Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-08-08
THE GLOW OF SUNSET
Rev. Or. TALMAcE SOUNDS THE Cos.
pei OF GOOD CHEER


aey. or. rALmAcE SOUNDS THE Cos
pei OF GOOD CHEER.
Toward Evening The Gloomy Hour Of
Ts,,atation-Tendency 10 Borrow Trou-
h,~-sweetening the Cup The Biottinr
ont of q LIFE Bereavements Lifted
WASHINGTON, Aug s.-Dr. Tai.
IMAGES subject today lights up the sor-
rows of this life and sounds the gospel
"a Good cheer for all who viii receive
IL His text was Luke xiv. 20, Abide
with us, for it is toward evening
Two villagers, having concluded their
errand in Jerusalem, have started out
at the city gate and are on their way to
Elnmaus, the place Of their residence.
They 20 with sad heart Jesus, who
had been their admiration and their
iov. had been basely massacred and en-
tombed. As, with sad face and broken
heart. they pass on their way stranger
accosts them. They tell him their anx-
ieties and bitterness of soul He III turn
talks to 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 mp in front OF their
house. They pause before the entrance
and attempt to persuade the stranger TO
larry with them. They press upon him
their Inequalities. Night is coming on,
and he may meet a proving wild beast
or be obliged to lie unsheltered from the
dew. He cannot go much farther 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 it is toward even
ing.
Toward Evening.
The candles are lighted; the table is
spread pleasant socialties are enkindled.
They rejoice in the presence of the
stranger guest. He asks blessing upon
the bread they eat, and he hands piece
of it to each. Suddenly and with over
whelming power the thought flashes
upon the astonished people-it is the
Lordi And as they sit in breathless
wonder, looking upon the resurrected
body of Jesus, he vanished. The inter-
view ended lie was gone.
With many CT Us it is bright, sun
shiny day of prosperity. There is not a
cloud in the sky; not a leaf rustling in
the forest; DO chill in tho air. But we
cannot expect all this to last. He is not
an intelligent man who expects perpet-
ual 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 ia
the text, ''for it is toward evening. 7"
The request of tho text is appropriate
Nlpr some before me, for with them it
rAoward the evening of old age. They
Ia passed the meridian of life. They
arr sometimes startled to think how old
tht are. They do not, however, like TO
haN Mothers remark upon it. If others
sug their approximation toward
vens lie appearance, they say, Why,
I'm so old, after all - They do, in
deed |tioe that they cannot lift quite
so h as once. They cannot walk
quitSso fast They cannot read quite SO
WEI without spectacles. They cannot so
cas- h recover from a cough or any occa-
sio1ai 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 a
little down hill. There is something in
their health, something i'll their vision,
something in their walk, something in
their changing associations, something
above, something beneath, something
within, to remind them that it is to-
ward evening
The great want of all such is to have
Jesus abide with them. 1t is dismal
thing to be getting old without the re-
! juvenating 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 cadences of
mercy. When the axmen of death hew
down whole forests of strength and
beauty around us and we are left in sol
itude, 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 supplicate the strong, beneficent
Jesus in the prayer of the villagers,
abide with us, for it is toward even
ing.
Temptation.
| 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
than TO be good natured when every
thing pleases, or to be humble when
there Is nothing to oppose US, or forgiv
ing when we have not been assailed, OF
honest when we have no inducement to
fraud. But you have felt the grapple OF
some temptation. Your nature at some
time quaked and groaned under the in
fernal force. You felt that the devil was
after you. You saw your Christian
graces retreating. You feared that you
would fall in the awful wrestle with
sin and be thrown into the dust. The
gloom thickened. The first indications
of the night were seen i'll all the trem-
bling of yoE soul, III all the internal
suggestions of Satan, in all the surging
up of tumultuous passions and excite
ments. You felt with awful emphasis
that 1t was toward evening. In the
tempted hour you need to ask Jesus to
abide with You. You can beat back the
monster that would deyour you. You
can unhorse the. sin that would ride you
down. You can sharpen the battleax
with which you split the head of he'll
meted abomination. Who helped Paul
shake the brazen gated heart of Felix
Who acted like a good sailor when all
the crew howled in the Mediterranean
shipwreck? Who helped the martyrs to