The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-07-11

tlpOQeS on MS rOunu-lne-WOIlu JOuliityf
has selected as the subject for his sermon
through the press today 1.-THE Rustic in
the Palace" the text being taken from
Genesis xiv. %. II will go and see him
before I die"
Jacob had long since passed the hun
ired-year milestone. In those times peo-
pie We're distinguished for longevity. In
the centuries afterward persons lived 10
great age. Galen. the most celebrated
physician or his time. took so little Of
his own medicine that he lived 10 40
years. A man Of undoubted veraclty on
the witness stand in England swore that
he remembered an event $50 years be
fore Lord Bacon speaks Of a countess who
had cut three sets of teeth and died at
40 years. Joseph Crele Of Pennsylvania
lived 40 years In 1857 a book was
printed containing the names of thirty
seven persons who lived 40 years and the
names Of eleven persons who lived 100
years.
Some Grand Old People.
Among the grand old people Of whom
we have record was Jacob. the shepherd
iof the text. But he had bad lot OF boys.
They were jealous and ambitious and
every way Unprincipled. Joseph, however,
'seemed to be an exception, but he had
lbeen gone many years. md the probability
was that he was dead. As sometimes now
In house you will find kept at the table
a vacant chair, a plate, a knife. fork. for
ksome deceased member Of the family. so
Jacob kept in his heart a place for his be-
loved Joseph There sits the old man.
the flock Of 40 years in their flight having
salighted long enough TO leave the marks
IOf their claw on forehead and cheek and
temple. His long beard SHOWS dow,I over
his chest. His eyes are somewhat dim,
and he can see farther when they are
closed than when they are open. for he
can see clear back into the time when
beautiful Rachel his wife, was living, and
his children shook the oriental alb lde with
their merriment.
The centenarian is sitting dreaming
over the past when he hears a wagon
rumbling To the front door. He gets up
and goes To the door to see who has ar
rived, and his long absent sons from
Egypt come in and announce to him that
Joseph, instead Of being dead, is living
In an Egyptian palace, with all the invest
iture Of prime minister. next to the king
in the mightest empire of al the world,
The news was too sudden and too glad
for the old man. and his checks whiten,
and he has a dazed look, and his staff
falls out Of his hand, and he would have
dropped had not the sons caught him
and led him to a lounge and put cold
water on his face and famed him lit
tie.
In that half delirium the old man
mumbles something about his son Joseph.
lie says: You don't mean Joseph. do
you-rny dear son, who has been dead so
long2 You don't mean Joseph, do you?"
But after they had fully resuscitated him
and the news was confirmed the tears be-
gin their winding way down the cross
roads Of the wrinkles. and the sunken
lips of the old man culver. and he brings
his bent fingers together as he says:
Joseph is YET alive. / viii go and see
him before 1 die"
Parental Attncbment.
It did not take the old man a great
while to get ready, ! warrant you. lie
put on the best clothes that the shep-
herds wardrobe could afford. He got
Into the wagon and though the aged are
cautious and like 20 ride slow the wagon
did not get along fast enough for this old
man. and when the wagon with the old
man met Josephs chariot coming down TO
meet him, and Joseph got out Of the
chariot and got into the wagon and
threw his arms around his father neck,
II was an antithesis Of royalty and rus
ITCHY. of simplicity and pOmp, of filial
affection and paternal love. which leaves
us so much in doubt about whether W.
had better laugh or cry that we do both.
So Jacob kept the resolution of the
text, Il will go and see him before 1
die"
What a strong and unfailing thing is
parental attachment Was II not almost
time for Jacob TO forget Joseph? The
hot suns Of many summers had blazed on
the heath; the river Nile had overlooked
and receded OverfiOWed and receded |
again and again: the seed had been sown
and the harvest reaped. Stars rose and
set. Years of plenty and years Of famine
had passed on, but the love of Jacob for
Joseph in my text is Overwhelmingly
dramatic. Oh, that is a cord that is not
snapped, though pulled on by many de-
cadesl Though when the little child ex-
pired the parents may not have been
more than twenty-five years Of age, and
now they are seventy-five, yet the vision
OF the cradle. and the childish face. and
the first utterances Of the infantile lips
are fresh today. in spite of the passage
Of a half-Century. Joseph was as fresh
In Jacobs memory as ever. though at
seventeen years Of age the boy had dis
appeared from the old homestead.
found in our family record the story of
a infant that had died fifty years be-
fore. and ] said 10 my parents. What is
this record and what does IL mean?"
Their chief answer was long, deep sigh
II was yet TO them a very tender sOr-
row. What does that all mean? Why,
IL means out children departed are ours
yet and that cord OF attachment reach
ing across the years VIII hold US until Il
brings US together in the palace, as Jacob
and Joseph We're brought together. That
IS one thing that makes old people die
happy. They realize it is reunion with
those from whom they have long been
separated.
Thrilling Visit.
I am often asked as pastor, and every
pastor is asked the question. "WfI my
children be children in heaven and for
ever children" Well. there was no
doubt great change in Joseph from the
time Jacob lost him and the time when
Jacob found him-between the boy of
seventeen years Of age and the man in
midlife. his forehead developed with the
great business Of state, but Jacob was
glad TO get back Joseph anyhow and IL
did not make much difference to the old
man whether the boy looked older or
looked younger. And Il viii be enough
JOY for that parent If he can get back
that son. that daughter, at the gate Of
heaven. whether the departed loved one
shall come a cherub or in fulI-grOwn
angelhOOd. There must be a change
wrought by that celestial climate and by
those supernal years, but it will only be
from loveliness TO more loneliness, and
from health 10 more radiant health.
parent, as you think OF the darling
painting and white in membraneous Group,
] want you to know it will be gloriously
bettered in that land where there has
never been a death and where all the
Inhabitants viii live on in the great
future as long as God. Joseph was
Joseph Notwithstanding the palace, and
your child will be your child notwith-