Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-09-15


at his end shall be a fool" But how many
there are who do not bring the religion OF
Christ into their everyday occupation. 1ney
think religion is for Sundays.
Suppose you were to go out to hgne Tor
your country in some great contest. would
YOU 90 to do the battling at Troy or at
Springfield? No. you would 90 there TO get
your swords and muskets. Then you would
go out in the face of the enemy and contend
for your country. Now. take the SabontA
dav and the church to be only the armOry
where we are to get equipped for the great
battle of life, and that battlefield IL Monday.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Friday and
Saturday. Antioch" and ''St. Martins
and sold Hundred" are not worth much If
we do not sing all the week. A sermon IS OF
little account IL we cannot carry it behind
the counter and behind the pillow. The Sab
bath day is OF no value If it last only "a
hours.
oh" says some one. ''if / had great
sphere, would do that. If l could have
lived in the time of Martin Luther, If l could
have been Paul's travelling companion, II [
had some great and resounding work to do,
then I should put into Application all that
you say" / must admit that the romance
and knight errantry have gone out OF life.
There is but very little Of il left in the world.
The temples Of ROuen have been changed
into smithies. The classic mansion at Ash
land has been cut up in.O walking sticks.
The muses. have retreated before the emf
grants ak and the trappers gun, and a Yer
monter might go over the Allegheny and the
Rocky mountains and see neither an Dread
nor Sylph.
The groves where the gods used to dwell
have been cut up for firewOod, and the man
VINO IS looking for great spheres and great
scenes for action will not find them. And
yet there are Alps to scale and there are
Tablespoons to swim and they are in con-
mon life. 1t is absurd for you t. say that you
would serve God If you had a great sphere
II YOU do not serve Him on a small scale, you
would not on a large scale. If you cannot
stand the bite Of a nudge, how could you en-
dure the breath of a basiliSk!
Our national government does not think it
belittling to put tax on pins and a tax on
buckles and a tax on shoes. The individual
taxes do not amount to much. but III the
aggregate to millions ami millions Of dollars.
And | would have you, Oh Christian man, put
q high tariff on every annoyance and veXa-
ton that cones through your soul This might
not amount 30 much in single cases, but in
the aggl a-5ate it would be great revenue Of
spiritual strength and satisfaction.
4 bee can suck honey even out of a nettle,
and if you have the grace Of God in your
heart you can get sweetness out Of that
Which would otherwise irritate and annoy.
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 have seen the
earth strewn with the carcasses of men slain
by insect annoyances. The only way to get
prepared for the great troubles Of life is to
conquer these small troubles
Suppose a soldier should say, This is only
a skirmish, and there are only a few enemies
I won't load my gun wait until get into
some great general engagement" That
man is coward and would be a coward in
any sphere. If a man does not serve his
country in a skirniSh, he will not in
Waterloo. And if you are not faithful going
out against the single-handed misfortunes OF
this lie you would not be faithful when
great disasters with their laundering
artillery came rolling down over the soul.
This brings me to another point. We
ought to bring the religion of Jesus Christ
into our trials. If we have bereavement. if
we lose our fortune. if some great trouble
blast like the tempest, then we go to God for
comfort, but yesterday in the little annoy
ances Of your store or office, or shop or fac
tory, or banking house. did you go to God
for comfort? You did not
My friends, you need to take the religion
of the Lord Jesus Christ into the most ordi-
nary trials Of your life You have your mis-
fortunes, you have your anxieties, you have
your vexations. "Oh," you say, ''they don't
shape my character. Since lost my child,
since have lost my property, have been a
very different man from what [ was" My
brother it is the little annoyances of your
life that are souring your disposition, clip
less and less of a man.
You go into an artists studio. You see
him making piece Of sculpture. You say
''Why don't you strike harder?" With his
mallet and his chisel he goes click click,
click and you can hardly see from stroke to
stroke that there is any impression made upon
the stone, and yet the work is going on. You
say, "Why don't you strike harder?' oh.
he replies, that would shatter the statue [
must make it in this way stroke by stroke"
And he continues on by week and month
until after awhile every man that enters the
studio is fascinated.
Well, I find God dealing with some man.
He is shaping him for time and shaping him
for eternity. say 20 Lord. why not with
one tremendous blow of calamity shape that
man for the next world?" God says That's
not the way deal with this mar it IS stroke
after stroke, annoyance after annoyance, ir-
ritatlon after Irritation, and after awhile he
will be done and glad spectacle for angels
and men,"
Not by one great stroke. but by ten thou
sand little strokes of misfortune are men
fitted for heaven. You know that large for
tunes can soon be scattered By being paid out
in small sums OF money, and the largest estate
Of Christian character IS sometimes entirely
lost by these small depletOns.
We must bring the reli2,ion of Jesus
Christ to help Us in these little annoy
ances. Do not say that anything is too
insignificant to affect your character
Rats may sink ship. One Iucifer
match may destroy 4 temple a queen
got her death by smelling Of a poisoned
rose. The scratch of a sixpenny nail
may give you the lockjaw. Columbus, by
asking for piece of brea1 ami drink OF
water at a Franciscan convent. came to the
discovery OF u new world. AMI there is g
great connection between trihes and i'm
mensities, between nothings and every