The Penn's Grove record., 1897-02-12
REV. DIR. LIMA
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE ny TUE
NOTED DIVINE.
sublect. "narbor Of nome.,

" 5ANINtbs " F
Text: "Go home to thy frien is and tell
them how great things the Lord hath done
for thee. MARK ", 10.
There are a great many people longing fol
some grand sphere In which 10 serve God.
They a imire Luther at the diet OF Worms
and only wish that they had some such great
opportunity Ia which to display their Chris
tlan proves. They a imire Paul making
Felix tremble, and they only wish that they
had some such grand occasion in which to
preach righteousness, temperance and judg-
ment to come. All they want is an oppor-
tunity TO exhibit their Christian heroism.
Now the apostle comes to us, and he prac-
iically says, ~ will show you a place where
you can exhibit all that is grand and beautl-
full and glorious In Christian character, and
that Is the domestic circle"
II ono Is not faithful Ia IN Insignificant
sphere, he will not be faithful IN a resound-
ing sphere. II Peter will not help the Grip.
pie ut the gate ofthe tsmp'e, he will never
be able to preach 5000 souls into the king.
dom at the Pentetost. II Paul did not take
pains to instruct 10 the way Of salvation the
sheriff OF the Philipp'an dungeon, he will
never make Felix tremble. He who Is not
faithful in n skirmish would not be faithful
IL an ~Armageddon. The fact is, we are all
placed In just the position In which we can
most grandly serve God, aud we ought not
TO be chiefly thoughtful about some sphere
Of usefulness which we may after awhile
gain, but the all absorbing question with you
and with me ought 10 be. Lord, what wilt
thou have me (now and here) to do?"
There Is ono word in my text o
which the most of our thoughts will to-day
reyo,ve. That word Is home. Ask ten DIFF
terent men the meaning OF that word aud
they will give you ten different defnltions.
To one 1t means love at the hearth, 1t meaos
plenty at the table. industry at the work
stand, intelligence ut the books, devotion at
the altar. To him it means q greeting at the
door and a smile ut the chair. Peace no YER
ing like wing. Joy clapplng its hands with
laughter. Life u tranquil lake. Pillow ed
on The r.pples sleep the shadows.
Ask another man what home is and he will
tell you It is want looking out of u cheerless
fro CRATE and kneading hunger In an empty
braa tray. Tae damp air shiverlng with
curses. No Bible on the shelf. Childreu,
robbers ind murderers in embryo. Vile songs
their lullaby. Every,face a picture OF ruin.
Want in the background and sin staring
from the front. No Sabbath wave rolling
over that doorsiil. Vestibuie OF tho pit.
Shadow of Internal walls. Furnace for forg-
ing everlasting chains. Faggots for an un-
ending funeral pile. Awful world 1t Is
spelled with curses, it weeps with ruin, 1t
chokes with woe. it sweats with the death
agony of despair.
IL WOIh HOlnb III tu6 Ohb Cusb lu6tDS
everything bright. The word home In the
other case means everything terrific.
l shall speak TO you OF home as a test of
character, home as a refuge, home as q poll
teal safeguard, home rs a schoo and home
us a type Of heaven.
And In the first place I remark that home
is a powerful test OF character. The disposi-
tion in public may be- In gay costume, while
in private 1t is in tiishabille. As play actors
may appear in one way onthe stage and may
appear in another way behind the scenes, so
private character may be very different from
public character. Private character is often
public character turned wrong side out. A
man may receive you into his parlor as
though he were a distillation of smiles. and
yet his heart may be q swamp OF nettles.
There are business men who all day long are
mild and courteous and genial and good
natured in commercial life, keeping back
their irrltabllity, and their p~etulance, and
their discomfort, but at nightfall the dam
breaks and ~scoldiug pours forth in floods
md freshets.
