The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1891-09-17
4 1yDG Of Divine Love.
or TIE EARbA-
KIANS OF MELfTA TO
PAUL AND HIS Eel
LOWS.
DIR. TaiInagc Draws a Variety OF
Lessons from the Record i'm
Acts. >.--Ihey were Barba-
rians Only in that They
Could Not Speak
Greek.

BROOKLYN, Sept I3 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 md the
| organ, which have been almost con
tinualIy under brush and hammer since
the dedication last spring, are now
about completed. The sermons today
were full of congrntulation 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
| 10 little kindness" "
NJ text puts us OH the Island Of
halta, another name for Melita. This
| island, which has always been an i'm
| portaut commercial center, Belonging
at different times to Phnnicia, 70
Greece, to Rome, to Arabia, TO Spain,
to France, nov belongs 70 England.
| The area Of the island Is about 100
| square miles. Il IS IL the hIedlter-
ranean sea. and Of such clarity Of at
| Tnosphere that Mount Etna, one hun
| dred and thirty miles away, can be dis
| tinctIy seen. The island is gl0ri0usly
| memorable because the knights Of
Malta for long whilerulcd there, but
| most famous because OF the an,etolie
shipwreck.
The bestorlned vessel on which Paul
| sailed had laid TO" Oh the starboard
tack, ard the wind was blow ing east
| northeast and the vessel drifting prob
ably mile and half an hour ere she
struck at what Is now called St. Paurs
| bay. Practical sailors have taken up
the Bible account and decided beyond
controversy the place Of the shipwreck
But the island which has 50 rough q
coast is for the most part u garden.
| Richest fruits and q profusion of honey
characterized 1t in Paul's time as well
as now. Tie finest oranges, tigs and
olives grow there. When Paul and his
comrades crawIed up on the beach, sat
urated with the salt water and hungry
from hong abstinence from food and
chilled TO the bone, the islanders,
though called barbar!Gns because they
could not speak Greek, opened their
doors TO the shipwrecked unfortunates.
Everything has 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 4 few
seasons ago I found In the life station
near Easthampton, Long Island. They
had got ashore in the night from tbs
aea, md not a 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 a hot fire drying themselves
and with the best provision the island
ers can offer them.
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 houst
at that time-his father down with
dysentery and typhoid fever Yea, fo
three months they staid on the island
watching for ship and putting til
hospitality Of the islanders to sever
test But they endured the test satisfac
torily, and it is recorded for all the age
Of time and eternity to read and hea
in regard to the inhabitants Of Malta
, The barbarous people showed Us r.
little kindness"
JESUS CHRIST Is KINDNESS INCAR
MATED.
Kindness. What u great word tha
Is 1t would take reed as long as tia
which the apocalyptic angel used &
measure heaven to tell the length, til
: breadth, the height Of that munificen
: word 1t is O favorite Bible word, alc
it is early launched In the book Q
Genesis, caught up In the book 0
: Joshua, embraced in tie book Of Ruth
, sworn By IN tie book q! SGmue!
crowned In the book Of Psalms and ell
s thronad in many pieces IL the Ne'
/ | Testament kiHdnesssi j Tord ~
8 more gentle than mighty. | expect
vii! wres4ie me down before | Ge
: through with it IL Is strong enough t
i throw an achange! But # VII b
we'll for us 70 stand around it an
T, , | warm ourselves byit glow az Paul an
:. his fellow voyagers stood around th
: fire on the bland Of Malta, where tb
: Maltese made themselves immortal |
my text by the way they treated tlies
: yicti1ns of the sea. THE barbarou
people showed us 10 little kindness
t Kindness. All definitions Of that Inu
d tipotefit word break down half wa:
t You say it is clemency. benignity, &c;
g arosity, it is made up OF good wishes
0 It is an expression Of bcnef}cence. it i~
8 contribution to the happiness OF other
5 Some one else says: Why, can Civ
YOU definition of kindness. It is stiI
~ shine Of the soul; it is affection pe
! ennial, it Is q crowning grace, it is Il
combination of all graees; it is cor
a passion: 1t is the perfection OF geEtt
"a Inanliness and womenIiness. Are 70
;" ali throughF You have made q dea
q failure in your definition. 1t cannot
re defined But we all know witct it
If for we ell felt its power. Some Of yt
le may have felt it as Pau! felt it, on son
coast of rock rs the ship went
{. pieces, but more of us have again al
. again In some awful stress Of life hi
~ either from earth or heaven ban
= stretched out, which showed us
little kindness
There Is a kindness of dispositio