The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-09-03
Or. 1llAAGE'S SUNDAY SERMON
A GOSPEL MESSAGE.
Subject: Ga Shadow on the Harvest
Ffeld.o

taken MIN and brought him 10 his mother no
sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
III Kings iv.. 1s, 10. 40.
There is at least one happy homo in shu-
great house had been given the advent ~ n
child. Even when the Angel OF Life brings
new soul to the poor mans hut. n star of
JOY shines over the manger. Infancy. with
Its helplessness aud innocence. had passed
away. Days OF boyhood had come-days Of
laughter and frolic, days OF sunshine and
promise. days OF strange questions and
curiosity and quick development. I supnose
among all the treasures Of the house the
brightest was the boy. One dav there is the
shout OF reapers heard afleld. bows
neart always bounds at the sound of SICKLE
or scythe. No sooner have the harvester
CUT swath across the field than the lad
yoios 'nen; ana the swathy reapers feel
young again rs they look down at that
LAD, ne young and benutiful ne wns Ruth
In the hnrvest fields OF Rothlehem
RIeanlng after the reaperr, But Tho sun
was too hot for hun. Congestion OF tho brnin
seized on him. see the swarthy laborers
CROP their stckles; and they rush ont TO see
what Is tho matter. and thew fan him and
they try 10 cool his brow; but nh is Of no
avail In the instant ot consciousness. he
puts MS hands against his temples and cries
out; my head! my head" Aud tho father
saidi Garry him 10 hts mother" lust ms anv
iather would have said; for our hand js too
Fougn' ana our voice is too harsh, and our
.I .vot u 700 loud to doctor n sick child II
tnere De IN our home n gentlpr voicp nno n
Sentler hand and stiller footstcp. But Mi
d no avail. While tho reapers OF Shunem
| were busy In the held there can,e n stron COR
reaper that way, with keener scvthe and for
rlcher harvest. He reaped only one sbenf
out oh, what golden sheaf was that / do
not want 10 Know any more aboutthat heart
fhnr .h.s n
one pathetic sentences "He sat on her knpes
uli noon, and then died" Though hundred
/ OF years have passed away since that boy
skipped TO the harvest-ned and then wns
Dtought nome and died on his mothers Ian.
,he story still thrills us. Indeed, chiIdhood
nas cnarm always and everywhere. I shall
now speak TO YOU Of childhood, its beauty
Its susceptibility TO impression. its mower
over the parental heart. and its biissful
transition from earth TO heaven.
Tue enid beauty does not depend upon
n0rm or feature or complexion or apparel
Ihat destitute one thnt you saw on the
street bruised with unkindness and in RAGS.
ms chnrm about her, even under her des-
| Htution. iou have forgotten a great many
persons whom you met. OF finely cut features
ana WIN erect posture and with fnultless
comp'exion. while YOU will always refne;n-
psr tne poor girl who, on n cold. MOONLIGHT
night, as you were pnsslng late home. in her
Inlh shawl and barefoot on the pavement.
| put out her hand and said. "please to civ
me u penny" Ali how often we have
walked on and said; "Oh. that is nothing
put street vagabondism;" but after wa pot n
niock or two on. we stopped and snid: "Ah.
that Is not rights" and we passed up that
same way and dropped mite into that suf-
IerihR hand. as though IL were not a matter
y. second Thought, so ashamed were we OF
our nara neartedness. With whnt admira-
Ton we all look upon group OF children
on 'he play ground or In the school and
| we clap our hands almost inyolun
tarIly, and say: Glow benutifnllm All
Stiffness aud dignity are gone. and
your shout is heard with theirs and
,you Uuhule their hoop, and fly
their Kite, and strike their bali. and all your
WEAKNESS and anxiety are gone as when "A
enid you bounded over the playground
yourself. That father who stands rigid and
unsympathetic amid the sportfulness of chill
uien, Cught never TO have been TEMPTED out
ni a crusty and unredeemabe solitarlness.
ne waters leap down the rocks. but they
maVo not the graceful step OF childhood.
me morning comes out OF the gates OF tbr
East, throwing its silver on tho lake md n,
| Hold on the towers and its fire on the cloud.
! Dut IL Is not so bright and beautiful rs the
morning OF lllel There is no light like that
whlcn Is kindled in u child's eye, no color
iho lhut Wnlch blooms on n child's cheek,
I ~
Its face in the poorest picture redeems NM,
imperfection In art. When wa nr, ,y,a ar',
with toll, their little hands mil IN" bprdens
of our back. Oh. what n dnII sinle mean
world this would be without tbe enc I'M
ness OF children. When | and neoplo tha,
do not like children. | immedintnly doubt
their moral and Christian cbor"cta, n"r
when the grace OF God comes mon n child
how unspeakably attractive. when samuei
begins 10 prny, and Timothy begins ,o reoJ
the Scriptures. and Joseph shows bims"If
| invulnerahle to tenpiation--bow beautiful
the scene! know that pnrents sometimes
get nervous when their children become
pious, because they have the idea tbnt poon
children always die The strange nuestions
about God and eternity and the deyJ eycite
apprehension in the parental mind rather
than congratulation, Indeed there nre
some people that seem marked for beovcn
This world Is too poor a garden for them to
bloom In. The hnes OF heaven nre In tho
petals. There Is something about their fore
head that makes you think that the bnnd Of
Christ has been on IL, saving, "Iat This ono
come to Ne, and let 1t come to Me soon T"
While that one tarried In tho house Won felt
| there xynG n apa,al a., ~, -. -