Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-09-12

man; II can't talk to you on this subject;
you know all about it, and have known it so
long" Well said the dying man. Just
recite to me some promises" The Young
man thought moment and he came to this
promise: THE blood of Jesus Christ cleans
eth from all sim and the old man clapped
his hands, and in his dying moment said
That's just the promise have bsen waiting
for. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin.'n Oh. the warmth, the gran
deur, the magnifsnce OF the promisssl
Come, also, to this Gospel well all We
troubled. | do not suppose you have
escaped. Compare your view OF this life
at fifteen years of age with what your view
of it is at forty, or sixty, or seventy. What
a great contrast of opinion Were you
right then, or are you right now Two
cups placed in your hands, the one a
sweet cup, the other so1r cup. A cup Of
Joy and a cue OF gries. Which has been the
nearest to being full and out OF which have
you the more frequently partaksns What
a different place the cemetery is from
what it used to be. Oncs it was to
you grand city Improvement, and you
you ran laughingly up thu mound and
you criticised in a light way the epitaoh.
But since the day wnea you heard the bell
toll at the gate as you went IN with the
procession, it is sal place, AMI there is a
food OF rushing memories that sufass the
eye and overmaster the heart. Oh, yol
have had trouble. trouble, trou5ie. God
only knows how much you have had. 1t is
a wonder you have bean able TO live through
it. 1t is wonier your nervous system has
not been shattered and your brain has not
resled Trouble, trouble If | could gather
all the griefs, OF all sorts, from this great
audience, AMI could put them in oas
scroll, neithes man nor angel, could en-
dure the recitation. Well, what
do you wAnt? Would you like TO
have your property agains mo- you say,
as Christian man. ~ was becoming AFRO
giant, and think that is way the Lord took
itaway. l don't want to have my property
back Well, would you have your departed
friends back again? no" you say. 81
ing them from fearless realm to
realm OF tears. couldn't
do it." Well, then, what do you
wanti A thousand voices in the audiences
cry out: Comfort, give us comfort" For
that reason | have rolled away the stone
from the wells mouth. Come, all ye wound
ed Of the hock pursued by the wolves, come
TO the fountain where the Lords sick and
and bereft ones have come.
''Ah,n says some one, you are not old
enough to understand my sorrows, You
have not been in the world as long as have,
and you can't talk to me about my misfor-
tunes in the time of old age.n Well | have
L
know how they feel ABOUT their failing
health and about their departed
friends, and about the loneliness that some
times strikes through their soul After
two persons have livei together for forty
or fifty years, and one OF them is taken
away, what desolation | shall not for
get the cry of the late Rev. DR.. De Witt, of
New York, when he stood by thu open
grave OF his beloved wife, and, after the OBJ
sequies had ended, he looked down into the
open place aud said; Farewell, my hon
ored, faithful and beloved wife. The bond
that bound us is severed Thou art IN glory,
and | am hers earth. We shall meet
again. Farewell FAREWELL To lean on
prop for fifty years, aud then have it break
under you There were only two years
difference between the deaths of my
father and mother. After my mothers
decease, my father used to go around as
though looking for something; and he
would often get up from one room without
any seeming reason, and go to another room,
and then he would take his cane and
start out, and some one would say: Faith
er, where are you goingY and he would
answer: II don't know exactly where 1
am going" Though he wcs a tender-heart-
ed man, / never saw him cry but once,
and that was at the burial of my mother.
After sixty years living together IL was hard
to part. And there are aged people to-day
who are feeling just such pang as that.
want to tell them there is perfect enchant-
ment in the promises of this Gospel: and |
come to them and offer them my arm or l
take their arm ami l bring them to
this Gospel well Sit down father,
or mother, sit down. See if there is
David, the Psalmist have you ANYTHING
encouraging to offer them? Yes" soys
the Psalmist They shall still bring forth
fruit in old age, they shall be fat and -four.
ishins; toshow that the Lord i upright; He
IS my rock and there is no unrighteousness
IN Him" Come, Isaiah have you anything
to say out of your prophecies for these aged
people? Yes" says Isaiah; Down to old
age | am with thee, and 10 hoary hairs will
carry thee" Well, if the Lord is going to
carry you, you ought not to worry much
about your failing eyesight and failing
limbs.
But some one says, in the audience:
Notwithstanding all you have said this
morning, find no alienation for my trou-
bles." Well, / am not through yet I
have left the most potent consideration for
the last. am going to soothe you with the
thought of heaven. However tllkative we
may be, there will come time when the
stouteSt and most emphatic interrogation
Will evoke from US no answer. As soon as
we have closet our lips for the final silenc9
no power on earth can break that tacitur-
nifty. But where, O Christian, will be your
spirit? In scene OF infinite gla mess. The
spring-norning Of heaven waving its bios
SONS in tle bright air Victors fresh from
battle showing their scars. The rain of
earthly sorrow struck through with the
rainbow of eternal JOY. In one group, God
and angels and the redeemed-Paul and
Silas. Latimer and Ridley, Isaiah and Jere-
miab, Payson and John Milton Gabriel and
Mic1eel the archansel. Long lines OF Choir
listers reaching across the hills. Seas of joy
dashing to the white beach. Conquerors
marching from gate TO gate. You among
them.
Oh, what great focz Of sheep Col will
gather around the celestial well No stone
on the wells mouth, while the Shepherd
waters the sheep. There Jacob will recog-
MIA Rachel the shepherdess And stand
ing on one side OF the well OF eter-
nal rapture, your children; AMI standing
on the other side of the well Of eter-
nal rupture, your Christian ancestry. you
will be bounded on all sides by a JOY 50
keen and grand that no other world has
ever been permitted to * )erience it, Out
of that one deep we'll of heaven the
Shepherd viii dip reunion for the be-
reayel, wealth for the poor health for the
sick. rest for the weary. And then all the
flock of the Lords sheep viii lie down in the
green pastures, ami world without end we
will praise the Lord that or this first au-
| tumnal Sabbath OF 1891 we were permitted
to study among the beating hocks and
/ lowing herds OF this fair ground the story Of
Jacob and Rachel the shepherdess at the
well In Mesopotam!a On, plunge your
buckets into this great Gospel well and let
them come up dripping with that water OF
which if a man drink he never again shall
thirst.