Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-06-12

II
comes the voice OF a sympathetic God
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and
he shall sustain thee"
There are a great many who have a
| weight of persecution and abuse upon
them. Sometimes society gets a grudge
| against n man. All his motives are mis-
interpreted and his good deeds are de-
preciated. With more virtue than some
of the honored and applauded. he runs
only against raillery and sharp criti-
cism. When man begins TO go down
he has not only the force of natural
| gravitation, but a hundred hands to
| help him in the fall. Men are perse-
| cuted for their virtues and their sue
cesses. Germanicus said he had Just as
| MANY blUuer ant lgL.-lSss as nc NAL
adornments. The character some
times is SO lustrous that the weak eyes
of envy and jealousy cannot bear to
look at it. 1t was their integrity that
| put Joseph in the pit, and Daniel in
the den. and Sharach in the fire, and
sent John the Evangelist TO desolate
| Patmos, and Calvin TO the castle of per-
secution, and John Iuss TO the stake,
! and Korah after Moses, and Saul after
David and Herod after Christ. BE
sure if you have anything to do for
|
with all your soul, the lightning will
| strike you.
The world always has had n cross be-
| tween two thieves for the one who
&C mes 10 save it. High and holy enter
| prise has always been followed by
| abuse. The most sublime tragedy of
| self-sacrifce has come to burlesque.
| The graceful gait of virtue is always
| followed by grimace and travesty.
| The sweetest strain Of poetry ever writ
| ten has come to ridiculous parody, and
as long as there are virtue and right
eousness in the world, there will be
something for iniquity to grin at. All
along the line of the ages, and in all
llnds, the cry has been: IN OF this man,
but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was
a robber." And what max, s
The prosecutions of life worse,
is that they come from people
whom you have helped, from those to
whom you have loaned money
or have started in business, or whom
you rescued in some great crisis.
think il has been the history of all our
lives-the most acrimonious assault
has come from those whom we have
benefited, whom we have helped, and
that makes it all the harder to bear.
A man is in danger of becoming Gym
ical.
A prominent merchant of New York
said to member of my family: "My
mother wants her case mentioned TO
Mr.. Talmage." This was the case. He
said: "My mother had a dreadful alb
scess, from which she had suffered un-
told agonies, and all surgery had been
exhausted upon her, and worse and
worse she grew until we called in n few
Christian friends and proceeded to pray
about it. We commended her case TO
God and the abscess began Immediately
to be cured. She is entirely well now,
and without knife and without any sur
gerry" So that case has come to me,
and there are score of other eases
coming to our ears from all parts of the
earth. Oh, We who are sick, go to
Christ! Oh, We who are worn out with
agonies of body, "cast thy burden upon
the Lord and he shall sustain thee!"
Another burden some have to carry is
the burden of bereavement. An! these
are the troubles that wear us out IL
we lose our property, by additional in
dustry, perhaps, we may bring back the
estranged fortune; IL we lose our good
name, perhaps by reformation of NOR
ais we may achieve again reputation for
integrity; but who will bring back the
dear departed? Alas! me for these
empty cradles and these trunks of child
ish toys that will never be used againl
Alas me for the empty chair and the
silence in the halls that will never echo
again to those familiar footsteps. Alas!
for the cry of widowhood and orphan
| age. What bitter Marahs in the wilder
ness, what cities of the dead, what long
al haI hn ,NfI n
what eyes sunken with grief, what
hands tremulous with bereavement,
what instruments of music shut now
because there are no fingers to play on
| them! Is there no relief for such souls?
- Then there are many who carry the
! burden of sin. All, we all carry it un-
| til in the appointed way that burden is
| lifted. We need no Bible TO prove that
| the whole race is ruined. Sin, grim
and dire, has put it's clutch upon
| the immortal soul, and that clutch will
never relax unless it be under the heel
of him who came to destroy the works
of the devil.
Oh, to have mountain of sin on the
soul! Is there no way to have the bur-
| den moved? o, yes. "Cast thy burden
upon the Lord" The sinless One came
| to take the consequences of our sin!
| And know he is in earnest. How do
/ know it? BY the streaming temples
and the streaming hands as he says,
"Come unto me all We who are weary
and heavy laden and l will give you
rest" Why will prodigals live on
swines' husks when the robe and the
ring and the fathers welcome are
readyp Why go wandering over the
great Sahara Desert of your sin when
you are invited to the gardens of God,
the trees of life. and the fountains of
| living water? Why be houseless and
homeless forever when you may become
the sons and daughters of the Lord God
| Almighty?