The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1893-06-15
GODS THRESHTNG
pR.TALMAaE ON HUMAN TRIALS.
An Eloquent Sermon in Which the
winnowins of Grain IL Used ss an
Illustration OF the Good That
IL Brought Out of Evil.

TExr "For he ffches are not nrushed
'cih a hrdshfng instrument, reifhsr is a cart
rfches are beaten out ,cih a STAFF and he cum
m,n rifh rod. Bread corn is bruised be-
cd'ise Ne trfu NOT erer be Mrdshing IT,
Isaiah xviii, a., 2s.
There are three kinds OF seed mentioned
ntches. cummin and corn. OF the last we
oil know. But II may be we'll to state that
the htches and the cummin were small seeds
IKE the carraway or the chickpee. When
these grains or herbs were TO be thrashed.
they were thrown on the floor, and the work
men would come around with staff or rod or
naii and beat them until the seed would be
separated, but when the corn was TO be-
thrashed that was thrown on the floor. and
the men would fasten horses or oxen to n
cart with iron dented wheels That cart
would be drawn around the thrnshing floor,
and so the work would he accomplished
Different kinds OF thrashing for different
products. ''The htches are not thrashed
with q thrashing instrument, neither "a n cart
wheel turned about upon the cummin but the
ntchee are beaten out with stafr and the
cummin with rod. Bread corn is bruised
because he will not ever be- thrashing it,"
The great thought that the text presses
upon our souls is that we all go through some
Kind OF thrashing process. The fact that you
may be devoting your life to honorable and
noble purposes will not win you any escape
Wilberforce, the Christian emAncipator was
In his day derlsively called "Dr. CantwelL." Z"
Thomas Babinton Mncaulay. the advocate OF
all that was good long before he became the
most conspicuous historian OF his day, was
caricatured in one Of the quarterly reviews
~ "Babblctongue Macaulay." Norman
Mcleod. the great friend OF the Scotch poor
was industriously malignod in nll quarters.
although on the day when he was carried out
to his burial n workman stood and looked MT
the funeral procession and said. III he had
done nothing for anybody more than he has
done for me. he should shine as the stars for
ever and ever" All the small wits OF Lon
don had their fling Mt John Wesley, the father
OF Methodism.
II such men could not escape tho malign-
ing OF the world. neither can you expect 10
get rid Of the sharp. keen stroke OF the trib-
ulun All who will live godly In Christ Jesus
must suffer persecution. Besides that there
are the sicknesses, and the bankruptcies. and
the irritations. and the disappointments
which are ever putting cup OF aloes 20 your
| lip. Those wrinkles on your face are hero
| glyphics which, II deciphered, would make
out thrilling story OF trouble. The footstep
| OF the rabbit II seen the next morning on the
| snow, and on the white hairs OF the ayed are
footprints showing whero swift trouble aliSht-
| cd.
Even amid the JOYS and hilarities OF life
| trouble will sometimes break In As when
| the people were assembled In the Charles
town theatre during the Revolutionary war
"a
the audience was in great graduation the
| guns OF an advancing army were heard and
| the audience broke up In wild panic and ran
| for their lives, 80 ofttimes while you aro
seated amid the joys and festivities Of this
| world you hear the cannonade of some great
| disaster. All the fltches. and the cummin,
and the corn must come down on the thrash
Ing floor and be pounded.
| My subject. In the hrst place, teaches us
that IL Is no compliment to us II we escape
| great trial. The ftches and the cummin' on
the thrashing floor might look over to the
corn on another thrashing floor and say
Look mt that poor. miserable. bruised corn.
We hNrNon)v ben a IfttIe poundeo9 hst that
',.hs been almost destroyed" Well. the cobrn.
II IL had lips, would answer and say ''Do 4
you know the reason you have not been "a 4
much pounded as have2 IL is because you |
are not so much worth as am. Ifyou were, |
you would be- a. severely run over"
Yet there men who suppose they are the |
Lords favorites simply because their barns |
are full, and their bank account is flush, and |
there are no funerals In the house. II may bo |
because they are fitches and cummin, while |
down at the end OF the lane the poor widow
may be the Lords corn. You are but little
pounded because you are but little worth |
and she bruised and ground because she is |
the best part Of the harvest.
The heft Of the thrashing machine is ac-
cording to the value of the grain. IL you !
have not been much thrashed In life perhaps
there Is not much To thrash. II you have
not been much shaken OF trouble. perhaps
there IL going to be a very small yield. When
there are plenty OF blackberries the gathcrers
go out with large baskets but when the
drought has almost consumed the fruit then
n quart measure will do as well. 1t took the
venomous snake on Paul's hand and the
pounding of him with stones until he was
taken up for dead. and the jamming against
him OF prison gates, and the Ephesian yocif-
eration, and the skinned ankles OF the pain
iul stocks, and the laundering OF the Alex
andrian corn ship, and the beheading stroke
OF the Roman sheriff TO bring Paul To his
proper development.
II was not because Robert Moffat and Lady
Rachel Russell and Frederick Oberlin were
worse than other people that they had 20
suffer IL was because they Were better and
God wanted to make them best. BY the
carefilness OF the thrashing you may al
ways conclude the value OF the grain.
Next my text teaches us that God proper
tions our trials to what we can bear. the
stan for the iitches, tho rod for the cummin.
the iron wheel for the corn. Sometimes
people In great trouble say, "Oh, can't
bear it?" But you did bear 1t. God would
not have sent II upon you II He did not know
that you could bear 1t. You trembled, and
You swooned, but you got through. God
VIII not take from your eyes one tear too
many, nor from your lungs one sigh too
deep, nor from your temples one throb too
sharp. The perplexities OF your earthly
business have not In them one tangle too In
tricate.
You sometimes feel as n our world were
full OF bludgeons flying haphazard. Oh no
they are thrashing Instruments that God Just
| suits to your case. There II not dollar OF
| bad debts on your ledger, or "a disappoint-
ment about goods that you expected to go
| up, but that have gone down, or a swindle
OF your business partner, or trick on tho
al xphn In thsa md of
| business that you are, but God intended 10
| overrule for your immortal help. oh"
| you say, there IL no need talking that way
| 20 me. 1 don't like TO be cheated and out
ragged" Neither does the corn like the corn
thrasher, but after It has been thrashed and
winnowed II has a great deal better opinion
| OF winnowing mills and corn thrashers.
"Well, you say, ''if l could choose my
troubles would DO willing 20 be troubled"
All, my brother, then 1t would not be trouble.
| You would choose something that would not
| hurt, and unless II hurts II does not get sane
| n..I - 4 -