The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1896-06-26


1 rlUom ana We sail On and sail On; hue
after while there comes q, Caribbean
whirlwind up the coast and we are
/ helpless In the gale, and We cry out
for harbor. All our calculations upset,
we say with the poet:
Change and decay on all around see;
l oh, Thou who changest not, abide with
me!
The south wind Of mild Providence
makes us throw on the cloak OF Chris
tian character and we catch cold, but
the sharp east wind Of trouble makes
us wrap around US the warm promises.
The best thing that ever happens to US
10 trouble. That is a hard thing, per.
haps, to say; but I repeat 1t, for God
announces 1t again and again, the best
thing that happens to us is trouble.
When the French army went down
into Egypt under Napoleon, an en-
gineer, in digging for fortress, came
across tablet which has been called
the Rosetta stone. There were inscrip-
lions In three or four languages on
that Rosetta stone. Scholars studying
Out IuS dAVudUSI VI uAcIO6AyPAiSo AAOAAA
that stone were enabled to read ancient
inscriptions on monuments and on
tombstones. Well, many of the hand
writings Of God in our life are indie
cipherable hieroglyphics; we cannot un-
derstand them until we take up the
Rosetta stone Of divine insuiration, and
the explanation all comes out, and the
mysteries all vanish, and what was be-
1 Forc hovnnd o,1,s 11ndorotn n6inp now ia
pfain in its meaning, as we read, "All
things work together for good to those
who love God" So we decipher the
hferoglyphics. oh, my friends, 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 corn cribs Of Egypt. What did
1t do for Paul? Made him the great
apostle to the Gentiles. What did it
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 the saints Everlasting Rest"
Whist did it do for John Bunyan?'
Showed him the shining gates of the
city. What has 1t 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 q rapt anticipation Of eternal re-
lease. Trouble has humbled you, has
enlarged you, has multiplied your re-
sources, has equipped you, has loosened
your grip on the next. Oh! bless God
for the east wind. It has driven you
into the harbor of Gods sympathy.
Nothing like trouble to show us that
this world ia an insufficient portion.
Hogarth was about done with life, and
he wanted to paint the end of all
things. He put on canvas shattered
bottle; cracked bell; IN unstrung
harp; q signboard of tavern called
''The Worlds End" falling down; O
shipwreck; the horses Of Phoebus lying
dead in the clouds; the moon In her last
quarter, and the world on fire. zone
thing more" said Hogarth, land my
picture is DONE" Then he added the
broken palate Of painter. Then he
! died. But trouble, with a hand might
fer and more skilful than Hogarth's,
pictures the falling, failing, lnoulder-
ing, dying world. And we want some
thing permanent to lay hold of, and we
grasp with both hands after God, and
say, "The Lord is my light, the Lord is
my love, the Lord is my fortress. the
Lord is my sacrifice, the Lord, the Lord
is my God.''
Bless God for your trials. Oh, my
Christian friend, keep your spirits up
by the power of Christ's gospel. Do
not surrender. Do you not know that
when you give up, others will give up?
You have courage, and others will have
courage. The Romans went into bat
tie, and by some accident there was an
inclination Of the standard. The stand
ard upright meant forward march; the
inclination Of the standard meant sur
render. Through the negligence Of the
man who carried the standard, and the
inclination Of it, the army surrendered.
Oh, let us keep the standard up, wheth-
er it be blown down by the east wind,
or the north wind, or the south wind.
No inclination to surrender. Forward
into the conflict.
There is near Bombay tree that
they call the ''sorrOwing tree" the pc
z az, Co., at D. d "a them htrell
cul1arity Of which is it never puts forth
any bloom in the daytime, but in the
night puts out oil its bloom and all its
redolence. And have to tell you that
though Christian character puts forth
its sweetest blossoms in the darkness
Of sickness, the darkness of financial
distress, the darkness Of bereavement,
the darkness Of death, "weeping may
endure for a night, but joy cometh in
the morning." Across the harsh dis
cords Of this world rolls the music Of
the skfes-music that breaks from thu.
fps, music that breaks from the harps
and rustles from the palms, music like
falling water over rocks, music like
wandering winds among leaves, music
like caroling birds among forests, mu-
sic like ocean pillows storming the At
lantfc beach: ''They shall hunger no
more, neither thirst any more, neither
shall the sun light on them nor any,
heat; for the Lamb which is in tile
midst Of the throne shall lead them to
I'll