The Penn's Grove record., 1896-09-04
Rev. DR. TALMAGE,
The Eminent Div;ne's Sunday
Discourse.
Subject: ga Shadow on the Harvest
Field"

ieil on a day that he went out to his father
to the reapers. And he said unto his father,
my head. my head! And he said to a lad,
carry him to his mother. And when he had
k him and brought him to his mother he
sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
II Kings w., IS, 10, %.
There is at least QUE happy home in shu.
nom. To the luxuriance and splendor OF a
great house had been given the advent OF n
child. Even when the Angel of Life brings
O new soul to the poor mans hut, a star OF
Joy shines over the manger Infancy, with
its helplessness and Innocence, had passed
away. Days OF boyhood had c~ome-days OF
laughter and frolic, days of sunshine and
promise, days OF strange questions and
curiosity and quick development. 1 suppose
among all the treasures OF the house the
brightest was the boy. One day there Ia the
shout OF reapers heard afeid. A bows
heart always bounds at the sound of sickle
or scythe. No sooner have the harvesters
cut a swath across the field than the lad
loiLs tnem: n the swathy reapers feel
young again as they look down at that
lad, as young and beautiful as was Ruth
In the harvest fields Of Bethlehem
cleaning after the reapers. But the sun
too hot for HIM. Congestion of the brain
seized on him. l see the swarthy laborers
drop their sickles; n they rush out to SEQ
what Is the matter, and they fan him and
tney try to cool his brow; but all is OF no
avail. In the instant of consciousness. he
puts bis hands against his temples and cries
out: N headi my head" And the father
said: Garry him to his mother" Just as any
father would have said; for our hand Ia too
rough. and our voice is too harsh, and our
loot Is too loud to doctor a sick child, ii
there be In our home a gentler voice ana a
CENTER hand and Q stiller footstep. But all
81 no avail. While the reapers OF Shunem
were busy in the field, there came a stronger
reaper that way, with keener scythe and for
a richer harvest. He reaped only one sheaf.
but oh, what a golden sheaf was that 1 do
not want to know any more about that heart.
breaking scene than what I see in Just this
one pathetic sentences: s'He sat on her knees
I'LL noon, and then died" Though hundreds
OF years have passed away since that boy
skipped to the haryest-ieid and then was
brought home and died on his mothers lap,
the story still thrills US. Indeed, childhood
mas q charm always and everywhere. I shall
now speak to you of childhood; its beauty,
Its susceptibility to impression, its power
over the parental heart, and Its blissful
transition from earth to heaven.
II hid beauty does not depend upon
form or feature or complexion or apparel.
That destitute one that you saw On the
street. bruised with ~unkindness and In rags,
has q charm about her, even under her des-
htufion. You have forgotten a great MANY
persons whom you met, of finely cut features
and with erect posture and with faultless
complexion, while you will always remem-
Der the poor girl who, on a cold. moonlight
nlght, as you were passing late home, in her
thin shawl n barefoot on the pavement.
put ont her hand and said: "Please to give
me a penny" ALL how often we have
walked on and said; '0h, that Is nothing
but street vagabondism /" but after we got a
BLOCK or W on. we stopped and said: H'Ah,
maj Is NOT rfght;' and we passed up thai
same way and dropped a mite Into that suf-
tering hand. as though 1t were not a matter
o fsecond thought, SO ashamed were we OF
our hard ~heartedness. With what admira-
ton we all look upon a group Of children
on the play ground or In the school, and
we clap our hands almost involun-
tarily, and say; chow beautiful" All
stiffness and dignity are gone, and
Pour shout is heard with theirs and
you frundle their hoop, and fly
tneir KITE, and strike their bali. and all your
WEAKNESS and anxiety are zone as when a
child you bounded over the playground
yourself That father who stands rigid and
unsympathetic amid the sportfulness OF chill.
uren, ought never to have been tempted out
Of a crusty and unredeemable soiitariness.
The waters leap down the rocks, but they
nave not the graceful step of childhood.
