The Yale expositor., 1895-03-01

fine taste sent TO report a pugilism in
stead OF an oratorio, the copy he hands
I'm Is rejected because the paper Is full, q
mother to support on small income
three troublesl / could march right off
the seats, and across this platform. II
they would come at my call, five hun
dred people with three troubles. This
is the opportunity to play the hero or the
heroine, not on a small stage with a few
hundred people to clap their approval.
but with all the galleries of heavenf filled
with sympathetic and applauding spec
tators, for we are surrounded by a
great cloud of witnesses" My brother.
my sister, my father, my mother, what
a chance you have! While you are in
the struggle, IL you only have the grace
of Christ to listen, voice parts the
heavens, saying, my grace is sufficient
for thee" Whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth; You shall be more than
conquerors." And that reminds me of
a letter on my table written by some one
whom L suppose TO be at this moment
present, saying: MY dear, dear Doc
tor: You will please pardon the writer
for asking that at some time when you
feel like it, you kindly preach from the
30th psalm, 5th verse: Weeping may
endure for night, but JOY cometh in
the morning. and much oblige a down
town business man." So to all down
town business men, and to all up town
business men. 1 say, If you have on
hand goods that you can not SELL and
debtors who will not, or can not pay,
and you are also suffering from un-
certainty as to what the imbecile
American congress will do about the
tariff, you have three troubles, and
enough to bring you within the range
OF the consolation of my text, where
you find the triumph of Benaiah over
lion, and pit, and a snowy day. IL
you have only one trouble, | can not
spend any time with you to-day. You
must have at least three, and then re-
member how many have triumphed
over such a triad of misfortune. Paul
had three troubles: Sanhedrin denoun-
cling him-that was one great trouble;
physical infirmity, which he called "a
thorn in the flesh" and although we
Know not what the thorn was, we DO
know from the figure he used that IL
must have been something that stuck
him-that was the second trouble; ap-
preaching martyrdom-that made the
three troubles Yet, hear what he says;
III l had only one misfortune, 1 could
stand that; but three are two too
many?" No: 1 misinterpret. He says,
"Sorrowful. yet always rejoicing; poor,
yet making many rich; having nothing.
yet possessing all things" Thanks be
unto God, who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ
David had three troubles; a bad boy,
a temptation to dissoluteness, and de-
thronement. What does he say? GOD
Is our refuge and strength, very pre-
sent help in time of trouble. Therefore.
Will not we fear though the earth be re-
moved, and though the mountains be
cast into the midst Of the sea-"
John Wesley had three troubles: De-
famation by mobs; domestic infelicity;
fatigue from more sermons preached
and more miles travelled than almost
any man Of his time. What does he say?
THE best Of all is, God is with us.
And when his poet brother, Charles
Wesley. said to him, Brother John. If
the Lord were to give me wings, I'd fly. !"
Johns reply was, Brother Charles, IL
the Lord told me to fly, I'd do II, and
leave him to find the wings"
George Whitefield had three troubles;
Rejection from the pulpits of England
because he was too dramatic-that was
one trouble; strabismus, or the crossing
Of his eyes that subjected him to the
caricature of all the small wits of the
day; vermin and dead animals thrown
at him while he preached on the COM
mons-that made three troubles. Never
theless his sermons were so buoyant that
little child dying soon after hearing
nj 90 In "a TIT xse.Ia Of n
Let me go to Mr.. Whitefield God" Oh
l am so glad that Benaiah of my text
was not the only one who triumphed
over a lion in a pit on n snowy day.
Notice in my text a victory over bad
weather. 1t was a snowy day, when
ones vitality is at a low ebb. and the
spirits are naturally depressed. and one
does not feel like undertaking a great
enterprise. when Benaiah rubs his hands
together to warm them by extra frlc-
tion, or threshes his arms around him
to revive circulation of the blood, and
then goes at the lion. which was all the
more fierce and ravenous because of the
sharp weather. Inspiration here ad-
mits atmospheric hindrance. The
snowy day at Valley Forge well nigh
put an end to the struggle for American
independence. The snowy day demol-
ished Napoleon's army on the way from
Moscow. The inclemency of January
and February weather has some years
bankrupted thousands of merchants.
Long succession of stormy Sabbaths
has crippled innumerable churches
Lighthouses yelled by the snow on
many a coast have failed to warn of
from the rocks the doomed frigate.
Tens Of thousands of Christians of ner-
vous temperament by the depression
of snowy day almost despair oi
reaching heaven. Yet, in that style OF
weather Benaiah of the text achieved
his most celebrated victory; and let us
by the grace of God become victor over
influences atmospheric If we are hap
py only whep ihe wind blows from the
clear northwest, and the thermometer is
above freezing point and the sky Is an
inverted blue cup of sunshine poured
all over us, II is a religion 50 per cent off.
Thank God there are Christians, who
though their whole life through sickness
has been snowy day. have killed every
lion of dependency that dared to put
Its cruel paw against their suffering pill
low 1t was snowy day when the pill
grim fathers set foot, not on a bank of
flowers, but on the cold New England
rock, and from a ship that might have
been more appropriately called after a