Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-10-23

tO0, VINO arrests the StrOkc. iaHhs INV
wilderness quake with the cry, abraham.
Abraham. lay not thy hand upon the lad,
nor do him any harm!
What is this sound back in the woods! IL
3 cracking as of tree branches, bleat1ng
md struggle. Go, Abraham, and see what
t Is. Oh, it was a ram that, going through
he woods, has its crooked horns fastened
md entangled in the brushwood and could
iot get loose, and Abraham seizes it gladly
md quickly unloosens Isaac from the altar,
:uts the ram on his place. sets the lamp un-
Ter the brushwood of the altar, and as the
tense smoke of the sacrifice begins to rise
the blood rolls down the sides OF the altar
Ind drops kissing into the fire, and l heal
.he words, "Behold the Lamb of God who
axes away the sins of the world.
Well. what are you going to get out o.
mis-? There is IN aged minister OF the Cos
bel. He saws: 'I should get out OF 1t that
rhen God tells you to do thing. whether Il
e,ps reasonable to you or not, go ahead
nd do IT. Here Abraham couldn't have
,een mistaken. God didn't speak so indistinc5
v that 1t was not certain whether he calleo
jarah or Abimelech or somebody else but
With divine articulation. divine intonation.
iivine emphasis, he said, Abraham" Abra-
lam rushed bindly ahead to do his duty,
moving that things would come out right.
Likewise do so yourselves. There is mys-
ery Of your life. There is some burden you
have to carry. You don't know why God
las put 1t on you. There is some persecu'
ion. some trial, and you don't know why
Sod allows it. There is work FOR you to
10, and you have not enough grace, yor
hink, to do it. Do as Abraham did. Ad'
rance and do your whole duty. Be willing
o give up Isaac, and perhaps you will not
lave to give up anything. 'Jehovah-jireh
the Lord will provide" A capital lessor
his old minister gives us.
Out yonder in this house Is an aced
yoman, the light of heaven in her face. She
8 half way through the door. She has her
,and on the pearl of the gate. Mother. what
would you get out OF this subject? "Oh,"
she saws az would learn that it is in the last
pinch that God comes to the relief. You see
the TAR was ready, and Isaac was fastened
On it. and the knife was lifted. and just at
he last moment God broke in and stopped
proceedings. So it has been in my life oi
,eventy years. Why, sir, there was time
when the flour was all out of the house. and
set the table at noon and had nothing tc
put on it. but five minutes Of o'clock Loaf
,f bread came. The Lord will provide. My
ION was very sick. and said: Dear Lord
You don't mean to take him away from
ne. do you? Please, Lord, don't take
him away. Why, there are neighbors
who have three and four sons. This is my
only son. This is my Isaac. Lord, you
won't take him away from me, will You?
But saw he was getting worse and worse
all the time, and I turned round and prayed.
until after awhile l felt submissive, and ]
could say. THY will, o Lord. be doner The
doctors gave him up, and we all gave him
up. And, as was the custom in those times,
we had made the grave clothes, and We were
whispering about the last exercises, when ]
looked and 1 saw some perspfration on his
brow, showing that the fever had broken
and he spoke to us so naturally that I knew
he was going to get well. He did get WELL
and my son Isaac, whom thought was go.
ing to be slain and consumed of disease. was
loosened from that altar. And, bless youi
SOULS that's been so for seventy years, and
II my voice were not so weak, and II could
see better, / could preach to you younger
people a sermon, for though can't see much
[ can see this-whenever you get into
tough place and your heart IS breaking, Il
you will look little farther into the woods
you will see, caught in the branches, a sub
stitute and a deliverance. My son. God will
provide Himself aiamb.'"
Thank you. mother, for that short sermon
could preach back to you for a minute OF
two and say, never do you fear! I wish had
half as good hope of heaven as you have
Do not fear, mother. Whatever happens, ne
harm will ever happen to you. was going
ap long flight Of stairs and I saw an aged
woman. very decrepit and with a cane
Heepi on up. She made but very little
no -, and felt very exuberant, ard
IaiC ner, "Why, mother. that is no way tc
20 upstairs" and threw my arms around
her and carried her up and put her down
On the landing at the top Of the stairs. Shs
said: "Thank you, thank you. 1 am very
thankful" o mother, when you get through
this Hfe's work and you want to go upstain
and rest in the good place that God has pro-
vided for you, you Will not have to climb up,
you will not have to crawl up painfully. The
Two erms that were stretched on the cros
will be flung around you, and you will b
hois!ed with glorious lift beyond all wearf
ness and all struggle. May the God Of Abra-
ham and Isaac be with you until you see thu
Lamb on the hiltopS.
Now, that aged minister has made a supS
yestion, and this aged woman has made Q
suggestion. will make a suggestion: Isaac
going up the hill makes me think of the
great sacrifice. Isaac, the only son Of Abra-
ham. Jesus, the only son of God. On those
Two "onlys" build a fearful emphasis. O
Isaac! o Jesus! But this last sacrifice was
a more tremendous one. When the knife
was lifted over Calvary there was no voice
that cried "Stopi' and no hand arrested 1t.
Sharp, keen and tremendous it cut down
through nerve and artery until the blood
sprayed the faces of the executioners, and
the midday sun dropped a veil of cloud over
its face because it could not endure the
spectacle. o Isaac of Mount Moriah! O
Jesus of Mount Calvary! Better could God
sand worlds than to have sacrificed His only
Son. 1t was not one of the ten sons; it was
His only Son. If He had not given up Him,
you and I would have persisted. "God SO
loved the world that He gave His only"
stop there, not because have forgotten the
quotation. but because 1 want to think.
"God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotton Son that whosoever believeth
In Him should not perish, but have everlast-
ing life" Great God, break my heart at the
thought of that sacrifice. Isaac the only,
typical of Jesus the only.
l have been told that the cathedral OF st.
dark stands in a quarter in the center of the
.ity of Venice. and that when the clock
strikes II at noon all the birds from the city
and the regions round about the city fly to
The square and settle down. 1t came in this
wise: Alarge hearted woman, passing one
MONDAY across the square, saw some birds
shivering in the cold, and she scattered some
crumbs of bread among them. The next day,
at the same hour. she scattered more crumbs
of bread among them, and so on from year
TO year until the day of her death. In her
will she bequeathed certain amount Of
money to keep up the same practice, and
now, at the first stroke of the bell at noon
the birds begin to come there, and when the
clock has struck 12 the square is covered
with them. How beautifully suggestive!
Thirst comes out to feed thy soul to-day.
The more hungry you feel yourselves to be
.he better it is. 1t is noon, and the gospel
rs doves to the window! All the air is filled
with the liquid chine: Come! Come
Come!