The Red Cloud chief., 1891-08-14

eallen All the birds that sang In the
bower while the aun shoue have zone
TO their nests. now the night has fallen.
u these beautiful sun flowers that
sprcsd out their odor In the morning
hour! but they Gc always asleep when
the sun il going down. Job had plenty
Of friends when nc was the richest
ma In Ux; but when his property went
and tho trials came. then there were
none SO much that pestcrcd ~ Eliphaz
tho Temanite. and Biidad. the Schultz.
and Zophar, the Naamathite.
Life oftcn seems 70 be . mere game,
where the successful player pulls down
all the other men into his own lap.
Let suspicious arise about q mans
character, and he becomes like q bank
In a panic, and oil the imputations rush
on him and break down In a day that
character which in due time would
have had strength TO defend itself.
There are regulations that have been
half a century In building. which go
down under some moral exposure, Is .
vast temple is consumed by the touch
Of . sulphurous match. A hog can up
root q century plant
In this world, so full of heartlessness
and hypocrisy. how thrilling it is to
find some friend as faithful in days of
adversely as in days of prosperity!
David had such a friend in Hushai; the
Jews had such a friend in Mordecai,
who never forgot their cause; Paul had
such a friend in Opesiphorus, who visit
ed him in Jail; Christ had such in the
Marys, who adhered to Him on the
cross; Naomi had such q one in Ruth,
who cried out: "Entreat me not to
leave thee, or to return from following
after thee, for whittier thou goest l will
go; thy people shall be my people. and
thy God my God; whore thou diest will
/ die, and there will I be buried; the
Lord do so to me. and more also, II
aught but death part thee and me-"
Again, I learn from this subject that
paths which open in hardship and dark
ness often come put in places of Joy.
When Ruth started from Moab toward
Jerusalem. to go along with her mother
in-law, ] suppose the people said: "Oh,
what a foolish creature to go away
from her fathers to 60 of with a poor
old woman toward the land OF Judea!
They won't live to get across the desert
They will be drowned in the sea, or the
jackals of the wilderness will destroy
them" 1t was a very dark morning
when Ruth started off with Naomi; but
behold her in my text in the harvest
field of Boaz, to be affianced to n Of
the lords of the land, and become one
Of the grandmothers Of Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory. And SO it often is
that a path which starts very darkly
ends very brightly. When you started
out for Heaven. o, how dark was the
hour Of conviction-how Sinai thun-
dered, and devils tormented. and the
darkness thickcned! All the sins of
your life pounced upon you, and it was
| the darkest hour you yer saw when
you first found out your sins.
After awhile you went into the har-
vest field of Gods mercy; You began to
CLEAN in the fields of divine promise,
and you had more sheaves than you
| could carry, as the voice of God adj.
dressed you saying: blessed is the
man whose transgressions are forgiven
and whose sins are covered" A very
dark starting in conviction. a very
bright ending in the pardon, and the
hope and the triumph Of the Gospel!
So, very often in our worldly business
or in our spiritual career we start of
on a very dark path. We must go. The
flesh may shrink back, but there is a
voice within, or a voice from above,
saying: "You must go;;' and we have
to drink the gall, and we have to carry
the cross, and we have to traverse the
desert, and we are pounded and failed
Of Misrepresentation and abuse. and we
have to urge our way through ten thou.
sand obstacles that have to be slain by
our own right arm. We have to ford
the river, we have to climb the mount
ain, we have to storm the castle; but,
blessed be God, the day of rest and
reward will come. On the tip-top
Of the captured battlemcnts we will
shout the victory; IL not in this world,
then in that world where there is nc
gall to drink, no burdens to carry, nc
battles to fight. How do l know il?
Know it! know it because God says
SO: "They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more, neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat,
for the Lamb which is in the midst OF
the throne shall lead them to living
fountains of water and God shall wipe
all tears from their eyes"
1t was very hard for Noah TO endure
the scofing of the people in his day,
while he was trying to build the ark,
and was every morning quizzed about
his old boat that would never be of any
practical use, but when the deluge
came, and the top of the mountains
disappeared like the backs OF sea mon.
stcrs and the elements, dashed up in
fury, clappcd their hands over a