Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-06-16

! Ao'~ AhS iciiCl VI WCCplu6 do uStu
to. My days are exceedingly dark and
distressing. In a word, Almighty God
| seems to hide his face, and l intrust
the secret hardly TO any earthly being.
| | know not what will become Of me.
There is doubtless good deal of bodily
] affection mingled with this, but it is
not all so. l bless God, however, that
/ never lose sight of the cross, and
though | should die without seeing any
personal interest in the Redeemer' s
merits. hope that l shall be found at
his feet. l will thank you for word
at your leisure. My door is bolted at
the time am writing this, for am full
of tears"
What was the matter with the Dean
of Carlisle? Had he got to be worse
man? No. The physician said that the
state of his pulse would not warrant
his living minute. Oh, if the east
wind affects the spleen, and affects the
lungs, and affects the liver, it will af-
feet your immortal soul. Appealing to
God for help, brace yourself against
these whitening blasts and destroying
influences, lest that which the Psalmist
said broke the ships of Tarshish, ship
wreck you.
But notice in my text that the Lord
| controls the east wind 1.-The Lord
brought the east wind" He brings 1t
for especial purpose; it must sometimes
blow from that quarter; the east wind
is just as important as the north wind,
or the south wind, or the west wind,
but not so pleasant. Trial must come.
The text does not say you will escape
the cutting blast Whoever did escape
it? was in the pulpit Of John Wes-
ley, in London, pulpit where he stood
| one day and said: Il have been
charged with all the crimes in the cata-
| logue except one-that OF drunken
ness" and woman arose in the audi
ence and said: John. you were drunk
last night" So John Wesley passed
| under the fail. | saw in a foreign
| journal a report of one of George
Whiteield's sermons "a sermon
preached hundred and twenty or
| thirty years ago. 1t seemed that the
| reporter stood to take the sermon, and
| his chief idea was TO caricature it; and
these are some of the reportorial inter-
| Innings OF the sermon of George White
field. After calling him by nick
name indicative of physical defect in
| the eye, ii goes on to say: Here the
| preacher clasps his chin on the pulpit
| cushion. Here he elevates his voice.
! Here he lowers his voice. Holds his
arms extended. Bawls aloud. Stands
trembling. Makes a frightful face.
Turns up the whites OF his eyes. Clasps
his hands behind him. Clasps his arms
around him, and hugs himself Roars
| aloud. Hollas. Jumps. Cries. Changes
from crying. Hoiias and jumps again.
Well. my brother, ii that good man
went through all that process, in your
| occupation, in your profession, in your
store, in your shop, at the bar. in the
| sick room, in the editorial chair, some
where. you will have to go through a
similar process; you cannot escape it.
| When the French army went down
into Egypt under Napoleon, an en-
gineer, in digging for a fortress, came
| across a tablet which has been called
| the Rosetta stone. There were in
| scriptions in three or four languages
| on that Rosetta stone. Scholars study
| ing out the alphabet of hieroglyphics
| from that stone were enabled to read
| ancient inscriptions on monuments and
| on tombstones. Well many of the
! handwritings of God in our life are in
| decipherable hieroglyphics; we cannot
understand them until we take up the
| Rosetta stone of divine inspiration
and the explanation all comes out. and
! the mysteries all vanish, and what was
| before beyond our understanding now
IS plain in its meaning as we read
| All things work together for good to
| those who love God So we decipher
have you ever calculated what trouble
did for David? 1t made him the sacred
minstrel for all ages What did trouble
| do for Joseph? Made him the keeper
| of the corncribs of Egypt. What did
| it do for Paul? Made him the great
| apostle TO the Gentiles. What did il
| do for Samuel Rutherford? Made his
| invalidism more illustrious than robust
| health. What did it do for Richard
| Baxter? Gave him capacity to write OF
Saints Everlasting Rest" What did
| it do for John Bunyan? Showed him
| the shining gates of the city. What
has it done for you? Since the loss
| of that child your spirit has been
| purer. Since the loss of that prop
erty, you have found out that earthly
| investments are insecure. Since you
lost your health. you feel as never be-
fore a rapt anticipation OF eternal re-
lease. Trouble has humbled you, has
enlarged you, has multiplied your re-
sources, has equipped You. has loosened
your grasp from this world and tight
ened your grip on the next Oh! bless
God for the east wind. 1t has driven
you into the harbor of Gods SYM
pathy.
Nothing like trouble to show us that
this world is an insufficient portion.
Hogarth was about done with life, and
he wanted to paint the end of all
things. He put on canvas shattered
hoffla. crock Oh hall. on N o.