The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-05-02
Grand Trials.

| with in the darkness is really an angel
| of blessing" Jacob found in the morn
| ing that this strange parsonage was not
an enemy, but a God dispatched mes
| senger to promise prosperity for him and
/ for his children. And so many a man at
| the close of his trial has found out that
he has been trying TO throw down his
| own blessing. If you are a Christian
man. L will go back in your history and
| find that the grandest things that have
| ever happened to you have been your
| trials Nothing short of scourging. inn
prisonment and shipwreck could have
| made Paul what he was.
| When David was fleeing through the
| wilderness. pursued by his own son, he
| was being prepared to become the sweet
| singer Of Israel. The pit and the dun
| geon were the best schools at which
| Joseph ever graduated. The hurricane
| that upset the tent and killed Jobs chill
/ dren prepared the man of UZ to write
| the magnificent poem that has astounded
| the ages. There is no way TO get the
wheat out of the straw but to thrash it.
/ There is no way to purify the gold but
| to burn it. Look at the people who have
| always had II their own way. They are
| pround. discontinued. useless and un-
/ happy. If you want To find cheerful
| folks, go among those who have been
| purified by the fire.
| After Rossini had rendered William
| Tell the five hundredth time a COM
| pany of musicians came under his
! window in Paris and serenaded him.
| They put upon his brow a. golden crown
| of laurel leaves, But amid all the APP
/ plause and enthusiasm RosSini turned to
| a friends and said. Il would give all this
| brilliant scene for a few days Of youth
and love" Contrast the melancholy
/ feeling of Rossini. who had everything
| that this world could give him. TO the
| joyful experience of Isaac Watts. whose
misfortunes were innumerable, when he
says:
The hill of Zior yields
thousand sacred sweets
| Before we reach the heavenly fields
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let our songs abound
| And every tear be dry.
We are marching through 1mmanuers
| ground
To fairer worlds on high.
Tt is prosperity that kills and trouble
| that saves. While the Israelites were
| on the march amid great privations and
| awhile they prayed for meat, and the
sky darkened with great flock Of quails,
| and these quails fell in large multitudes
| all about them, and the Israelites ate
and ate and stuffed themselves until
| they died Oh, my friends, il is not hard
| ship or trial or starvation that Injuries
| the soul, but abundant supply. 1t is not
| the vulture of trouble that eats up the
| Christians life 1t is the quails. 1t is
| the quails. You will yet find out that
| your midnight wrestle by the brook
| Jabbok is with an angel of God come
| down to bless and save you.
The Mark of Trouble.
Learn. again. that while our wrestling
with trouble may be triumphant we
must expect that it will leave its mark
| upon US. Jacob prevailed. but the angel
| touched him, and his thigh bone sprang
from its socket. and the good man went
| limping on his way. We must carry
through this world the mark Of the COM
| bat What ploughed those premature
wrinkles in your face? What w'hitened
/ your hair before it was time for frost?
| What silenced forever so much of the
| hiarity of your household? All, it is
| because the angel of trouble hath touched
| you that you go limping on your way.
/ You need. not be surprised that those
| who have passed through the fire do not
/ feel as gay as once they did.
Do not be out Of patience with those
| who come not out of their dependency.
/ They may triumph over their loss, and
| have been trouble touched. Are we
| stOics that we can, unmOved see our
/ cradle rified Of the bright eyes and the
/ sweet lips? Can we stand unmOved and
| see our gardens Of earthly delight up
| rooted? Will Jesus. who wept himself.
| be angry with us if we pour our tears
| into the graves that open TO swallow
| down what we love best2 Was Lazarus
/ more dear to him than our beloved dead
| 10 US? No. We have a right TO weep.
| Our tears must come. You shall not
| drive them back to scald the hearts.
| They fall in Gods bottle. Afflicted ones
! have died because they could not weep.
| Thank God for the sweet the mysterious
/ relief that comes to US in tears Under
/ this gentle rain the flowers of corn put
/ forth their bloom. God pity that dry,
| withered, parched, all consuming grief
| that wrings its hands. and grinds its
| teeth, and bites its nails unto the quick,
| but can not weep We may have found
| the comfort of the cross and yet ever
| after show that in the dark night and
| by the brook Jabbok we We're troubled
/ touched.
| Again we may take the idea of the
text and announce the approach Of the
| day-dawn. No one was ever more glad
| to see the morning than Jacob after
| that night Of struggle. 1t is appropriate
/ for philanthropists and Christians to cry
! out with this angel of the text, THE day
| breaSeth.' The worlds prospects are
| Frightening. The church of Christ is
| rising up it's strength to go forth fair
] as the moon, clear the sun and terri
| BILE as an army with banners" Clap
/
| breaketh. The bigotrfes Of the earth are
| perishing. The time was when we were
| told that If we wanted 10 get TO heaven
we must be immersed or sprinkled or we
| must believe in the perseverance of the
saints, or I'm falling away from grace
or a liturgy. or no liturgy. or they must
| be Calvinists or Arminians in order to
reach heaven. We have all come to con-
fess now that these are non-essentials
in religion.
| The Christian Hope.
| During my vacation one summer I was
| in a presbyterian audience. and 1t was
sacramento day. and with grateful
heart 1 received the holy communion
| On the next Sabbath I was in a inetho-
dist church and sat at a love feast. On
| the following Sabbath l was in an epis-
| cOpalian church and knelt at the altar
| and received the cOnsecrated bread. /
do not know which service I enjoyed the
| most. Il believe in the communion of
saints and in the life everlasting" "The
| day breaketh."
As 1 look upon this audience I see
many who have passed through waves
Of trouble that came up higher than
| their girdle. In Gods name l proclaim
cessation Of hostilities You shall not
go always saddened and heartbroken.
God will bring your dead to life God
will stanch the hearts bleeding l know
he will. Like as a father pities his chill
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