The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-08-12

rlSaG arm. Will make all men Tree. auO
so it IS individually, and in the family
and IN the church, and il the world that
through. darkness and storm and trouble
men. women, churches, nations, are de-
veloped.
Again, I learn from my subject that
events which seen 70 be most inslgnlh-
cant may be momentous. Can you i'm.
aeine anything more unimportant than
the coming Of poor woman from Moab
to Jud,ea? Can you imagine anything
more trivial than the tact that this Ruth
Just happened to alight-as they say
Just happened to alight on that field OF
Boaz? Yet all ages. all generations,
have an interest in the fact that she was
to become an ancestress of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and all nations and king
doms must look at that one little Incl.
dent with thrill OF unmistakable and
eternal satisfa ction. So it's in your his.
tory and in niue; events that You
thought Of no Importance at all have
been of very great moment. The cas-
ual conversation, that accidental meet
ing-you did net think of it again for
long while; but how it changed all the
current Of your life!
Again, see IN my text the beauty OF
unfalteriug friendship. l suppose there
were plenty of friends tor Naomi while
she was in prosperity: but of all her a :.
ousintances, how many were willing to
trudge of with her toward Judea, when
she had to make that lonely journey:
One-the heroine of my text. One
absolutely one. I suppose when Mao.
MRS husband was living. and they had
plenty OF money, and all things went
well, they had great many callers; but
I suppose that after her husband died,
and her property went, and she got old
and Door, she was not troubled cry
much with callers. All the birds that
sang in the bower while the sun shone
have sone to their nests, now the night
has fallen.
oh. these beautiful sun flowers that
spread out their color in the morning
hour! but they are always asleep when
the sun is going down! JOB had plenty
offriends when he was the richest man
in Uz: but when his property went and
The trials came, then there were none so
much that pestered as Elphaz the Te'
mantle, and Bildad the Shuhits, and To-
phar the Naamathite.
Life often seems to be a mere game
where the successful player pulls down
all the other men into his own lap. Let
suspicious arise about mans charrac'
ter and he becomes like bank in
,anic and all the linputations rush on
him and bresk down in a day that
character which IN due time would have
had strength to defend itself. There are
regulations that have been ha!ta CEN
tury in building, which 90 under some
moral exposure, as vast temple is con-
sumed by the touch of sulphurous
match. 4 hog can uproot century
plant. In this world, so full Of heart
iessness and hypocrisy, how thrilling il
is to finG some friend as faithful in days
of adversely as in days Of prosperity!
David had such friend IN Hushat; the
Jews had such friend in Mordecal,
who never forgot their cause; Paul had
such a friend in Onesiphorus. who visited
him IN Jail; Christ had such in the Marys.
who adhered to hum on the cross; Naomi
had such one in Ruth, who cried out;
..Entreat me not to leave thee, or to re.
turn from following after thee; fol
whittier thou goest I will 60, and where
thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people.
shall benny people and thy God my God:
where thou dlest will I die, and there
will / be buried the Lord do 80 to me.
and more also, if aught but death part
thee and me-"
Again, I learn from this subject that
paths which open in hardship and dark
ness often come out IN places Of joy
When Ruth started from Moab toward
Jerusalem, to 60 along with her mother
in-law, suppose the people said: Oh
what foolish creature to 60 away from
her fathers house, to 90 of with poor
old womon 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 wlldernesa will destroy
them.'' 1t was a very dark morning
when Ruth started off with Naomi; bul
behold her in my text in the harvest-tele
of Boaz, to be affianced to one Of the lords
Of the land, and become one Of the
erandmothers of Jesus Christ, the Lore
of glory. Aud so 1t often IS that patti
which starts very darkly euds very
brightly.
When you started out for heaven. oh
how dark was the hour of conviction
how Sinai thundered, and devils tor
mented. and the, darkness thickened! Al
the sins of your life pounced upon yor
and it was the darkest hour you ever
saw when you lirst found out your sins
After awhile you went into the harvest
field OF Gods mercy: you began to CLEAR
in the field Of divine promise. and yor
had more sheayes thai you could carry
as the voice of God addressed ou, say
ing: blessed is the man whose trans
yressions are forgiven and whose sin:
are covered" 4 very dark starting II
conviction, very bright ending in The
pardon and the hope and the trlum. n o
the Gospel!
So, very often in our worldly business
or in our spiritual career, we start off OF
very dark path. We must 60. The tesf
may shrink tack. but there is voice
within, or voice from above. saying
You must CO." and we have to drinE
the gall, and We have to carry the cross
and we have to traverse the desert ant
We are pounded and failed of misrepres
entatior and abuse, and We have K
urge our way through ten thousand OBJ
s,acles that have 10 be slain by our owr
right arm. We have to ford the rive
we have to climb the mountain. we have
10 storm the castle; but blessed be Cox
the day OF rest and reward will come
On the tip top OF the captured battle
meuts W. will shout the victory; if not II
this world, then i'll that world where
there IS no call to drink, no burden t