Connecticut western news., 1896-08-06

MOONS PHASES.
 ( oas.ssr s p, tiao S. soaaIast:sr Is ?. s'as n, 6Sssa g am. & G h&san & 23 an. aS THE GLOW OF SUNSET REV. pR. TALMAGE SOUNDS THE cos
 PEI OF GOOD CHEER.
 reward Evsains-The Gloomy Hour of Tsmptation-Tendency to Borrow Trou- ble-sweeteninx the Cup-The Blotting Out of . Lifs-Bereavements Lifted.
 WASHINGTON, Aug. 2.-Dr. Tal. ma0e's subject today lights up the sor- rows of this life and sounds the gospel of good cheer for all who will receive it His text was Luke xiv, 29, Abide with ua, 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 -Emmaus, the place of their residence. They 20 with a sad heart. Jesus. who had been their admiration and their joy, 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 in turn talks to them, nightly expounding the Scripturea 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 up in front of their house. They pause before the entrance and attempt to persuade the stranger to tarry with them They press upon him their hospitalities Night is coimng on. and he may meeta 8 prowling 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 1t 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 npon 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. He was gone
 With many of us it is bright, sum- shiny day of prosperity. There is not cloud in the sky: not g leaf rustling in the forest; no chill in the 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 in the text, ''for it is toward evening. |" The request of the text is appropriate for some tsAre me, for with them it ii toward the evening of old age. They have passed the meridian of life. They arc sometimes startled to think how old they are. They do not, however, like to have others remark upon it If others suggest their approximation toward venerable appearance, they say, "Why. I'm not so old, after all" They do, in- deed. notice that they cannot lift quite 90 much as once. They cannot walk quite 90 fast. They cannot read quite so we'll without spectacles, They cannot so easily recover from 8 cough or any occa- sional ailment. They have lost their taste for merriment They are surprised at tbe quick passage of the year. They say that it only seems a little while ago that they were boya They are going a little down hill. There is something in their health, something in 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. It is Q dismal thing to be getting old without the re- juvenating influence of religion, When we step on the down grade of life and sec 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. ftude. 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 o1 all to supplicate tine strong. beneficen' Jesus in the prayer Of the villagers. Abide with us, for 1t is toward even, ing ]"
 Temptation.
 The request of the text is an arpro priate exclamation for all those who are approached in the gloomy hour oi temptation. There is nothing casio, than to be good natured when every thing pleases. or to be humble wher there is nothing to oppose us. or forgiv ing when we have not been assailed, ol honest when we have no inducement tt fraud. But you have felt the grapple o1 some temptation. Your nature at some
 
 time Quakcd md groaned under the in fernal force. You felt that the devil wa, after you. You saw your Christian Rraces retreating. You feared that yor would fall in the awful wrestle witt sin and be thrown into the dust. Int gioom thickened. The first indicationl of the night wers seen in all the trem bling of your soul. in all the inferna suggestions of Satan. in all the surginl up of tnmultuous passions and excite mentA You felt with awful emphasii that it was toward evening. In thu tempted hour you need to ask Jesus tt abide with you. You eau beat back thu monster that would devour you. You can unhorae the sin that would ride yot down. You can sharpen the battlea, with which you split the head of hel
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