Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-08-23
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and gets him well very soon. Now,
some of you treat God just as that
young man treated his mother. When
you get into financial perplexity, you
call on the banker, you call on the bro
ker, you call on your creditors, you call
on your lawyer for legal counsel; you
call upon everybody, and when you can
not get any help, then you go to God.
You say: 80, Lord, come to thee.
Help me now out Of my perplexity." "
And the Lord comes, though it is the
eleventh hour. he says: why did you
not send for me before? AS one whom
his mother comforteth, so will comfort
iou" 1t is to throw us back upon God
that we have this ministry Of tears.
The Office of Sympathy.
Again, it is the use Of trouble to ca
pacitate Us for the Office Of sympathy
The priests, under the old dispensatiOn,
were set apart by having water sprin-
kled upon their hands, feet and head,
and by the sprinkling Of tears people
are now set apart to the Office Of sympa-
thy. When we are in prosperity we like
to have a great many young people
around US, and we laugh when they
laugh, and we romp when they romp,
and we sing when they sing; but when
we have trouble we like plenty Of old
folks around Why? They know how
70 talk.
Take an aged mother, 20 years Of age,
and she is almost omnipotent in COM
fort. Why? She has been through itaL
At 7 O'Clock in the morning she goes
over to comfort a young mother who
has Just lost her babe. Grandmother
knows all about that trouble. Fifty
years ago she felt it. At II O'Clock OF
that day she goes over to comfort wild
owed soul. She knows all about that.
She has been walking in that dark val
ley 20 years. At o'clock in the after
noon some one knocks at the door, want
ing bread. She knows all about that.
Two or three times in her life she came
to her last loaf. At 10 O'Clock that
night she goes over to sit up with some
one severely sick. She knows all about
it. She knows all about fevers and pleu-
risies and broken bones. She has been
doctoring all her life, spreading plasters
and pouring out bitter drops and shak-
ing up hot pillows and cOntriving things
to tempt a poor appetite. Drs. Aber-
nethy and Rush and Hosack and Harvey
were great doctors, but the greatest doc
tor the world ever saw is an old Chris
tian woman. Dear mel Do we not re-
member her about the room when we
were sick in our boyhOod? Was there
any one who could ever so touch sore
without hurting it?
Where did Paul get the ink with
which to write his comforting epistle!
Where did David get the ink to write
his comforting Psalms? Where did John
get the ink to write his comforting Rev
elation? They got it out Of their own
tears. When a man has gone through
the curriculum and has taken course
Of dungeons and imprisonments and
shipwrecks, he is qualified for the work
Of sympathy.
When 1 began to preach, my sermons
on the subject Of trouble were all poetic
and in semiblank verse, but God knocked
the blank verse out Of me long ago and
have found out that l cannot comfort
people except as I myself have been
troubled. God make me the son OF con-
ISOLATION TO the peoplel Iwould rather
be the means Of soothing one perturbed
spirit today than to play tune that
would set all the sons Of mirth reeling
in the dance.
I am an herb doctor. / put into the
caldron the root out Of dry ground,
without form or comeliness. Then
nut in the rose Of Sharon and the lily
Of the valley. Then put into the cal
dron some of the leaves from the tree OF
life and the branch that was thrown
into the wilderness Marah. Then l pour
in the tears of Bethany and Golgotha;
then l stir them up. Then | kindle un-
der the caldron fire made out Of the
wood of the cross, and one drop Of that
potion will cure the worst sickness that
ever afflicted human soul Mary and
Martha shall receive their Lazarus from
the tomb. The damsels shall rise. And
ON the darkness shall break the morning
and God will wipe all tears from their
eyes.
Jesus had enough trial to make him
sympathetic with all trial The shortest
verse in the Bible tells the story, "Je-
sus wept." The scar on the back Of his
either hand, the scar on the arch OF
either foot, the row of scars along the
line of the hair, will keep all heaven
thinking. Oh, that Great Weeper is just
the one to silence all earthly trouble,
wipe out all stains Of earthly grief.
Gentlel Why, his step is softer than the
step Of the dew 1t will not be a tyrant
bidding you to hush up your crying 1t
will be a father who will take you on
his left arm, his face beaming into
yours. while with the soft tips Of the
fingers of the right hand he shall wipe
away all tears from your eyes.
Homesick For Heaven.
Friends, if we could get any appre-
citation Of what God has in reserve for
us. it would make MS so homesick we
would be unfit for our everyday work.
Professor Leonard, formerly Of Iowa
university, put in my hand metepric
stone. stone thrown off from some 9TH
er world to this. How suggestive 1t was
to mel And have TO tell you the best
representations we have Of heaven are
only aerolites flung off from that world
which rolls on bearing the multitudes
of the redeemed. We analyze these aero
lites and find them crystallizations OF
tears. No wonder, flung off from heav-
enl "God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. "
Have you any appreciation Of the
good and glorious times your friends
are having in heaven? How different 1t
Is when they get news there Of Chris
tian's death from what it is herel lt IS
the difference between embarkation and
coming into port Everything depends
upon which side Of the river you stand
when You hear of Christians death.
If you stand on this side of the river,
you mourn that they go. If you stand
on the other side Of the river, You re-