The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-06-12
THE LONDONDERRY SITTER,

they viii not be detained in their work
want TO be ready Oh, how little we
have to endure compared with those
who have gone before usm
Now, If you have come across in
treatment, let me tell you you are in
excellent company-Christ and Luther
and Calico and Columbus and John
Jay and Josiah Quincy and thousands
of men and women, the best spirits OF
earth and heaven. Bulge not one
inch, though all hell wreck upon you
its vengeance, and you be made tar
get for devils TO shoot at Doyou not
think Christ knows all about persecu-
tionl Was he not Kissed atl Was he
not struck on the cheek2 Was he not
pursued all the days of his life2 Did
they not eXpectorate upon him2 Or,
to put it in Bible language, "They spit
upon him." And cannot he under
stand what persecution isl Cast thy
burden upon the Lord, and he shall sus-
tain thee"
tiiN bShbrN VI GlthNfSS.
Third-There are Others who carry
great burdens of physical ailments.
When sudden sickness has come, and
fierce choleras and malignant fevers
take the castles of life by storm, we
appeal to God; but in these chronic
ailments which wear out the strength
day after day, and week after week.
and year after year, how little resort
ing to God for solace! Then people
depend upon their tonics, and their
plasters, and their cordials, rather than
upon heavenly stimulants Oh, how
few people there are completely well,
Some of you, by dint of perseverance
and care, have kept living to this time;
but how you have had to war against
physical ailmentsl Antediluvians, with
out medical college and infirmary and
apothecary shop, multiplied their years
by hundreds, but he who has gone
through the gantlet of disease in our
time, and has come to seventy years of
age, is hero worthy of palm.
The world seems to be great hos
pital, and you run against rheumatisms
and consumptions and scrofulas and
neuralgias and scores of old diseases
baptized by new nomenclature. Oh,
how heavy burden sickness is! 1t
takes the color out of the sky and the
sparkle out of the wave and the sweet
ness out of the fruit and the luster out
of the night. When the limbs ache,
when the respiration is painful, when
the mouth is hot, when the ear roars
with unhealthy distractions, how hard
it is to be patient and cheerful and as
siduousl Cast thy burden upon the
Lord" Does your head ache2 His
wore the thorn. Do your feet hurt?
His were crushed of the spikes. Is your
side painful? His was struck by the
spear. Do you feel like giving way
under the burden2 His weakness gave
way under the cross.
While you are in every possible way
to try to restore your physical vigor,
you are to remember that more sooth-
ing than any anodyne, and more vital
izing than any stimulant, and more
strengthening than any tonic is the
prescription of the text, "Cast thy bur
den upon the Lord, and he shall sus-
tain thee We hear a great deal of
talk now about faith cure, and some
people say it cannot be done and it is
a failure. do not know but that the
chief advance of the church is to be in
that direction. Marvellous things come
to me day by day which make me think
that if the age of miracles is past it is
because the faith of miracles is past.
A SAMPLE CASE.
A prominent merchant of New York
said to a member of my family, "My
mother wants her case mentioned to
Mr.. Talmage." This was the case. He
said: MY mother had dreadful alb
scess, from which she had suffered I'M
told agonies, and all surgery had been
exhausted upon her, and worse and
worse she grew until we called in few
Christian friends and proceeded to pray
about it. We commended her case to
God and the abscess began immediate
ly to be cured She is entirely well
now, and without knife and without
any surgery" So that case has come
to me, and there are a score of other
cases coming to our ears from all parts
of the earth. Oh, We who are sick, 60
to Christ Oh, ye who are worn out
with agonies of body, 'cast thy burden
upon the Lord, and he shall sustain
theeW
THE BURDEN OF BEREAVEMENT
Another burden some have to carry
is the burden of bereavement Ali
these are the troubles that wear US out.
If we lose our property, by additional
industry, perhaps, we may bring back
the estranged fortune; if we lose our
good name, perhaps by reformation of !
morals we may achieve again reputa-
ton for integrity; but who will bring
back the dear departed? Alas me for
these empty cradles and these trunks OF
childish toys that will never be used
again. Alas me for the empty chair
and the silence in the halls that will
never echo again to those familiar foot
prints. Alas for the cry of widow
hood and orphanage.
What bitter Marahs in the wilderness
What cities of the dead What long
black shadow from the wing of death
What eyes sunken with grief What
hands tremulous with bereavement!
What instruments of music shut now
because there are no fingers to play ON
5heml Is-there no relief for such souls?
Aye, let the soul ride into the harbor OF
ny text.
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
will not, will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell shall endeavor TO
shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake.
Now, the grave is brighter than the
ancient tomb where the lights were
kept burning. The scared
.eet of him who was ''the resurrection
nd no ifoff ~.