Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1894-11-24
THE CURE OF NAAlIAN
REV. DR.. IAlMAGE breaches UPON
"THE SICK GENERAL"

REV. DR.. T8lMAeE breaches UPON
"THs SICK GENERAL"
This Life IaSbut the vestibule of Grand
Tcmple-Wthat General Naaman Was
willing to DO to Be Cured-The True
Remedy.
BnooKLy Nov 1s.-Rov. DR.. Tai
mage has CHOSEN as the subject of to-
days sermon through the press "Tho
Sick General" the text selected being
II Kings " aHe was leper.
Here wehave warrior sick, not
with pleurisJes or rheumatisms or con-
sumptions, nut with a disease worse
than all these put together A red mark
has come onl ON the forehead, precursor
of complete disfguroment and dissolu-
ton. I haHe something awful to tell
you. General Naaman, the commander
in chief OF 81 the Syrian forces has the
leprosyl TIL on his hands, on his face,
ON his feet, On bis entire person. The
Ileprosyl Gdtout of the way Of tho pes
Itilcncel Ifhis breath strike you, you
arc dead nan. The commander in
chief of allshe forces of Syrial And yet
he would be gladto exchange conditions
with the buy at his stirrup or the hos
tier that.biaslkets his charger. The news
goes like w5sdfire all through tho realm,
and the people are sympathetic. and
they cry odkIs. it possible that our
great hero s7ho slew Ahab and around
whom we oarile with such vociferation
when he returned from victorious bat
tlo-can ifsbe possible that our grand
and gloriouE Naaman has the leprosyf"
an Are Afflicted.
Yes. Everybody has something ne
wishes he BED not-Dayid, an Absalom
to disgraceshim; Paul, a thorn to sting
him; Job, earbuncles to plague him.;
Samson, a Delilah to shear him; Ahab,
Naboth tcdeny him; Hannah, Nor
docai to irI.fate him; George Washing
ton, childlessness to afllict him; John
Wesley, afermagant wife to poster him.;
Leah, weal1eyes; Pope, q crooked back;
Byron, Glib foot; John Milton, blind
eyes; Charles Lamb, an insane sister,
and you aid you and. you something
which yo1neyer bargained for and
would likepo get rid of. The reason Of
this is that God does not want this
world to bestoo bright Otherwise we
would always want to stay and eat these
fruits and He on these lounges and shake
hands in this pleasant society. We are
only in the;yestibule of grand temple.
God does Dot want US to stay on the
doorstep, and therefore he sends aches
and annoyances and sorrows and be-
reavementsof all sorts to push us on
and push ~ up toward ripper fruits and
brighter society and more radiant pros
perities. God is only whipping us ahead.
The reasonShat Edward Payson and
Robert Hall had more rapturous views
of heaven shan other people had was
because, through their aches and pains,
God pushed them nearer up to it. If
God dashesout one Of your pictures, 1t
is only to show to you brighter one.
If he stse.your foot with govt. your
brain witbsnsuralgia, your tongue with
an MISUNDERSTANDING thirst; it is only be-
cause Easi.s p sbarin s,to snbstitutea bet
ter body than you ever dreamed OF, when
the mortal shall put on Immortality.
F, 1t is to push you on and to push you
up toward something grander and better
that God sends upon you, as he did upon
General Naaman, something you do
not want. Seated in his Syrian man.
sion, all the walls glittering with the
shields which he had captured in bat
tie, the corridors crowded with admir-
ing visitors who just wanted to see him
once, music and mirth and banquetlng
filling all the mansion from tessellated
floor to pictured ceiling, Naaman
would have forgotten that there was
anything better and would have been
glad to stay there 10, 900 years. But, oh,
how tho shields dim, and how the visit
ors fly the hall, and how the music drops
dead from the STING, and how the gates
OF the mansion slam shut with sepul-
chral bang as you read the closing words
of tho eulogiuml "He was leper! He
was lepcr''
Must Have Sympathy.
There was one person moro sympa-
thetic with General Naaman than any
other person. Mammals vito walks the
floor, wringing her hands and trying to
think what she can do to alleviate her
husbands suffering. All remedies have
failed Tho surgeon general and the
doctors of the royal staff have met, and
they have shaken their heads, as much
as to say, "No cure, no cure" l think
that the Office seekers had all folded up
their recommendation and gone home.
Probably most of the employees Of the
establishment had dropped their work
and were thinking Of looking for some
other situation What shall now become
of poor Mammals wife? She must have
sympathy somewhere. In her despair
she goes to little Hebrew captive, a
servant girl in her house, to whom she
tells the whole story, as sometimes,
when overborne by tho sorrows of the
world and finding no sympathy any
where else, you have gone out and found
in the sympathy of some humble domes-
tic-Rose or Dinah or Bridget-a help
which the world could not give you.
What q scene it was-one Of the
grandest women in all Syria in cabinet
council with waiting maid over the
declining health Of the mighty general
81 know something, says the little
captive maid, II know something" as
she bounds to her bare feet. 'In the
land from which I was stolen there is
a certain prophet known by the name
of Elisha, who can cure almost any
thing, and l shouldn't wonder If he
could cure my master. Send for him
right away" ooh, hushP' you say.
"If the highest medical talent in all the
land cannot cure that leper, there is no
need Of your listening to any talk OF a
servant girl" But do not SCOT, do not
c,oo, Tho Hperor of tbot little caDtiVo