Milford chronicle., 1893-12-08

our laps OF upon our AhuAest 81 VIC AAbaN u Il
trial takes many a hard and prickly shell /
and erushes it until that which stung the
soul now feeds It,
PURIFIED BY SUFFERING.
There are passages Of Scripture that 1
once were enigmas. puzzles, riddles aud
impossibilities for you to understand, but
the frosts Of trouble after awhile exposed |
the full meaning to your soul. You said, |
II do not see why David keeps rolling over
in his psalm the story of how he was pur- /
sued and prosecuted" He describes him |
self as surrounded by bees. Hesays, They
compasssd me about like bees; yea, they
compassed me about like bees" You think
what an exaggerating thing for him to ex-
claim, "Out of the depths OF hell have l
cried unto thee, o Lorap'
And there Is so much Of that style Of lam
entation in his writings you think he
overdoes it, but after awhile the frost comes
upon YOU in the shape of persecution, and
you are stuck with this censure, and stuck
with that defamation, and stuck withsome
falsehood, and lies ia swarms are buzzing,
buzzing about your ears, and at last you
understand what David meant when he
said, "Ihey oompessed me about like bees
yea, they compassed me about like bees,
and you 90 down under nervous prostra-
tion and feel that you are as far down as
David when he cried, "Out of the depthsof
hellw
What opened all thosechapters that hith-
erto had no Appropriateness Frostsl FOR
a long while the Bible seemed lOpsided and
a disproportionate amount of it given up to
/ the eonsolatory. Why page after pageand
I chapter after chapter and book after book
/ in the Bible taken up with alleviations,
| with pacifcations, with Condolences The
/ book seems like an apothecary store with
one-half of the shelves occupied with bal
I sans. Why such a superHuity OF balsamsg
/ But after awhile the membranous 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-bankrupt-
/ cy. sickness and bereavement. Now the
/ consolatory parts of the Bible do not seem
to be disproportioLate. You want some
4 thing off almost all the shelves of that sa-
cred disnensary. What has uncovered and
/ axposed to YOU the usefulness Of so much
! of the Bible that was before hiddeng The
frosts have been fulfilling 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 Et-ouble,
or very little Of it, but pile upon the table
beside him all encyclopedias, and all die
tionaries, and all arehRologies, and all conf
mentaries, and on the other side OF the ta-
BILE put man who has had trial upon trial,
disaster upon disaster, and let him begin
the study Of the promises without lexicon,
without commentary, without any book to
explain or help, and this latter man will un-
derstand far more Of the height and depth
and length and breadth Of those promises
than the learned exegete opposite, almost
submerred in sacred literature. The one has
the advantage over the other because he has
felt the mission OF the frosts. o take the
consolation Of this theme, ye to whom life
Is a struggle. and disappointment, and a
gsntlet, and pang. That is beautiful
proverb among the Hebrews which says,
iNhen the tale of bricks is doubled, then
Moses comes"
THE BLASTS OF ADVERSELY.
Mild doses of medicine will do for mild
sickness, but violent pains need strong
doses. and so stand over you and count
out some drops that will alleviate your
worst troubles if you will only take the
medicine, and here it is; In the world ye
shall have tribulatiOn, but be OF good cheeri
have overcome the world" weeping
may endure for a night, but JOY cometh IN
the morning" Thank God for trosts
What helped make Milton the greatest Of
, poetsP The frost Of blindness Whathelped
make Washington the greatest of generalsi
The frosts Of Valley Forge. What made II
aDDropriate for one passing John Bunyan's
grave to exclaim "Sleep on, thou prince oi
! dreamersg" The frosts of imprisonment.
The greatest college from which we car
graduate is the college of frosts Especial
trial fits for especial work. Just now watch
and YOU will see that trouble is preparativ'
, and educational. That is the grindston'
, on which battle axes are sharpened. lhav'
ALWAYS noticed in my own case that Whel
/ the Lord had some special work for me Il
do it was preceded by especial attack upoI
} me. This is so proverbial in my own hous
| that if for something say Ordo get pour
] ed upon me a volley OF censure and anath
= ema. my wife always asks: Il wonde
3 what new opportunity of usefulness L
about to openg Something good and gran'
( is surely cOming"
t What is true in my case is true ON
? larger or smaller scale in the history
e every man and woman who wants to sery
a the Lord. Without complaint take tn
/, hard knocks You will see after awhile
}, though you may not appreciate 1t now
r that by the breath of a good and lovinl
4 God frost is given. Let the corners Of you
U mouth, 50 lOL8 uAdMAA AONA "a ~SA- k%N----'
o be drawn up in smiles of content.
For many years poets and essayists hav
celebrated the grace and swiftness OF tn
Y Arabian horses. The most wonderful eS
n hibition of horsemanship that ever vii
b messed was lust outside of the city of Jeru
d salem-an Arabian steed mounted by al
# Arab. Do you know where these Arabial
h horses got their heetness and poetry OF mc
If tion? Long centuries ago Mohammed
W with 900 cavalry on the march, could hn
,p for them not a drop of water for three days
J. Coming to the top of a bill, a river was i
t. sight. With wild dash the $4,000 horse
% started for the stream. A minute after
% armed host was seen advancing, and at M
IL hammed's command 100 bugles blew for th
lf horses to fall in line, but all the 10000 COZ
= tinued the wild gallop to the river exeeI
~ five, and they, almost dead with thlrs
u wheeled into line of battle.
Nothing in human bravery and self sa
riice excels that bravery and self sacrlh'
% Of those five Arabian war horses. Iho'
le five splendid steeds Mohammed chose Il
IL his own use. and from those five came thi
le race of Arabian horses for ages the glol
y Of the equestrian world. And let me So
~ that in this great war of truth again
ls error. Of holiness against sin and heav'
.s against hell, the best war horses
gu descended from those who, under par
PC and self denial and trouble, answered u
gn gospel trumpet and wheeled into lin
ms ont of great tribulation, out Of great hre
'he out of great frosts, they came
OF REWARD AFTER SUFFERING.
Al And let me say it will not take long I
l-r God to make up to you in the next wor
wHh for all you have suffered in this. AS y
lze enter heaven he may say; Give TINS m
q. one of those lowered and colonnaded p
Lhe aces ON that ridge OF gold overlooking t
up, sea Of glass. Give this woman a hoI
.a .al among those amaranthine blooms and
the tween those fountains tossing in the ev
nal lasting sunlight, Give her couch canopi
= On with rainbows to pay her for all the
~. ~ tiques OF wifehood and motherhood
IAe housekeeping, from which she had no r
~. ~ for 40 years
the oCupbearers of heaven, give these neV
on arrived souls from earth the costliest bey