The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-10-10

more persistence, more grace. 10 make
such a one the right kind Of a Christian.
He who at forty years loses a parent
must reel under the blow. Even down 10
old age men are accustomed to rely upon
the counsel or be powerfully influenced
by the advice Of parents if they are still
alive. But how much greater the be-
reavement when Il comes in cary life
before the character Is se.f-reliant and
when natu-a..y the heart is unsophisd
Gated and easily tempted
The Triumph of Grace.
And yet benold what a nobility OF dis
position Hadassah exhibited. Though
father and mother were gone. grace hsd
tTiumphed over all Disadvantages. isr
willingness to self-sacrlfice, her control
over the king. her humility. her faithful
worship Of God show her to have been
one Of the best of the worlds Christians.
There are those who did not enjoy re
markable early privileges. Perhaps, like
the beautiful captive Of the text, YOU
We're an orphan. You had huge sorrows
in you little heart. You sometimes wept
in the night when you knew not what
was the matter. You felt sad sOml times
even on the playground. Your father or
mother did not stand in the door 10 well
come you when you came home from
long journey. You still feel the effect OF
early Disadvantages, and you have some
Il
not being as thoroughly religious rs you
would like to be. But these excuses are
not sufficient. Gods grace Will triumph
IL you seek IT, He knows what obstacles
you have fought against. and the more
trial the more help. After all there are no
orphans i'm the world, for the Great God
is the Father of US all
Again our subject is an Illustration or
Wnat religion may be under the pressure
of poverty. The captivity and crushed
condition of this orphan girl and Of the
kind man who adopted her suggest a con-
dition of poverty. Yet from the very first
acquaintance we had with Hadassah We
find her the same happy and cOntented
Christian. 1t was only by compulsion she
was afterward taken into a sphere OF
honor and afiiuence. Tn the humble nome
of MOrdecai, her adopted father, she was
a light thai illumined every priVatiOn
In some period I'm almost every mans
life there comes a season Of straitened cir
Z cumstances. when the severest calcula-
ton and most scraping economy are neces-
sary in order 10 subsistence and respect
ability.
{ At the commencement of business at
the entrance upon profession, when
( friends are few and the world IS afraid Of
/ you because there is a possibility of fail
( ure many of the noblest hearts have
struggled against poverty and are now
struggling. To such ] hear a message Of
good cheer. You say il is hard thing for
YOU 10 be a Christian. This constant anX-
iety, this unresting ejaculation, wear
out the buOyancy Of your spirit, and, al
though you have told perhaps no one
about it, cannot I tell that this is the
very trouble which keeps you from be
ing what you ought 10 be? You have
/ no time to think about laying up treas
u-es In heaven when ii is a matter of
great doubt whether you will be enabled
to pay your next quarters rent. You
bfnlr Of Aft of
righteousness until you can get means
enough to buy an overcoat to keep out
the cold. You want the bread of life,
but you thin. you must get along with
out that until you can buy another barrel
of flour for your wife ard children. Some
( times you sit down discouraged and al
most wish you were dead.
Trials of the Poor.
: Christians in satin slippers, with their
! feet on damasl1 ottoman, may scout at
! such a class of temptations but those who
! themselves have been in the struggle and
/ grip Of hard misfortune can appreciate the
! power Of these evils TO dissuade the soul
away from religious duties. We admit
! the strength of the temptation but then
| we point 10 Hadassah, her poverty equa.ed
! by her piety. Courage, down there in the
/ battle! Hurl away your disappointment.
! Men Of ha.f your heart have, through
Christ. been more than conquerOrs. In the
i name Of God, come out Of that, The
: religion Of Christ is just what you want
out there among the empty flour barrels
/ and beside the cold hearths.
You have never told any one of what a
! hard time you have had. but God knows
/ il as we'll as you know it. Your easy
times will come after awhile. Do not ,et
your spirits break down midife What
if your coat is thin? Run fast enough to
baN Inv
/ uries on your table? High expectations
! will make your blood tingle better than
: the best Madeira. If you cannot afford
; to smoke you can afford to whistle. But
! mercy animal spirits are not sufficient
I the power of the gospe,-that is what
/ you want to wrench despair out of the
! soul and put you forward into the front
: of the hosts incased in impenetrable ar
NOR.
Trials of Beauty.
Again, our subject illustrates what re-
! ligion may be under the temptation of
! personal attractlveness. The inspired rec
i ord says Of the heroine Of my text, "She
! was fair and beautiful" Her very name
signlfied "a myrtle" Yet the admiration
/ and praise and flattery of the world did
1 not blight her humility. The simplicity
/ Of her manner and behavior equaled her
j extraordinary attractions. 1t is the same
divine goodness which puts the tinge on
! the roses cheek, and the whlteness into
/ the lily, and the gleam on the wave, and
I that puts color in the cheek and sparkle
/ in the eye, and majesty in the forehead,
! and symmetry into the form, and graceful
/ ness into the gait. But many through
! the very charm Of their personal appear
ance have been destroyed. What shipper
ings and affections and impertinences
have often been the result of that which
God sent as a blessingi Japonicas, anem-
ones and heliotropes never swagger at
the beauty which God planted in their
very leaf, sepal axll and stamen. There
are many flowers that bow down so mod
estly you cannot see the color in their
cheek until you lift UP their head, putting
your hand under their round chin In
deed any kind of personal attractions.
whether they be those Of the body, the