Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-09-04


jamin's mess is larger than all the Others, for
so it ought to be. =" Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain, to receive blessing, land riches,
and honor, and glory, and power"
I want to make three points. Every
frank and common-sense man Will nc
knowledge himself to be a sinner. What
are you going to do with your sinsl Have
them pardoned, you say. How' through
the mercy of Col. What do you mean by
the mercy Of Godf Is IL the letting down
of a bar for the admission Of all, without
respect to characteri Be not deceived. L
see soul coming up to the gate OF mercy
and knocking at the corncrib OF heavenly
supply: and a voice from within says;
"Are you aloneY' The sinner replies:
"All alone.n The voico from within says:
"You shall not sec My parioning face I'M
less your Divine Brother, the Lord Jesus
be with YOU" Oh, that is the point at
which so many are discounted. There Il
no mercy from God except through jesus
Christ. Coming with Him. we are acceptet.
Coming without Him, we are rejected
Peter put it right in his great sermon be-
fore the high priests when he thundere
forth: Neither is there salvation in any
other. There is no other name given under
heaven among men whereby We may be
sayedr Oh. anxious sinner Oh, dying
sinnerl Oh, lost sinner all you have got
to do is to take this Divine Benjamin along
with you. Side by side, coming TO the
gate, all the store-houses OF heaven will
swing open before your anxious soul. Am
right in calling Jesus Beajam NJ Oh, yes.
Rachel lived only long enough to give
a name to that child, AMI with a dying
kiss she called him Benoni. Atterward
Jacob chan ed HIS name, AMI he callel
him Benjamin. The meaning Of the name
she gave was "Son OF my Pain" The
meaning OF the name the father gave was
"Son Of my Right Hand" And was not
Christ the Son OF Pain? All the sorrows
of Rachel in that hour when she gave her
child over into the hands Of strangers was
nothing compared with the struggle OF
God when He gave up His only Son The
omnipotent God in birth throe And was
not Christ appropriately called "SOn OF the
Right HandT' Did not Stephen look into
heaven and see Him standing at the right
hand of Godi And does not not Paul speak
of Him rs standing at the right hand Of Col
making intercession for us? o Benjamin.
Jesus Son OF pang! Son OF victory
The deepest emotions OF our souls
ought TO be stirred at the sound OF
that nomenclature. In your prayers pleat
His tears, His sufferinSs. His sorrows and
His DEATH II you refuse to do it, all the
corn-cribs and the palaces Of heaven will DO
bolted and barred against your soul, and a
voice from the throne shall stun you with
the announcement: you shall not see My
face except your Brother be with YOU
Nv text also suggests the reason why 81
many people DO not get any real comfort.
You meet ten people; nine OF them are IN
need Of some kind of condolences. There Is
something in their health, or in their state
or in their domestic condition that demands
sympathy. And yet the most OF the worlds
sympathy amounts 10 absolutely moth
ing. People go to the wrong crib, or
they 90 in the wrong way. When tde
plague was in Rome n great many years
AGO. there were eighty men who chanted
themselves 10 death with the litanies OF
Gregory the Great--iiterally chanted them
selves to death, and yet it did not stop the
plague. And all the music Of this world
cannot halt the plague OF the human
heart. / come TO some ono whose ailments
are chronic, and say: I'm heaven you VIII
never be sick" That does not give you
much comfort. What you want is sooth-
ing power for your present distress. Lost
children. have you; | come TO you ana tell
YOU that in ten years perhaps you VIII
meet these loved ones before tho throne
of God. But there is but little condolences
in that. One day is a year without
them. and ten years is a small eternity.
What YOU want Is a sympathy now-present
helm. | come 10 those Of you who have lost
dear friends. and say: FRY to forget them.
Donot keep the departed always IN your
mind" How can you forget them when
every figure in the carpet, and every book'
and every picture, and every room cllS
out their name? Suppose j come to You
and sav by way of coincidence: God is
wise Oh you say. that gives me no
help" Suppose l come 10 you and say
God. from all eternity, has arranged TINS
trouble" "Ahm you say: that does me me
no gooG.r Then | shy: with the swift
feet of PRAYER 90 direct to the corn
crib for heavenly supply" You 60. You
say: lord, help me; Lord, comfort me-.
But no help yet. No comfort yet. IL Is all
dark What is the matter nave Iounn
You ought to go to God and say here;
Lord nre the wounds of my soul, and L
bring with me the wounded Jesus. Let bis
wounds pay for my wounds. His bereave-
ments for my bereavementS His Loneliness
for nv Loneliness His heart-hreak for my
heart break o God for the sake OF the LORI
Jesus Christine Col tine Man, the Benia-
min. the Brother-delver my agonizci
soul. o Jesus Of the weary foot, ease MY
fatigue. o Jesus of the aching hen !. hea
nv aching heal q Jesus OF the Bethany.
sisters. roll away the stone from the doc
Of our grave" That is the kind OF praye
that brings help: AMI vet how many OF you
are getting no help at all for the reason that
there is in your soul, perhaps secret
trouble You may never nave mentloned
it to a single human ear, or you may nave
mentioned il TO some one who is now gone
away, and that great sorrow is still IN
your soul After Washington Irving was
dead. they found little box that contained
If bof 1 a miniature and fha name
of Matilda Hoffman and a memorandum
Of her death, and the remark something Ike
this: THE world after that was blank
10 me. | won't into the country, but fount
no peace in solitude. ! tried to 90 into so
ciety, but found no peace I'm society. There
has been horror hanging over mo by nighS
and by day, AMI am afraid to be alone"
How many unuttered troubles No hui
man ear has ever heard the sorrow. On,
troubled soul. want to tell you that there
is one salve that can cure the wounds OF
the heart, and that Is the salve made out
of the tears of sympathetic Jesus. And
vet some of YOU will not take this solace:
an You try choral, and YOU try morphlne.
and you try strong drink, and you Try
change of scene, AMI you try new business
associations, and anything and everything
rather than take the Divine companionship
and sympathy suggested by the WORKS OF
my text when it says, You shall not see ny
face again unless your Brother DO WIN
you.n Oh. that you might understand
something of the height. and depth, ana
length. AMI breadth, and immensely, and
infnity Of Gods eternal consultations.
/ 90 further, and find in my subject hint
as to the way heaven opens to the departing
spirt. We are told that heaven mas
twelve gates, and some people infer from
that fact that all the people viii so IN
without reference to their past litej ous
what is the use of having gate that - so'
sometimes to be shut? The swinging OF n
gate implies that our entrance into heaven
f conditional. 1t is not monetary condi-
L., IL ,,.n cnnne 10 the door OF an exqul-