Reputation Is only tue shadow Of charae-
tas and a very small house sometimes will
cast n very long shadow. The lips may seem
to drop myrrh aud cassia, aud the dispose
tion to be as bright and warm as a sheaf OF
sunbeams, and yet they may only be a mag
nincent show window to q wretched stock
OF goods. There Is many a man who is
affable in public life aud amid commercial
spheres who, in u cowardly way, takes his
anger and his petnlance HON int drops
them In the domestic circle.
The reason men do not display their bad
temper In public is because they do not want
TO be knocked down. There are men who
hide their petulance and their irrltability
Just for the same reason that they do not let
their notes go to protest-it does not pay.
Or for the same reason that they do not want
q man in their stock company to SSH his
stock at less than the right price, lest it de-
preoiate the value. As at sunset the wind
rises, 80 after q sunshiny day there may be
n tempestuous night. There are people who
In public act the philanthropist who at home
Act the Nero with respect to their slippers
aud their gowns.
Audubon, the great ornithologist, with
gun and pencil went through the forests OF
America to bring down and to sketch the
beautiful birds. and after years OF toll and
exposure CON pleted his manuscript and put
it In q trunk In Philadelphia for a few days Of
recreation and rest and came back and
found that the rats had utterly destroyed
the manuscript. but without any discom-
posture and without any fret or bad temper,
he again picket up his and pencil and
visited again all the great forests Of America
and reproduced his immortal work. And
yet there are people with the ten-thousandth
part OF that loss who are utterly irrecon-
silable, who. at the loss OF a pencil or nm
article OF raiment, will blow rs long and
sharp rs a northeast storm.
Now, that man who Is affable in public
and who Is irritable In private Is making a
fraudulent overissue OF stock. and he Is as
bad as a bauk that might nave $400. 900 or
$500, 900 of bills In circulation wlthno specie
in the vault. Let us learn ''to show piety at
home" II we nave II not there wo have 1t
not anywhere. II we have not genuine
grace in the family circle, all our outward
and public plausibility merely springs from
"a = I. - ~. .rN.I4 =. 4.&.. AI@ lsA@ .wREaf1
pool of our " selhshness. l tell you the
home Is a mighty test of character. What
you are at home you are everywhere, wheth-
er you demonstrate 1t or NOT.
Again, l remark that home is a refuge.
Lille is the United States army on the ma
tonal road to Mexico, a long march, with
ever and anon a skirmish and n battle. At
eyentide we pitch our tent and stack our
nrms. We hang up the war cap and lay our
head on the knapsack. We sleep until the
morning bugle calls us to marching and ac-
ton. How pleasant is it to rehearse the VIC
tories and the surprises and the attacks OF
the day, seated by the still campfire OF the
home circlei
Yea, life is a stormy sea. With shivered
masts and torn sails and hulk aleak, we put
into the harbor of home. Blessed harbor!
There we go for repairs In the drydock OF
quiet lie. The candle in the window Is to
the toliing man the lighthouse guiding him
800 $500
fathers as pilots at the NRrrows takethe hand
of ships. The doorsill of the. home Is the
wharf where heavy life is unladeD.
There is the place where we may talk OF
what We have lone without being charged
with self Rdulation. There Is the place where
we may lounge without being thought un-
graceful. There is the place where we mayex-
press affection without being thought silly.
There is the place where we may forget our
nnnoyances and exasperations and troubles.
Forlorn earth pilgrim! No homer Then die.
That Is better. The grave is brighter and
grander and more glorious than this world,
with nc tent from marehings, With no barbor
from the storm, with NJ place to rest from
this scene Of greed and gouge and loss and
gain. God pify the man or woman who has
nohomel
Further, / remark that home Is a political
safeguard. The safeguard OF the state must
be built on the safety Of the homo. The
Christian hearthstone is the only corner
stone for arepublic. The virtues cultured
In the family circle are m absolute necessity
for the state. II there be not enough moral
principle to make the family adhere, there
wilt not be enough political principle to
make the state adhere. 'sNo home" means
the Goths and Yandals, means the nomads OF
-. $500 49, NN.-.tlt-. AftanH