The Penn's Grove record., 1892-01-29

10 anything unless they sing ah Ohe
weex, A sermon is useless unless we en-
take /. with us behind the pillow and the
counter The sabbath day Is worthless hit
last only twenty-tour hours.
There are many Christians who say: I'VE
are willing to serve God. but We do not
want to do it in these spneres about winch
We are talking; and it seems so insipid and
monotonous. II we had some great oc-
casion, it We had lived in tine time oil Luther,
il We mad been Pauf's travelling companion,
IL We could serve God on n great scale, we
would do il, but we amt i'll this everyday
life" | admit that a great deal or the ro-
nance and Knight errantry OF lie nave dls-
apparel before tine advance OF TINS practl-
cal age. The ancient temples OF Rouen have
been changed into storehouses and smlthieS.
The residences of poets and princes have
been turned into brokers shops. The classic
OF Ashland has been cut up lnto
walking sucks. The groves where the poets
said the gods dwelt have been carted out
Tor tirewool. Thu muses. that We used to
read about have disappeared before the emf
grants AK an the rrapper's gum, and that
man who Is waiting for a lie Dewltchel OF
wonder will never find 1t.
There is, however, a field for endurance
and great achievement. but it is in every
LAY life. There are Alps TO scale, there are
Heiiesponts 10 swim, there are hres TO brave;
but they are all around us now. This Is
the hardest kind of martyrdom to bear. 1t
took grace To lea Latimer and Ridley
through the fire ~trIumphantly when their
armed enemies and their friends were looking
on; but it requires more grace now to bring
men tnrou5L persecution, wnen NOBODY IS
looking on. 1 could show you in this
city a woman who has had rheum ltisln tor
twenty years, who has endured more suffer-
ing and exhausted more grace than would
nave made twenty martyrs pass Triumph
antly through the fire. Ii you are not faith
full IN an insignificant position in life, you
would not he in n grand mission. Ii you can
not stand the bite OF a nudge, how could you
sndure the breath of a basilisk?
Do not think that any work Col gives
you to do in the world is on too small a scale
Tor you to do. The whole universe is not
ashamei to take care OF one little flower.
| say. "W hat are you doing down here in
the grass, you poor little flower? Are you
not afraid uisnts2 You will he neglected,
you will die OF thirst, you will not be fed:
Poor little howsrH' NO" says a star, 'FH
watch over it tonight" NO" says a
clou "lIl give it a drink" NO" says the
sun, ''r,l warm it in my bosom" Then
see the pulleys going, and the cloud are
irawing water, AMI / say, "Wnat are you
doing tnere, o clouds" And they reply,
We are giving drink to that flower"
Town the wheat and sounding its psalm
through the forest, and l cry. -Whither
away on such swift wing, o wind?' And
u replies, I've are going to cool the cheek
of that flower" And then | bow down and
say, will God take care of the grass of
the fieldT' And a flower at my foot re-
spends, YES; He clothes the lilies OF the
ield, and never yet has forgotten me, a
coor little iower." Oh, when l see the great
heavens bending themselves to what seems
insignificant ministrations, when l find out
that God does not forget any blossom of the
spring or any snowflake Of the winter, [
come to the conclusion that We can afford to
attend to the minute things in life, and that
what we do We ought to do well, since there
s as much perfection i'll the construction of
a spiders eye rs in the conformation OF fam
ing %galaxIes.
Plato had a fable which | have now nearly
torg ot but it ran something like this:
He said spirits Of the other world came back
TO this world to find a body and find a
sphere OF work. One spirit came and took
tine body of a king and did his work. An
and did his work. After awhile Ulysses
came, and he said. why, all the fine
bodies are taken, and all the grand
work is taken, There is nothing left
for me-" And some one replied, "Ahl the
best one has been left for you" Ulysses
said, ''What's that" And the reply was,
.'rhe body of II common man, doing a com
mon work and for a common reward" A
good fable for the world and just as good a
fable for the church. Whether we eat or
drink, or whatsoever We do, let us do it to
the glory OF Got.
Again, We need to bring the religion of
Christ into our trials. For So
we're losses. for bereavement. for trouble
that shocks like an earthquake aud that
blasts like a storm, we prescribe religious
consolation; but, business man, for the small
annoyances OF last week. how much of the
grace of Col did you applyf Oh" YOU
say, 'these trials are too small for such APP
plicationr' My brother, they are shaping
your character, they are souring your tenn
per, they are wearing out your patience
and they are making you less and less OF a
may. 1 go into a sculptor's studio n
500 him shaping a statue. He has a chisel IN
ons hand and a mallet in the other, and he
gives a very gentle s~troke-click, click,
clicki l say, "Why don't you strike
harderY' "Oh," he replies, ''that would
shatter the statue. l amt do it that way;
/ must do it this wayW
So he works on, and after awhile the feat
ures come out, aud everybody that enters
the studio is charmed and fascinated. Well,
God has your soul under process of develop
mept. and it is the little %annoyances and
vexations of life that are chiseling out your
immortal nature. 1t is click, click, clicEl 1
wonder why some great providence does not
come. anu WIN Ulo Aoho prepare YOU lot
heaven. All, no. God Say that is
not the way. And so He keeps
on BY strokes of little -annoyances
title sorrows, little vexations, until at last
YOU shall be a glad spectacle for angels and
for men. You know that a large fortune
NAV be- spent in small change and a vast
amount OF moral character may go away in
small depletion. IL is the little troubles OF
life that are having more effect upon you
than great ones. A swarm OF locusts will
kill a grain field sooner than the incursion of
three or four cattle.
You say, Since I lost my child, since l
lost my property, L have been a different
man." But you 40 not recognize the archi-
lecture of little a~nnoyances that are hewing,
digging, cutting, shaping, splitting and in
terioining your moral qualities. Rats may
sink a ship. One lucifer match may
send destruction through a block OF store
houses. Catherine de Medicis got her death
from smelling a poisonous rose. Columbus,
by stopping and asking for a piece of bread
and q drink of water at a Franciscan con-
vent. was led to the discovery of tue New
World. And there isan intimate connection
between trihes aud immensities, between
nothings and eyerythings.
Now. be careful to let none of those an
noyauces go through your soul unarraigned.
Compel them to administer to your
spiritual wealth. The scratch of a sixpenny
nail sometimes produces lock-jaw, and tbs
clip of a most intinitesimal annoyance may
damage you forever. DO not let any annoy
ance or perplexity come across your soul
without its making you better.
Our national government does not think
it belittliug to put a tax on pins AMI a tax
on buckles and a tax OIL shoes. The inii.
vidual taxes do not amount to much, but in
the aggregate to millions and millions OF
dollars. And would have you, o Christian
man. nut a nIgn tariff on every annoyance
and yexation that comes through your soul.
fhiS might not amount to much in singls
cases, but in the aggregate it would be a
great revenue of spiritual strength and salts
faction.
A bee oan suck honey even out of anettle.
and il you have the grace OF Goi in your
heart you can get sweetness out of that
which would otherwise irritate AMI annoy.
A returned missionary told me that a com-
pany of adventures rowing up the Ganges
were stung to death by flies that infest that
region at certain seasons. l nave seen
the earth strewed with the carcassses
OF men slain by insect ~annoyances.
[Che only way to get prepared fol
the great trouble o. yf Is to conquer these
soldier who refuseIe LOAD his gun or to go
into the conflict bes &, it was only a skirm-
ish. saying II am sist going to expend my
Ammunition on a skir& fsh. Wait until there
comes a general enga3ment and then you