National Baptist world., 1894-08-31

cession goes by. But, mark you, this
that am speaking of was city funer'
al. In great cities the cart jostles the
hearse. and there is mirth, and glad
ness, and Indifference as the weeping
procession goes by. In this city OF
Main, it was common thing to have
trouble and bereavement and death.
Christ saw it every day there Perhaps
that very hour there were others being
carried out; but this frequency Of
trouble didn't harden Christ's heart at
all He stepped right out, and He saw
this mourner, and He had compassion
on her and He said: weep not
Now, l have to tell you, 0 bruised
souls, and there are many everywhere,
| (have you ever looked over any great
audience and noticed how many shad-
ows of sorrows there are0 I come to
all such and say: Christ meets you
and He has compassion on you, and He
says: Weep not" Perhaps with
some it is financial trouble. "Oh," you
to cry over lost money" Is it? Sup
pose you had large fortune, and all
luxuries brought to your table, and
your wardrobe was full, and your
home was beautifed by music and
sculpture and painting and thronged
by the elegant and educated, and then
some rough misfortune should strike
you in the face and trample your treas
ures, and taunt you children for their
| faded dress, and send you into COM
mercial circles an underling where
once you waved a scepter of gold, do
you think you would cry then?
think you would. But Christ comes
and meets all such to-day. He sees all
the straits in which you have been
thrust. He observes the sneer of that
man who once was proud to walk in
your shadow and glad to getyour help.
| He sees the protested note, the uncan-
celed Judgment, the foreclosed mort
gage, the heart-breaking evaporation,
and He says: Weep not. | own the
cattle on a thousand hills. Twill never
let you starve. From my hand the
fowls of heaven peck all their food.
And will l let you starve? Never-nO,
my child, never"
Or perhaps this tramp at the gate of
Main has an echo in your own bereft
spirit. You went out to the grave, and
you felt you never could come back
again. You left your heart there.
| The white snow of death covered all
the garden. You listen for the speak
ing of voices that will never be heard
again, and the sounding of feet that
will never move in your dwelling again,
and there is heavy, leaden pressure
| I, Cd lor ocSl, Il o,,+ 4bn
light of your eyes, and the heavy spirit
that that woman carried out of the
gate of Main is no heavier than yours.
| And you open the door, but he comes
not in. And you enter the nursery,
but she is not there. And you
sit at the table, but there is a vacant
chair next to you. And the sun does
not shine as brightly as it used to, and
the voices of affection do not strike
you with so quick a thrill, and your
cheek has not so healthy hue, and
your eye has not SO deep fire. Do I
| not know? Do we not all know? There
is an uplifted woe on your heart You
have been out carrying your loved one
beyond the gate of the city of Main.
But look yonder. Some one stands
watching. He seems waiting for you.
AS you come up He stretches out His
hand of help. His voice is full of ten
derness, yet thrills with eternal
strength. Who is it? The very one
who accosted the mourner at the gate
of Main, and He says: ''Weep not"
Perhaps it is worse grief than that.
1t may be living home trouble that
you cannot speak about to your best
friend. 1t may be some domestic un.
happiness. 1t may be an evil suspi-
cion. 1t may be the disgrace follow
ing in the footsteps of son that is
wayward, or a companion who is cruel,
or a father that will not do right; and
for years there may have been vul-
ture striking it's beal1 into the vitals of
your soul, and you sit there to-day feel
ing it is worse than death. 1t is. It is
worse than death. And yet there is
relief. Though the night may be the
blackest, though the voices of hell may
| tell YOU to curse God and die, look up
and hear the voice that accosted the
woman of the text as it says: Weep
not"
| Earth hath no sorrow
That Heaven cannot heal.
| learn, again, from all this that