The weekly intelligencer., 1895-03-02
only have the grace of Christ to listen

only have the grace of Christ to listen
voice parts the heavens, saying: MY
grace is sufficient for thee;" Whom
the Lord lovcth. he chasteneth:" you
shall be more than conquerors." And
that reminds me of letter on my
table written by some one whom | sup
pose to be at this moment present, say
ing: ''My dear, dear doctor: You will
please pardon the writer for asking
that at some time when you feel like it,
you kindly preach from the 30th Psalm,
5%h verse: Weeping may endure for a
night but joy cometh in the morning.
and much oblige a downtown business
man." So to all downtown business
men, and to all uptown business men.
l say: IL you have on hand goods that
you cannot sell, and debtors who will
not, or cannot pay, and you are also
suffering from uncertainty as to what
the i,nhecile American congress will do
about the tariff, You have three trou
bles, 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. II you have only one trou-
BILE, | cannot spend any time with you
to-day. You must have at least three.
and then remember how many have
triumphed over such triad of misfor-
tune. Paul had three troubles: San
hedrin denouncing him-that was one
great trouble; physical inflrmity,
which he called "a thorn in
the hesh,'' and although we
know not what the thorn
was, we do know from the figure he
used that it must have been something
that struck him-that was the second
trouble; approaching martyrdom-that
made the three troubles Yet, hear
what he says: "lf had only one mis-
fortune l could stand that; but there
are two too many" No: l misinter-
pref. He says: ''Sorrowful, yet al
ways rejoicing; poor, yet making many
rich; having nothing, yet possessing all
things" Thanks be unto God, who
giveth MS our victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ"
David had three troubles; O bad boy,
| a temptation to dissoluteness, and de-
thronement. What does he say? God
is our refuge and strength, a very pres
ent help in time of trouble. There
fore, will we not fear, though the
earth be removed, 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
any man of his time. What does he
Il Ill l.. ...sA a..
U.S." And when his poet brother, Charles
Wesley, said to him: Brother John,
il the Lord were to give me wings, I'd
fy," Johns reply was: Brother
Charles, il the Lord told me to fly, I'd
do it, and leave Him to find the wings" I"
Notice in my text victory over bad
weather. 1t was snowy day, when
ones vitality Is at q low ebb, and the
spirits are naturally depressed, and one
does not feel like undertaking q great
enterprise, when Benaiah rubs his
hands together to warm them by ex-
ira friction, or threshes his arms
around him to revive circulation of the
blood, and then goes ut the lion. which
was all the more fierce and ravenoMs
because of the sharp weather. Inspira-
ton here admits atmospheric hinder.
ance. The snowy day at Valley Forge
well nigh put an end to the struggle
for American independence. The
snowy day demolished Napoleon's
army on the way from Moscow. The
inclemency Of January and February
weather has some years bankrupted
thousands of merchants. The success
sion of stormy Sabbaths has crippled
inpumerable churches. Lighthouses
veiled by the snow on many coast
have failed to warn of from the rocks
the doomed frigate. Tens of thousands
of Christians of nervous Temperament
by the depression of snowy day al
most despair of reaching Heaven. Yet
in that style of weather Benaiah of the
text achieved his most celebrated VIC
tory; and let us by the grace of God be-
come victor over influences atmos-
pherio. II we are happy only when
the wind blows from the clear north
west, and the Thermometer Is above
freezing point and the sky Is an in
verted blue cup of sunshine poured all
over us, it is a religion ninety-five per
cent. off. Thank God there are
Christians, who, though their whole
life through sickness has been q snowy
day, have killed every lion of despond-
ency that dared to put its cruel paw
against their suffering pillow. Christ
landed in our world not in the month
of May, but in the stormy month Of
December, to show us that we might
have Christ In winter weather, and ON
| o snowy day.
Notice everything down In the pit
that snowy day depended upon Bena'
iah's weapon. There was as much
| strength in one muscle of that
| lion as in all the muscles of both
arms Of Benaiah. Yet Renaiah puts
his heel on the neck of this king OF
beasts" Was it dagger? Was it q
javelin? Was it knife? l cannot
tell, but everything depended on it.
But for that, Benaiah's body under one
| craunch of the monster would have
been left limp and tumbled in the
show. And when yop and 60 into
the fight with temptation, II we have
not the right kind of weapon, instead
of our staying the lion, the lion will
slay us. The sword of the Spirit!
| Nothing on earth or hell can stand be
fore that. Victory with that, or nc
victory at all. BY that ! mean prayer
to God, confidence in his rescuipg pow
er, saving grace, Almighty deliverance
All my hearers and readers have ;
big fight Of some sort on hand, but the
biggest and the wrathiest lion which
you have to fight is what the Bible
calls 1.-The roaring lion, who walketf
about, seeking him whom he may de
vour.' Now. you have never seen {
real lion unless you have seen him in
India or Africa, just after his capture.
Long caging breaks his spirit, and thu
constant presence of human being
tames him. But you ought to see hin
spring against the iron bars in thu
geological gardens of Calcutta
and hear him roar for the prey
II makes ones blood curile ant
you shrink back. although You know
there Is TO peril. Plenty Of lions Il
olden times In Bible times there were
So many lions that they are frequently
alluded to in the Scriptures. Joel, the
prophet, describe the CHECK teeth" OF
n great lion. and Isaiah mantions