The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-03-15

which we come for spiritual safety are blood
spattered wings, are night shattered wings,
are tempest torn wings. In the Isle OF
Wight I saw the grave OF Princess Eliza
beth, who died while prisoner at Carts.
brook castle, her finger on an open Bible
and pointing to the words, Come unto Me
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
will give you rest" Oh, come under the
wings!
But now the summer day is almost passed.
and the shadows Of the house and barn and
wagon shed have heightened. The farmer,
with scythe or hoe on shoulder, is returning
from the fields. The oxen are unyoked.
The horses are crunchiug the oats at the full
bin. The air Is bewitche1 Of honeysuckie
and wild brier. The milkman. pail in hand,
is approaching this barnyard. The fowls.
| Young. "Cluckl' "Cluck" '.Cluck" and
soon all the eyes of that feathered nursery
are closed.
The bachelors Of the winged tribe have
assembled to their perch, but the hens, in
motherhood divinely appointed, take all the
risk Of q slum Der on the ground, and all
night long the wings will stay outspread,
and the little ones will not utter a sound.
Thus at suudown, lovingly, safely, com.
pletely, the ben broods her young. so, il
we are the Lords the evening Of our Life
passed. There will be shadows and we cam
not see far. Tho work Of life will be about
ended.
The hawks Of temptation that lowered in
the sky will have gone to the woods and
folded their wings. Sweet silences will come
down. The air will be redolent with the
breath of waole arbors Of promises sweeter
than jasmine or evening primrose. The air
may be little chill, but Christ will call us,
and we will know the voice and, heed the
call, and we will come under the wings for
the night-the strong wings, the soft wings
the warm wings-and without fear and in
full sense of safety, and then we will rest
from sundown to sunrise, las hen gather.
eth her chickens under her wing" Dear
me- how many souls the Lord hath thus
broodedt
Mothers, after watching over sick cradles
and then watching afterwari over wayward
sons and daughters at last themselves taken
care OF by motherly God. Business men,
after lifetime struggling with the uncsr-
tainties Of money markets, and the change
of tariffs, aud the underseling Of men who
because of their dishonesties can afford to
underseL, and years Of disappointment and
struggle, at last under wings where nothing
can perturb them any more than bird OF
prey which Is ten miles of disturbS q chick
ct midnight brooded In barnyard
My text has its strongest application for
people who were born In !, che country,
majority Of you. You cannot hear my text
! without having all the rustic scenes OF the
old farmhouse come back to you.. Good old
days they were. You knew nothing much
Of the world, for you had not seen the
world.
By law of association you cannot recall
the orooding hen and her chickens without
seeing also the barn, and the haymow,. and
the wagon shed, aud the house. and the
room where you played, and the freside
with the big backlog before which you sat,
wedding, and the deep snowbanks, and hear
the village bell that called you to worship.
and seeing the horses which, after pulling
you to church, stood around the old clap
boarded meeting house. and those who sat at
either end Of the church pew, and indeed all
the scenes Of the first "A years, and you
think Of what you were then and of what
you are now, and all these thoughts are
aroused by the sight Of the old heucoop.
Some Of you had better 60 back and start
again. In thought return to that place aud
hear the cluck aud seq the outspreai feath-
ers and come under the wing and make the
Lord your portion and shelter and warmth,
preparing for everything that may come,
and 80 avoid being classed among those de-
scribsd by the closing words Of my text "as
q hen gathersth her chickens under her
wing. andye would not" All. that throws
the responsibility upon US! ''Ye would
wandering broods Of the farm heed not their
ulother's call and risk the hawk and dare the
freshet and expose themselves to the frost
aud storm, surely their calamities ara not
their mothers fault. "Ye would notl" God
would but how manY would nOtI
When good man asked young woman
who had abandoned her home and who was
deploring her wretchedness why she did not
return, the reply was: II dare not 60 home.
My father is so provoked he would not re-
ceive me home" "Then," said the Christian
man, II will test this And 50 he wrote to
the father, and the reply cams back and in
letter marked outside "Imusdiate," and in
side saying "Let her come at once; all is
forgiven" So Gods invitation for you is
marked "Immediats" on the outside and
inside it Is written, "He will abundantly
pardon"
Oh, ye wanderers from God and happi-
ness and home and heaven, come under the
sheltering wing. Under this call I $50 you
turning from your old way to the new way.
the living way, the gospel way. A vessel in
the Bristol channel was nearing tho rocks
called rne >'Steep Holmes" Under the tern.
pest the vessel was unmanageable, and the
only hope was that the tide would change
before she struck the rocks and went down,
and 80 the captain stood on the deck, watch
in hand. Captain and crew and passengers
were pallid with terror. Taking another
look at his watca and another look at the
sea he shouted: THANK God, we are savedt
The tide has turned! One minute more and
We would have struck the rocks"
Some Of you have been long while drift
ing in the tempest Of sin and sorrow and
have been making for the breakers. Thank
God, the tide has turned. Do you not feel
he lift Of the billow? Tho gracs OF God
hat bringeth salvation has appeared to your
,ul, and In the words OF BJaz to Ruth
,unend you TO "the Lori God of Israel,
ulder whose wings thou hast coma to
trust"