Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1894-04-19

tnis morning very suddenly. she has gone
20 God, have no doubt, but II 50 she has
told him what tell you now-thnt child
never heard prayer In her fathers house,
never heard prayer from her fathers
lips. Oh, II I only had her back again one
day to do my dutyr' It viii be tremen-
dous thing at the last day II some one
shall say Of us; Il never heard my father
pray. never heard my mother pray"
Again, IremArk, we want religion In all
our home sorrowS There are 10, 900 ques-
tions that come up In the best regulated
household that must be settled. Perhaps
the father has one favorite In the family,
the mothsr another fayorite In the family,
and there are many Questions that need
delicate treatment. ..-.. t..e
Tyranny and arbitrary decision have no
place In q household II the parents love
God, there win be spirit of self sacrifice,
and spirit Of forgiveness, and kind
ness which win throw its charm over the
entire household Christ win come into
that household and will say: Husbands,
love your wives and be not bitter against
them. Wives, see that you reverence your
husbands. Children, obey our parents In
the Lord. Servants, be obedient 10 your
masters, and the family will be like q
garden on o summer morning-the grass
plot, and the flowers, and the vines, and
the arch Of honeysuckle standing In the
sunlight, glittering with dew.
But then there win be sorrows that win
come 10 the household. There ere but few
families that escape the stroke Of financial
misfortune. Financial misfortune comes
to a house where there Is no religion. They
kick against divine allotments, they curse
God for the incoming calamity, they with
draw from the world because they cannot
hold as high position In society as they
once did, and they fret, and they scowl,
and they sorrow, and they die. During
the past few years there have been tens Of
thousands Of men destroyed by their flnan-
cial distresses
Misfortune In the Home.
But misfortune comes to the Christian
household. If religion has full sway in
that home, they stoop gracefully. They
say, "This is right" The father says,
Perhaps money was getting to be my idol
Perhaps God is going to make me bet
ter Christian by putting me through the
furnace Of tribulation. Besides that, why
should fret anyhowP He who owneth
the cattle on o thousand hills and out of
whose hand all the fowls of heaven peck
their food is my Father He clotheth the
lilies Of the field; he will olothe me. II he
takes care of the raven, and the hawk, and
the vulture most certainly he will take
care Of me, his child" ..s
Sorer troubles come-sickness and death.
Loved ones sleep the last sleep. A child is
buried out Of sight. You say: "Alas, for
this bitter day God has dealt very severe
ly with me; I can never look up. o God,
/ cannot bear itl' Christ comes In, and he
says: ''Hush, o troubled soul; it Is well
with the child Twill strengthen thee in
all thy troubles. My grace is sufficient.
When thou passeth through the waters,
will be with thee" ae
When through the deep waters cali thee
togo,
The rivers Of sorrow shall not overflow.
For will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
But there are hundreds Of families rep
resented here this morning where religion
has been great comfort There are in
your homes the pictures Of your departed
and things that have no wonderful value
of themselves, but you keep them precious
| ly and carefully because hands now still
once touched them. A father has gone out
Of this household, mother has gone out
| of this, daughter Just after her gradua-
tion day, son just as he was entering on
the duties Of life.
And to other homes trouble win come.
say 1t not that you may be foVeboding,
not that you may do the unwise thing Of
taking trouble by the foreloek, but that
you may be ready. We must go one by
one. There will be partings in all our
households. We must say farewell. We
must die And yet there are triumphant
strains that drown these tremulous &C.
cents; there are anthems that whelm the
dirge. Heaven is full of the shout Of de-
livered captives, and to the great wide
field of human SORROW there come now the
reaper angels with keen sickles to harvest
the sheaves of heaven.
Saints will to end the endure;
| Safely will the Shepherd keep
Those he purchased for his sneep.
Not to BE Forgotten.
Go home this day and ask the blessing
on your monday meal. Tonight set up
! the family altar. Do not wait until you
become a Christian yourself. This day
unite Christ to your household, for the
Bible distinctly says that God will pour
out his fury upon the families that call
not upon his name. Open the Bible and
read a chapter; that will make you strong.
Kneel down and offer the first prayer in
your household. 1t may be broken petit
tion, it may be only "God be merciful to
| So 1,,A Col
spirits viii listen, and angels will chant,
Behold, he prays!''
Do not retire from this house this morn
ing until you have resolved upon this mat
ter. You will be gone will be gone,
many years will pass, and perhaps your
younger children may forget almost every
thing about you, but 40 years from now,
in some Sabbath twilight, your daughter
will be sitting with the family Bible on
her lap reading to her children, when she
will stop, and peculiar solemnity will
come to her face, and tear will start, and
the children will say, Mother, what
makes you cry?" and shewill say, moth
ing, only was thinking that this is the
very Bible out Of which my father and
mother used to read at morning and even
ing prayer" "'
All other things about you they may
forget, but train them up for God and
heaven. They will not forget that.
When queen died, her three sons
brought an offering to the grave. One son
brought gold, another brought silver, but
the third son came and stood over the grave
and opened one of his veins and let the
blood drop upon his mothers tomb, and all
who saw it said it was the greatest demon.
stration Of affection. My friends, what Is
the grandest gift we can bring to the. sep
ulchers of Christian ancestry 1t is 6
life all consecrated to the God who made
us AID the Christ who redeemed u.s. I can
not but believe that there are hundreds o.
parents in this house who have resolved t.
do their whole duty, and that at this mo
ment they are passing into better life
and having seen the grace of the gospel Ii
this place today you are now fully ready tt
return to your own house and show wha
great things God has done unto you.