1t is; If you will Ina 70
1t take it-now, take it, take 1t; send
me q receipt in-iull, and don't bother me
oon againi"
/ tell you there Is not moro than one
man out OF O thousand that appreciates
what the church is. Where are the
souls that put aside one-tenth for Chris,
tian institutions-one-tenth of their in.
come? Where are those who, having put
aside that one-tenth, draw upon it cheer
tullyp Why, 1t is pull, and drag, and
hold on, and grab, and clutch; and Civ
Ing Is an af1iction to most people when
1t ought to be On e~xhilaration and q
rapture. Oh, that God would remodel
Jul souls on this subject, and that we
might appreciate the house of God as
the great refuge. II your children are
to come up 10 lives Of virtue and happi-
ness, they will come up under the shadow
Of the church. II the church does not
get them tho world will.
All, when you pass aw ay-and it will
not be long before you do-when you
pass awGy it will be q satisfaction to
see your children in Christian society.
You want to have them sitting at the
holy sacraments. You want them min
Cling in Christian associations. You
would like to have them die in the ga
cred precincts. When you are on your
dying bed, and your little one come up
to take your last word, and you look in
to their bewildered faces, you will want
to leave them under the church's bene-
diction. ! don't care how hard you
are, that Is so. l said to q man
Of the world: "Your son and
daughter are going to join our
Church next Sunday. Have you any
objections?" BLESS you" he said, OBJ
iections? | wish ali my children be-
longed to the Church. l don't attend
to those matters myself know I am
very wicked-but | am very glad they
are going, and | shall be there to sec
them. am very glad, sir: am very
glad. ! want them there" And so,
though you may have been wanderers
from God, and though you may have
sometimes caricatured the church OF
Jesus it is your great desire that your
sons and daughters should be standing
all their lives within this sacred inclos-
ure.
More than that, you yourself will
want the church for q hiding place when
the mortgage is foreclosed, when your
daughter. just blooming into woman
hood, suddenly clasps her hands In u
slumber that knows no waking, when
gaunt trouble walks through the parlor,
and the sitting-room, and the dining
hall, and the nursery, you Will want
some shelter from the tempest. All,
some Of you have been run upon by mis-.
fortune and trial; why do you not come
into the shelter? / said to u widowed
mother after she had buried her only
s~on-months after said to her:
"How do you get along nowadays?"
"Oh," she replied, 81 get along toler,
ably we'll, except when the sun shines
saidI "What do you mean by that?'
when she said.
81 can't bear to see the sun shine; my
heart Is so dark that all the brightness
Of the natural world seems a mockery
to me-" o, darkencd soul! o, broken
hearted man, broken-hearted woman
why do you not come int the shelter
swing the door wide open. | swing II
from wall to wall. Come in! Come in
You want a place where your trouble.
shall be interpreted. where your bur
dens shall he u~nstrapped, where you
tears shall be wiped away.
Church OF God, be 4 hiding place t.
all these people. Give them a sea-
where they can rest their weary souls
Flash some light from your chandeliers
upon their darkness. With some sooth.
ing hymn hush their griefs. o, Church
OF God, gate of Heaven, lot me e
through 1t! All other institutions are
going to fall; but the Church of God-it.
foundation Is the Rock of Ages" 1t,
charter is for everlasting years, iti
keys are held by the universal proprie
tor, its dividend is Heaven, its president
Is God!
Sure as thy truth shall last,
To Zion shall be given
The brightest glories earth can yield,