The Grenada sentinel., 1893-08-26

decency from the houss Of God. Le
evcry church that would msintail
large Christian influence In community
culture Sabbath by sabbath this beau
tiful grace Of Christian hospitality.
Again, this woman in my text wa
great in her kindness towards God
messenger. Elisha may have been
stranger in that household, but as sh'
found out he had come ON Q Divine
mission he was cordially welcomed
We have a great many books In oul
day about the hardships of minister
and the trials of Christian min
isters. wish somebody would write
q book about the joys of tht
Christian minister. about the sympa
thies all around him, about the kind
nesses, about the genial consider
atoms of him. Does sorrow come te
our home. and is there shadow ON the
cradleo There are hundreds of hands
to help, and many who weary not
through the long night watching, and
hundreds of prayers going up that God
would restore the sick. Is there a
burning, brimming cup Of calamity
placed on the pastors table, are there
not many to help him drink Of that
cup and who will not be comforted be.
cause he is stricken? Oh, for some
body to write book about the re-
wards OF the Christian ministry
about his surroundings of Christian
sympathy.
Again, this woman in the text was
great in her behavior under trouble.
Her only son had died on her lap. A
very bright light went out in that
household. The sacred writer puts it
very tersely when he says: "He sat on
her knees until noon, and then he died y
Yet the writer goes on to say that she
exclaimed: st is well!' Great in pros
perity, this woman was great in
trouble.
Where are the feet that have not been
blistered on the hot sands of this great
Sahara? Where are the shoulders that
have not been bent under the burden
of grief? Where is the ship sailing
over CLASSY sea that has not after q
while been caught in a cyclone?
Where is the garden of earthly COM
fort but trouble hath hitched up its
fiery and painting team and gone
through it with burning plowshare of
disaster? Under the pelting Of ages
of suffering, the great heart of the
world has hurst with xvoa
Navigators tell US about the rivers,
and the Amazon and the Danube and
the Mississippi have been explored, but
who can tell the depth or length of the
great river of sorrow made up of tears
and blood rolling through all lands and
all ages, bearing the wreck Of families
and of communities and of empires
foaming, writhing, boiling with the
agonies Of six thousand years! Etna
and Cotopaxi and Vesuvius have been
but who has ever sketched
the volcano of suffering retching up
from its depths the lava and the scoria
and pouring them down the sides to
whelm the nations? Oh, if l could
gather all the heart-strings, the broken
heart-strings, into harp I would play
on it dirge such as was never sounded.
But, thank God, there are those who
can conquer as this woman Of the text
and say, 1T is we'll! though
my property be gone, though my chill.
dren be gone, though my home be
broken up, though my health be sacri-
feed, it is well, it is WE'LL" There is
no storm on the sea, but Christ is ready
to rise in the hinder part of the ship
and hush it. There is no darkness,
but the consultations of Gods eternal
love can inumine it, and though the
winter comes out Of the northcr sky,
you have sometimes seen the northern
sky all ablaze with auroras that seem
to say: Come up this way; up this
way are thrones of light and seas of
sapphire, and the splendor of an
eternal heaven. Come up this way"
We may, like the ships, by tempest he tossed
IN the perilous deeps but can not be lost:
Though Satan enrage, the wind and the tide
The promise assured u.s. the Lord will provide.
heard an echo of my text in a very
lark hour when my father lay dying
md the old country minister said to
aim: "Mr. Talmage, how do you feel
1ow as you are about to pass the Jor-
Ian Of death?" He replied-and it was
The last thing he ever said 81 feel
we'll; feel very we'll; all is well'-lift-
ng his hand in the benediction, q
'peechless benediction which I pray
iod may 60 down through all the gen.
,rations. 1t was we'll! OF course it
vas we'll.
Again, this woman Of my text was
great in her application to domestic
luties. Every picture is home pic
ture, whether she is entertaining an
Elisha, or whether she is giving care
tul attention to her sick boy, or
she is appealing for the res
of her property-every pic.
ture in her case is a home picture.
Those are not disciples of this Shumen-
tie woman who, going out to attend to
outside charities, neglect the duty of
duty of wife, of mother. Of
daughter. No faithfulness in public
can ever atone for domes-
tic negligence.
There has been many q mother who
by indefatigable toll has reared q large
family Of children, equipping them for
the duties Of life with good manners