The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1896-07-04
HE blesseth tho habitation of the

Iremark further that God arranges
all our friendships. You were driven
TO the wall You found a man just at
that crisis who sympathized with you
and helped you. You say: "How lucky
] was!" There was no luck about It.
God sent that friend just as certainly
as He sent the angel to strengthen
Christ Your domestic friends, your
business friends, your Christian
friends, God sept them 70 bless you,
and II any Of them have proved
traiterous, it is only to bring out the
value of those who remain. II some
die, 1t is only that they stand at the
outposts Of Heaven to greet you at
your coming.
You always will have friends, warm
hearted friends, magnanimous friends;
and when sickness comes to your
dwelling, there will be watchers; when
trouble comes to your heart there will
be sympathizers; when death comes,
there will be gentle fingers to close
the eyes and fold the hands, and gentle
lips to tell of resurrection. Oh, we
are compassed by body-guard of
friends! Every man, II he has be-
haved himself well, is surrounded by
three circles of friends-those of the
outer circle wishing him we'll; those in
the next circle willing to help him;
while close up to his heart are few
who would die for him. God pity the
wretch who has not any friends.
remark again that God puts down
the limit to our temporal prosperity.
The world of fiance seems to have no
God in 1t. You can not tell where a
man will land The affiuent fall; the
poor rise. The ingenious fail; the ig-
n GRANT succeed. An enterprise open
ing grandly shuts in bankruptcy, while
out Of the peat dug up from some New
England marsh the millionaire builds
his fortune. The poor man thinks 1t
10 chance that keeps him down; the
rich man thinks 1t Is chance which
hoists him; and they are both wrong.
1t is hard to realize that God rules the
money market, and has hook in the
nose of the stock gambler, and that
all the commercial revolutions of the
world shall result in the very best for
Gods dear children.
My brethren, do not kick against the
Divine allotments. God knows just
how much money it Is best for you to
lose. You never gain unless it Is best
for you to gain. You go up when it is
best for you to go up, and go down
when it is best for you to go down.
Prove it, you say. will. Rom, viii,
20: "All things work together for good
to them that love God" You go into
a factory and see 20 or 80 wheels, and
they are going in different directions.
This band is rolling off this way, and
another band another way; one down
and another up. You say, "What con-
fusion in factory" Oh, no! all these
different bands are only different parts
Of the machinery. So go into your
life and sec strange things Here is
one providence pulling you one way
and another in another way. But these
are different parts of one machinery
by which He will advance your ever
lasting and present well-being.
Now you know that a second mort
gage, and third and fourth mort
gage, are often worth nothing. 1t i.
the first mortgage that is good In
vestment. 1 have to tell you that
every Christian man has first mort.
gage on every trial, and on every dis
aster, and it must make payment OF
eternal advantage to his soul. How
many worriments it would take out OF
your heart il you believed that fully.
You buy goods and hope the price
| ,x,in Int in, n fret nd n
frown for fear the price will go down.
You do not buy the goods using your
best discretion in the matter, and
then say: 20, Lord, have done the
best could; commit this whole
transaction into Thy hands!" That is
what religion is good for or it is good
for nothing.
There are two things, says an old
proverb, you ought not to fret about;
First, things that you can help; and,
second, things which you can not help.
II you can help them, why do you
not apply the remedy? II you can not
help them, you might as well surrender
first as last. My dear brethren,
do not sit any longer moping about
your ledger. Do not sit looking SC
Responding upon your stock Of un-
salable goods. Doyou think that God
is going to allow you, Christian man,
to do business alone? God Is the con.
trolling partner in every firm; and,
although your debtors may abscond,
although your securities may fail, al
though your store may burn, God will,
out of an infinity of results, choose for
you the very best results.
Do not have any idea that you can
overstep the limit that God has laid
down for your prosperity. You will
never get one inch beyond 1t. God has
decided how much prosperity you can
stand honorably, and employ usefully,
and control righteously; and at the
end of the year you will have SO many
dollars and cents, just SO much ward.
robe, just so much furniture, just sc
many bonds and mortgages, and moth.
ing more. 1 will give you 500 for
every penny you get beyond that. God
has looked over your life. He knows
what is best for you, and He is going
to bless you in timo and bless you fol-
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