Connecticut western news., 1891-09-17
A TYPE OF DIVINE LOVE.
KINDNESS OF THE BARBARiANS OF MILITIA TO PAUL AND HIS FELLOWS

KINDNESS OF THE BAReARIANS OF MILITIA TO PAUL AND HIS FELLOWS. pr. Talmage Draws 8 Variety of Lessons
 from the Record in Acts-They Were Barbarians Only in That They Could Not Speak Greek.
 BRooKLYN, Sept IS. Brooklyn Tabernacle today contained many strangers on their way home from the watering places and foreign lands. Many of the members, absent from the city during the summer, were in their places. The church building and the organ, which have been almost con- tinually under brush and hammer since the dedication last spring. are now about completed. The sermons today were full of congratulation and were attended by the usual throngs Dr. Talmage's morning sermon was on Kindness" :" from the text, Acts xviii, 2. The barbarous people showed us no little kindness" sss gas My text puts us on the Island of Malta, another name for Melita This island. which has always been an i1n, portant commercial cen0G belonging at different times to Phpnicia, to Greece, to Rome, to Arabia. to Spain to France, now belongs to England The area of the island is about 100 square miles It is in the Mediter ranean sea, and of such clarity of at mosphere that Mount Etna. one hun dred and thirty miles away. can be dis tinctly seen The island is gloriously memorable because the Knights of Malta for a long whileruled there. but most famous because of the apostolic shipwreck.
 The bestorlned vessel on which Paul sailed had 'laid to" on the starBbard tack, and the wind was blowing east northeast and the vessel drifting prob ably a mile and half an hour ere she struck at what is now called St. Paul's bay Practical sailors have taken up l the Bible account and decided beyond controversy the place of the shipwreck. But the island which has so rough coast is for the most part a garden. Richest fruits and profusion of honey characterized it in Paul's time as we'll as now The finest oranges figs and olives grow there When Paul and his comrades crawled up on the beach. sat urated with the salt water and hungry from long abstinence from food and chilled to the bone the islanders. though called barbarians because they could not speak Greek, opened their doors to the shipwrecked unfortunates. Everything had gone to the bottom of the deep. and the barefooted. bare headed apostle and ships crew were in a condition to appreciate hospitality. About twenty five such men a few seasons ago found in the life station near Easthampton, Long Island. They had got ashore in the night from the sea, and not hat nor shoe had they left They found out, as Paul and his fellow voyagers found out, that the sea Is the toughest of all robbers My text finds the ships crew ashore on Malta. and around hot fire drying themselves. and with the best provision the island. CTS can offer them. zt
 And they go into government quar- ters for three days to recuperate, Pub Illus, the ruler, inviting them, although he had severe sickness in the house at that time-his father down with dysentery and typhoid fever. Yea, for three months they staid on the island, watching for ship and putting the hospitality of the islanders to severe test But they endured the test satisfac torily. and it is recorded for all the ages of time and eternity to read and hear in regard to the inhabitants of Malta. ''The barbarous people showed us no little kindness
 JESUS CHRIST IS KINDNESS INCAR- -'.- MATED.
 Kindnessl What great word that ia It would take reed as long as that which the apocalyptic angel used to measure heaven to tell the length. the breadth. the height of that muniflcent word It is a favorite Bible word, and 1t is early launched in the book of Genesis: caught up ln the book of Joshua. embraced in the book of Ruth. sworn by in the book of Samuel crowned in the book of Psalms and ell throned in many places in the New Testament Kindnessl A word no more gentle than mighty l expect it will wrestie me down before l get through witl, it It is strong enough to throw an arclangel But it will be we'll for us to stand around it and warm ourselves by it's glow as Paul and his fellow voyagers stood around the fire on th.. Island of Malta. where the Maltese made themselves immortal in my text by the way they treated these victims of the sea- ''The barbarous people showed us no little kindness '"
 Kindnessl All definitions of that mul- tpotent word break down half way. You say it Is cleluency, benignity, gen. erositv: it is made mp of good wishes, it is all expression oi benehcence. it is a contribution to the happiness of others. Some one else says: "Why. can give you definition of kindness It is sun. shine of the soul; 1t is affection per. ennial. it is a crowning grace. it is the combination of all graces; it is com passion; it is tho perfection of gentle manliness and womanliness. Are you all drought You have made dead failure in your definition It cannot be defined But we all know what it is, for we all felt it's power Some of you may have felt it as Paul. felt it. on some coast of rock as the ship wen, te pieces, but more of Us have again ;;nd again in some awful stress of life lac either from earth or heaven hands stretched out. which showed us nc
 little kindness.