The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-01-31
THE USE OF SHADOWS
EARTH's SORROW THE PRECURSOR
OF HEAVENS JOY

Sermon by Rev. Robert stuart Macarthur
at Calvary Baptist Church, New York
City, on the Supreme Lesson OF Life-The
Grace OF Patience.
TExr.-Until the day break and the shadows
Tee away win get me to the mountain of
myrrh and to the hill Of frankincense.- Solo
mons Song iv, G.
Those Of you who are accustomed to
attend this ministry know that compar-
atively seldom are sermons preached in
this pulpit from texts taken from the
Song Of Solomon. 1t is readily acknowl-
edged that the book is not without its
serious difficulties. The scholarship of
the past generation will doubtless lead
us in the near future to modify some of
our former interpretations of this book,
but it is not my intention this morning
to speak of the book as a whole, nor
even of the immediate surroundings of
my text The text itself gives us some
interesting and instructive lessons, and
to these, without further preliminaries,
| desire to call your thought this morn.
ing.
You will observe, in the first place,
that the text suggests that there are
shadows in every life. This melancholy
truth we all know Sometimes we think
we know it too WELL by observation, if
not by experience There is crook
in every lot. There is "but' in every
life. Every heart knows its own sorrow.
Every life has its own special form of
shadow. Permit me, however, to partiCu-
larize some shadows in illustration of
this general truth. There are in some
cases the shadows of physical infrm-
tiles Many men and women have as
their chief inheritance weak bodies 1t
is astonishing how much work q great
soul may get out of weak body, un.
til they are divorced in DEATH when the
body, so tired and worn, is permitted to
rest in the grave, and the spirit goes up
in triumph to glory and to God.
Compensation In Life.
There are, however, even in such
cases, marked compensations in this life.
1t is interesting to observe how one fac
ulty will spring to the relief of another
faculty, and how God sometimes gives
his richest intellectual and spiritual be-
stowments to those who suffer from
some form Of physical infrmity. John
Milton would never have filled the
world with the music Of his poetic gen.
ius had not God closed his eyes. Through
his sightleSs eyeballs he saw the re-
splendent gloriCs of heaven. He saw
the marshaled hosts of angels. He saw
the gates of pearl aud the streets of
gold. John Milton, sitting in his blind
ness, was lifted to the third heaven by
the glory Of poetic genius and reli-
gious enthusiasm. Anne Steele would
never have written SO many noble
hymns more than 100 Of which are
found III our recent compilations, were
it not for her physical iutirnities. She
has well been called the woman poet
Of the sanctuary" For 81 years, until
she was released by death, she was for
much of the time an invalid. During
many of these years she was confined to
her room and during some of them to
her bed. AT 81 she was to have been
married, but the day before the mar
riage was to take place her intended
husband was drowned while bathing.
The most familiar of her hymns is that
which begins:
Father, whate'or Of earthly bliss
Thy sovereign win denies,
Accepted at thy throne of grace
Let this petition riscl
She never could have written this
hymn but for tho deep shadows on her
life.
Remarkable Hymns.
COwper suffered from peculiar sensi.
tiveness of body and corresponding SEN
sitiveness Of mind, At times he lived
on the border Of insanity, and frequent
ly he contemplated and more than once
attempted suicide. 1t has often been
said that SO far did he go in his deter.
mination that no ordered a postchaise
to drive him 10 the river Ouse that
he might end the agony Of his life. The
driver could not find the way, although
he never lost it before, and Cowper
could not tell him. At last the driver
turned tho carriage homeward after a
few more attempts to find the desired
location. After Cowper reached the Sc.
1lusion Of his own room he composed
that beautiful hymn beginning:
God moves in q mysterious way
His wonders 10 perform.
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm. |
This has been called the greatest
lymn ever written on divine providence.
Dur New York sister, Fanny Crosby,
whose presence sometimes gladdens our
assembly, never would |
nave seen Christ crucified in the splen.
Tor aud glory Of his divine sacrifice haG |
lot God shut out the light of all be
'ides from her eyes, Truly
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders 10 perform.
There are also the shadows of tempo
'al reverses. Many persons Just now, in |
different parts of our country, are un-
Ter very deep and dark shadows from
his cause. All our hearts lately were
iaddenod as seldom in our lives as
he result Of the deaths caused by great
Tres in three states in the west, Many
,thers during the past two years, have
Known trials and shadows from tenn.
loral adVersities. Never was any coun.
ny on the globe swept within year
md a half from marvellous prosperity |
o almost unexampled adversely as has
his republic Of ours. l am not here to |
peak of the cause. You will have your
'wn views on that point | am here
imply to emphasize the unquestionable
act. Riches thus often take to them.
elves wings and fly away.