Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-08-11

cred and entombed. AS with sad face
and broken heart they pass on their
way, Stranger accosts them. They
tell him their anxieties and bitterness
Of soul. He in turn talks 20 them,
nightly expounding the Scriptures.
He throws over them the fascination Of
intelligent conversation. They forget
the time, and notice not the objects
they pass, and before they are aware
have come up in front of thei; house.
They pause before the entrance and at
tempt to persuade the stranger to tarry
with them. They press upon him their
Inequalities. Night is coming on, and
he may meet a prowling wild beast, or
be obliged to lie unsheltered from the
dew. He cannot go much further now.
Why not stop there, and continue their
pleasant conversation? They take him
by the arm and they insist upon his
coming in, addressing him in the
words: abide with us, for il is to-
ward evening"
The candles are lighted. the table is
spread, pleasant socialities are en-
kindled. They rejoice in the presence
of the stranger guest He asks a bless
ing upon the bread they eat, and he
hands piece of it to each. Suddenly
and with overwhelming power the
thought flashes upon the astonished
people-it is the Lord, And as they sit
in GREATNESS wonder, looking upon the
resurrected body of Jesus, he vanished.
The interview ended. He was gone.
With many of us it is a bright, sun
shiny day of prosperity. There is not
a cloud in the sky, not leaf rustling
in the forest. No chill in the air. But
we cannot expect all this to last. He
is not an intelligent man who expects
perpetual daylight of joy. The sun will
after awhile near the horizon. The
shadows will lengthen. While / speak,
many of us stand in the very hour
described in the text, "for it is toward
evening" The request of the text is
appropriate for some before me. For
with them it is toward the evning of
old age. They have passed the merid-
ian of life. They are sometimes startled
to think how old they are. They do
not, however, like to have others re-
mark upon it. If others suggest their
approximation toward venerable APP
pearance, they say, why, I'm not SO
old, after ALL" They do, indeed, no.
tice that they cannot lift quite so much
as once. They cannot read quite so
we'll without spectacles. They cannot
so easily recover from a cough or any
occasional ailment. They have lost
their taste for merriment. They are
surprised at the quick passage OF the
year. They say that it only seems a
little while ago that they were boys.
They are going little down hill There
: is something in their health, something
in their vision, something in their walk
something in their changing associa-
tons, something above, something be-
meath, something within, to remind
them that it is toward evening.
The great want of all such is to have
Jesus abide with them. 1t is a dis
NAL thing to be getting old without
the rejuyenating influence of religion.
When we step on the down grade of
life and see that it dips to the verge
OF the cold river, we want to behold
some one near who will help us across
it. When the sight loses its power to
glance and gather up, we need the faith
that can illumine. When we feel the
failure of the ear, we need the clear
tones of that voice which in olden
times broke up the silence of the deaf
with cadence of mercy. When the axe
men of death hew down whole forests
of strength and beauty around us and
we are left in solitude, we need the
dove of divine mercy to sing in our
branches. When the shadows begin to
fall and We feel that the day is far
spent, we need most of all to suppl
cate the strong. beneficent Jesus in the
prayer of the villagers, Abide with US,
Cor it is toward evening"
The request of the text is an appro-
pirate exclamation for all those who
are approached in the gloomy hour Of
temptation. There is nothing easier
then to be good-natured when every
thing pleases, or to be humble when
there is nothing TO oppose us, or for
giving when we have not been assailed
or honest when we have no induce
ment to fraud. But you have felt the
grapple OF some temptation. Your ma
ture at some time quaked and groaned
under the Internal force. You felt that
the devil was after you. You saw your
Christian graceS retreating. You
feared that you would fall in the aw-
full wrestle with sin and be thrown
into the dust. The gloom thickened.
The first indications OF the night were
seen in all the trembling OF your soul;
in all the Internal suggestions of Sa-
tan, in all the surging UP of tumultu-
GUS passions and excitements, you felt
with awful emphasis that it was to-
ward evening. In the tempted hour
you need to ask Jesus to abide with
you. You can beat back the monster
that would devour you. You can un-
horse the sin that would ride you
down. You can sharpen the battle-axe