Inc morning comes out OF the gates Of the
~ 10 6tAN0i ou THO thk6 anu IA
gold on the tower and its FIRE on the cloud;
but 1t is not so bright and beautiful as the
morning OF lifei There Is no light like that
which ID kindled in q ohild's eye, no color
IKE hat which blooms on a child's cheek,
40 music like the sound of a child's voice.
lts face in the poorest picture redeems any
tmperiectton in art. When we are weary
Fith toll, their little hands pull the burdens
On our back. Oh. what a dull, stale, mean
world this would be without the sportful-
ness OF children. When l find people that
40 not like children, I Immediately doubt
their moral end Christian character. But
when the grase of God comes upon q child.
now unspeakably attractive. When Samuel
begins to pray, and Timothy begins to read
the Scriptures, n Joseph shows himself
lnyuinerable to temptation-how beautiful
the scene! I know that parents sometime
get nervous when their children become
pious, because they have the idea that good
shfidren always die. The strange questions
about God and eternity and the dead, excite
apprehension In the parental mind rather
han congratuiatIon. Indeed, there are
,oms people that seem marked for heaven.
Snis world ls too poor q garden for them to
bloom In. The hues Of heaven are In the
petals. There is something about their fore
9 bat makes you think that the hand OF
Christ has been on 1t, saying: s.Let this one
some to Me, and let 1t come to Me soon"
While that one tarried In the house you felt
there was an angel in the room, and you
thought that every sickness would be the
last; and when, finally, the winds OF death
oid scatter the leaves, you were no moro SUI
prised than to see a star some out above the
eloud on a dark night; for you had often
said to your companions; "My dear, we
shall never raise that child" But I scout
he idea that good children always die.
samuel the pious boy, became Samuel
the great prophet. Christian Timothy be-
came q minister at Ephesus. Young Daniel,
consecrated to God, became prime minister
OF all the realm, and there are In hundreds
Of the schools and families Of this country
to-day children who love God and keep HIS
commandments, and who areto be foremost
among the Christians and the ~philanthro-
pists and the reformers of the next century.
The grace Of God never kills anyone. A
child will be more apt to grow up with re-
hgion than 1t will be- apt to grow up without
1t. Length OF days ls promised to the right
eous. The religion Of Christ does not cramp
the chest or curve the spine or weaken the
nerves. There are NO maiarias floating up
from the river OF life. The religion ofChrist
throws over the heart and life of a child q
supernal beauty. "Her ways are ways OF
pleasantness, and all her paths are peace"
l pass on to consider the susceptibility OF
childhood. Men pride themselves on their
MISUNDERSTANDING AhSJ WLh tAbAV au paADOk-
ate argument to prove that they think
now Just as they did twenty years & q. II is
charged to frallty or fraud when q man
changes his sentiments in politics or Ia
religion. and 1t is this determination OF soul
that so often drives back the gospel from q
mans heart. 1t Is 50 hard to make avarice
charitable, and fraud honest, and pride
humble, and skepticism Christian. The
sword Of Gods truth seems TO glance of
from those mailed warriors, and the helmel
seems battie-prooi against Gods Dsttle-ax
Bat childhood; how susceptible to exampl,
and to Instruction. You are not surprised
at the rscord: abraham begat Isaac, an(
Isaac begat Jacob for when religion start
in a family. it is apt to go all through. Jezs
bel, a murdsress, you are not surprised Il
and her son Jehorem attempting assassina
lion. Oh, what a responsibility upon tn
parent and the teacherl The musiciai
loucnes rns keys, ana the response OF thoss
keys Is away on amid the pipes and thu
chords, and you wonder at the distance be
tween the key and the chord. And SO it Is
In life, IL You touch a child, the result viii
come bask from manhood or old age, telling
Just h tune played, whether the dirge Of q
great sorrow or the anthem OF Q great joy
The word that the 4abbath-schooi teacher
will this afternoon whisper 10 the ear Of th'
Glass. viii be echoed back hQm EVERLASTING