Milford chronicle., 1893-09-08
0ooupationI They think reIisIon IS slorsua

Springfield? No, YOU would 20 there to re
your swords and muskets. Then you woul,
go out in the face of the enemy and conten,
Tor your country Now, take the Sabbati
day and the church TO be only the armorl
where we are TO get equipped for the grea
battle Of life, and that battlefield is Mon
day, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Fri
day and Saturday. Antioch" and iSt
Martin'sn and "Old Hundred are MOI
worth much if we do not sing all the week
A sermon is of little account if we cannot
carry it behind the counter and behind th,
/ plow. The Sabbath day is Of no w.lue if II
last only "a hours.
! oh - says some one, If l had a great
| sphere ! would do that; if I could have
I lived in the time Of Martin Luther, if
| could have been Paurs travelling eompan
/ ion, if / had some great and resounding
work to do-then / should putinto applica-
tion all that you say l must admit that
the romance and knight errantry have gone
out of life There is bat very little Of it
left in the world. The temples Of Rouen
have been changed into smishies; the classic
mansion at Ashland has been cut up into
walking sticks; the muses. have retreated
before the euigrnt's I1 and The trappers
gun, and "a NCrmonter might go over tn
IsAlleghany and the Rocky mountains and
see neither an Dread nors Sylph.
The groves where the gods used to dwell
have been cut up for firewood and the man
who 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 COM
mon life. Ii is absurd for you to 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 midge, how
could you endure the breath Of a basilisks
THE VALUE OF SMALL THINGS.
Our national government does not think
it belittling to put tax on pins, and a
tax on buckles, and a tax Oh shoes. The
individual taxes do not amount to much,
but in the aggregate to millions and mil
lions of dollars. And would have you, oh,
Christian man, put high tariff on every
annoyance and vexation that comes through
your soul. This might not amount to
much in single cases, but In the aggregate
it would be a great revenue of spiritual
strength and satisfaction.
A bee can suck honey even out of a net
tie, and if you have the glace of God in
your heart you can get sweetness out of
that which would otherwise irritate and
annoy A returned missionary told me
that a company of Adventures rowing up
the Ganges were stung to death by flies
that infost that region at certain seasons
L have seen the earth strewed with the car
casses 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 few
enemies. / won't load my gun. Wait until
! get into some great general engagement"
That man is a coward and would be a cow
ard in any sphere. Ii a man does not serve /
his country in a skirmish, he will not in q
Waterloo. And if you are not faithful 20 [
ing out against the single handed misfor-
tunes of this life you would not be faithful .
when great disasters, with their thunder
ing artillery, come rolling down over the .
soul.
This brings me to another point. We
ought TO bring the religion of Jesus Christ
into all our trials If we have a bereave-
ment, if we lose our fortune, if some great
trouble blast like the tempest, then we so
TO God for comfort, but yesterday, in the
little annoyances of your store or Office or
shop or factory or banking house did you
Ny friends, you need to take the religion
If the Lord Jesus Christ into the most
trials of your life. You have your
you have your anxeties; you
nave your vexations. "Oh, you say, they
lont shape my character. Since 1 lost my
.hild, since have lost my property, have
,een n very diGerentman from what was %
Ny brother, it is the little annOyanees of
our life that are souring your disposition,
Tipping your moral character and making
-ou less and less ola man.
You go into an artists studio. You see
i'm makinga piece of sculpture. You say,
Why don't you strike harder?" With his
nallet and his chisel he gees click, click,
lick, and you can hardly see from stroke
o stroke that there is any impression made
pon the stone, and yet the work is going
II. You say, "Why don't you strike hard
r." "Oh, he replies, "that would shatter
he statue. / must make it in this way,
trOke by stroke" And he continues on
v week and month until after awhile ev-
ry man that enters the studio is fascinated
Well, find God dealing with some man.
Ie is shaping him for time and shaping him
1r eternity. 1 say, 80 Lord, why not with
ne tremendous blow of calamity shape that
IAN for the next worldfn God saws:
That's not the way deal with this man.
b is stroke after stroke, annoyance after an
oyance, irritation after irritation, and
fter awhile he viii be done and glad
Dectacle for angels and men"
Not by one great stroke, but by 10000
tile strokes of misfortune, are men fitted
,r heaven. You know that large fortunes I
IN soon be scattered by being paid out in =
nall sums of money, and the largest es-
.te Of Christian character is sometimes
itirely lost by these small depletions
We must bring the religion of Jesus
hrist to help us in these little annoyances.
o not say that anything is too insig- !.
hcunt to affect your character. Rats Il
ay sink a ship. One lucifer match may =
.stroya temple. A queen got her death
T smelling of a poisoned rose. The q
ratch Of a sixpenny nail may give you
e lockjaw. Columbus, by asking for a b
zee of bread and drink of water at a
convent, came to the discovery
a new world. And there is a great con
ction between trihes and immensities, be- f
leen nothings and everythings. q
Do you not suppose that God cares for your Y
Significant sorrows? Why, my friends, Z
ere is nothing Insignificant in your life q
DIV dare you take the responsibility Of Il
YllE budD lutle Isl 10 you uOb kuoW n
at the whole universe is not ashamed to fl
lie care Of one violet? ! say; What ara c,
u doing down there in the grass. Door Lit z
violtt' Nobody knows you are here. ii
e you not afraid nights? You will die cl
tn thirst; nobody cares for you; you will b
fer; you will perish" NO. says a star, W
u watch over it tonight "No, says f.
3 cloud, "I'll give it drink" mo, says S,
= sun, "I'll warm it in my BOSOM" OF
ID then the wind rises and comes bend al
! down the grain and sounding the a,
aim through the forest, and say, cl
yhither away, o wind, on such swift Il
ngsn and it answers, Il am going to cool bl
cheek of that violet.n And then / see b
lleys at work in the sky, and the clouds e.
drawing water, and / say, "What are
4 doing there, o clouds?" They say,
Ve are drawing water for that violet y
id then I look down into the grass, and I M
Z, "Can It be that God takes care Of 70
ar thing like voupr and the answer of