The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-12-06

This gospel is the SAVIOR of life unto life
or Of death unto death.
AS the frost Is mighty, the gospel is
mighty. AS the frost descends from
heaven, the gospel descends from
heaven. By the breath Of God frost is
given. BY the breath of God the gospel
is given. AS the frost purifes, so the
grace of God purifes. AS the frost be-
stars the earth, so grace bejewels the
soul AS the frost prepares for food
many things that otherwise would be
inedlble, so the frost Of trial ripens and
prepares food for the soul. In the tight
grip OF the frost the hard shells of
walnut and chestnut and hickory open,
and the luxuries of the woods come into
our laps or upon our tables; so the
frost of trial takes many a hard and
prickly shell and brushes it until that
which stung the soul now feeds it.
Purified by Suffering.
There are passages of scripture that
once were enigmas, puzzles. riddles and
impossibilities for you TO understand,
but the fr5sts of trouble after awhile
exposed the full meaning to your soul.
You said, Il do not see why David
keeps rolling over In his psalm the story
of how he was pursued and prosecuted"
lie describes himself as surrounded by
bees. He says. "They comprised me
about like bees; yea, they compassed me
about like bees" You think, what an
eXaggerating thing for him TO eXclaim,
"Out of the depths of hell have cried
unto thee, o Lord!'
And there is so much Of that style Of
lamentation in his writings you think
he overdoes it, but after awhile the
frost comes upon you in the shape Of
persecution, and you are struck with
this censure, and struck with that de-
famation. and struck with some false
hood, and lies in swarms are buzzing,
buZZing about your ears, and at last
you understand what David meant when
he said, "They comprised me about like
bees; yea, they cOmpaSSed me about like
| BEES" and you go down under nervous
prostration and feel that you are as far
down as David when he cried, out Of
the depths of hell!'
What opened all those chapters that
hitherto had no appropriateness?
Frostsl For a long while the bible
| seemed lopsided and a disproportionate
amount Of it given up to the consOlatory
chapter and book after book in the
| bible taken up with alleviations, with
publications, with condolences? The
book seemed like an apothecary store
with one-half of the shelves occupied
with balsams. Why such a superf1uity
of balsams? But after awhile the menu
| braneous Group carries off your child, or
your health gives way under the grip,
or your property is swept off by a bad
| investment, or perhaps all three troubles
come at once-bankruptcy, sickness and
| bereavement Now the cOnsolatory
parts of the bible do not seem to be dis
proportionate. You want something off
| almost all the shelves of that sacred
dispenSary. What has uncovered and
| exposed to you the usefulness of 50
much of the bible that was before
hidden? The frosts have been full
filling their mission.
Put down all the promises Of the bible
on a table for study, and put on one side
the table a man who has never had any
trouble or very little of it, but pile upon
the table beside him all encyclopedias,
and all dictionaries and all archaeolOgies,
and all commentaries, and on the other
side Of the table put a man who has
had trial upon trial, disaster upon dis
aster, and let him begin tie study Of
| the promises without lexic7n, without
commentary, without any book to eX-
plain or help, and this latter man will
understand far more of the hight and
| depth and length and breadth of those
| promises than the learned exegete oppo-
site, almost submerged in sacred litera-
| ture. The one has the advantage over
the other because he has felt the mis-
sion of the frosts. o take the conSola-
ton Of this theme, we to whom life is a
struggle, and a disappointment, and a
gantlet, and a pang. That is a beautiful
proverb among the Hebrews which says,
when the tale of bricks is doubled, then
| Moses comes"
The Blasts Of Adversity.
Mild doses of medicine will do for
| mild sickness, but violent pains need
strong doses, and so 1 stand over you
| and count some drops that will alleviate
your worst troubles If you will only take
| the medicine, and here 1t is: 'In the
world We shall have tribulation, but be
OF good cheer; I have overcome the
world" Weeping may endure for a
night, but JOY cometh in the morning"
Thank God for frostsl What helped
make Washington the greatest Of gen.
erals? The frosts Of Valley Forge
What made it appropriate for one pass
| ing John Bunyan's grave to exclaim,
'Sleep on, thou prince of dreamers?'
The frosts Of imprisonment.
The greatest college from which we
| can graduate is the college of frosts.
| Especial trial fits for especial work.
Just now watch and you will see that
| trouble is preparative and educational.
| That is the grindStone on which battle
axes are sharpened. l have always no
| ticed in my own case that when the Lord
| had some special work for me to do IL
was preceded by especial attack upon
| me. This is so proverbial in my own
| house that II FOR something L say or do
/ get poured upon me a volley of CEN
| sure and anathema, my wife always
| asks: az wonder what new opportunity
| of usefulness is about to open? Some
thing good and grand Is surely coming!'
What is true IL my case is true on a
| larger or smaller scale in the history of
every man and woman who wants to
| serve the Lord. Without complaint take
i the hard knocks. You will see after
awhile, though you may not appreciate
| 1t now, that by the breath of a good and
| loving God frost is given. Let the cor
ners of your mouth, so long drawn down
| in complaint, be drawn up in smiles of
| content.
For many years poets and essayists
| have celebrated the grace and swiftness
| of the Arabian horses. The most won
| derful exhibition of horsemanship that
ever witnessed was just outside Of the
| city of Jerusalem-an Arabian steed
| mounted by an Arab. Do you know
where these Arabian horses got their
| heetness and poetry of motion? Long
| centuries ago Mohammed, with 5000
| cavalry on the march, could find for
| them not a drop of water for three
| days Coming to the top of a hill a
| river was in sight. With wild dash the
| 30 900 horse started for the stream A
| minute after an armed host was seen ad-
vancing, and at Mohammed's command
| 100 bugles blew for the horses to fall in
| line, but all the 10000 continued the wild
gallop to the river except FIVE, and they,
almost dead with thirst, wheeled into
line of battle.
Nothing in human bravery and self