The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-11-21

Well not nave Deen taken. IOJT, SICK n.y.
ing Naamani Are you going away in
high dudgeon and worse than when you
came? AS his chariot halts a moment
his servants Chamber upon il and coax
him to do as Elisha said. They say: Its
easy. If the prophet had told you to walk
for a mile on sharp spikes in order to get
rid of this awful disease, you would have
done It. 1t IS easy. Come, my lord, just
get down and wash in the Jordan You
take a bath every day anyhow. and in
this climate it IS so hot that 1t will do you
good. Do it on our account, and for the
sake Of the army you command. and for
the sake of the nation that admires you.
Come, my lord, just try this Jordanic
bath" Well he says. ito please you /
will do as you say" The rstinue drive to
the brink of the Jordan. The horses paw
and neigh to get into the stream them
selves and cool their hot TANKS. Gen.
Naaman, assisted by his attendants, gets
down out Of his chariot and painfully
comes to the brink of the river and steps
in until the water comes to the ankle and
goes on deeper until the water comes to
the girdle, and now standing so far down
in the stream, just a little inclination of
the head will thoroughly immerse him. He
bows once into the flood and comes up
and shakes the water out of nOstril and
eye and his attendants look at him and
say, why, general, how much better You
do lOOkp And he bows a second time
into the flood and comes up, and the wild
stare is gone out Of his eye. He bows the
third time into the flood eand comes up,
and the shriveled flesh has got smooth
again. He bows the fourth time into the
flood and comes up. and the hair that
had fallen out is restored in thick locks
again all over the brow. He bows the
fifth time into the flood, and comes up,
and the hOarseness has gone out of his
throat. He bows the sixth time and
comes up, and all the soreness and an
guish have gone out Of the limbs.
Why" ne says, Il am almost well.
but I will make a complete cure" and
he bows the seventh time into the flood,
and ne comes up, and not so much as a
tester, or a scale or an eruption as big
as the head of a pin is to be seen on
him.
He steps out on the banks and says, rs
ii possible?" And the attendants look
and say. rs il pOssfble?" And as, with
the health Of an athlete, he bounds back
into the chariot and drives on there goes
up from all his attendants wild 'HuZZa!
Huzzar OF course they go back to pay
and thank the man of God for his cOun-
sci 50 fraught with wisdom. When they
left the prophets house they went off
mad They have come back CAD. PeO-
pie always think better of a minister
after they are converted than they do be
fore conversion. Now we are 10 them an
intOlerable nuisance because we tel them
TO do things that go against the grain,
but some Of us have a great many let
ters from those VINO tell US that once they
were angry at what we preached, but
afterward gladly received the gospel at
our hands. They once called us fanatics
or terrOrists or enemies. Now they CAL
us friends. YOnder is a man who said he
would never come into the church again.
He said that two years ago He said,
''1Iy family shall never come here again
if such doctrines as that are preached"
But he came again. and his family came
again. He is a Christian. his wife
Christian, all his children ChTistians, the
whole household Christians, and YOU shall
dwell with them in the house of the Lord
forever. Our undying coadjutors are
those who once heard the gospel and
went away in a rage"
Humility necessary.
Now. my hearers, you know that this
Gen. Naaman did two things in order to
get well. The first was, ne got out of his
chariot. He might have stayed there,
with his swollen feet on the stuffed otto
man. seated on that embroidered cushion,
until his last gasp, he would never have
got any relief. He mad TO get down out
Of his chariot, and you have got to get
down out Of the chariot of your pride if
you ever become Christian. You can
not drive up to the cross with coach
and four and be saved among all the
spang-es. You seem to think that the
Lord is going to be complimented by
your coming. Oh, no, you poor, miserable,
scaIy. leprous sinner, get down out of
that! We al come in the same naughty
way. We expect to ride into the kingdom
of God. Never, until We go down on our
knees, will we ind mercy. The Lord has
endorsed US, uncharioted US. Get down
out Of your pride. Get down out of your
self-righteousness and your hypercriti-
cism. We have all got to do that. That
is the journey We have to make on our
knees. 1t is our internal pride that keeps
US from getting rid Of the leprOsy of sin
Dear Lord, what have we to be proud
Of? Proud of our scales? Proud of our
uncleanness? Proud Of this killing in
lection? Bring us down at thy feet,
weeping, praying, penitent, believing
supphants.
For sinners, Lord, thou cam'st to bleed
And I'm a sinner vile indeed
Lord, believe thy grace is free.
Oh, magnify that grace in me.
But he had not only to get down out Of
his chariot. He had to wash. Oh" you
say, Il am very careful with my ablu-
lions. Every day l plunge into a bright
and beautiful bath" All. my nearer.
there is a food brighter than any that
pOurs from these hills. 1t is the food that
breaks from the granite of the eternal
hills Il is the flood of pardon and peace
and life and heaven. That flood started
in the tears of Christ and the sweat Of
GethSemane and rolled on, accommodating
flood until all earth and heaven could
bathe in it. Zechariah called it the
fountain open for sin and uncleanliness -
William COwper called it the fountain
filled with blood" Your fathers and
mothers washed all their sins and sorrows
away in that fountain. Oh, my hearers,
do you not feel like wading into il?
Wade down now into this glorious flood
deeper, deeper, deeper. Plunge once,
times, seven times. IL will take as much
as that to cure your soul Oh, wash,
wash, wash and be clean.
L suppose that was a great time at Da-
maScuS when Gen. Naaman got back.
The charioteerS did not have to drive slow
ly any longer, lest they jolt the Invalid,
but as the horses dashed through the
streets of Damascus 1 think the people
rushed out to hail back their chieftain.
Naaman's wife hardly recognized her hus-
band. He was so wonderfully changed she
had TO look at him two or three times be-
fore she made out that It was her restored
husband. And the little captive maid, she
rushed out, clappng her hands and shout
ing: Did he cure you? Did he cure you?''
Then music woke up the palace, and the
tapestry Of the windows was drawn away.
that the multituds outside might ming e
with the princely mirth inside, and the
feet went up and down in the dance and
all the streets of Damascus that night
echoed and re-echoed with the news:
''Naaman's cured Naaman's curedw But
your sou. should get cured Of its leprosy.
The eyvViftpSf white horses bitphpd m tho