Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-04-30

dsrEness thickenedl All the sins Of your life
bounced upon YOU AMI il was the darkest
hour Won ever saw when YOU inst found out
yonr sins After awhile you went into the
harvest field Of Gods mercy. You BEGAN 10
CLEAN In the fields II divine promise ana YOU
had more sheaves than YOU could carry as
the voice Of God addressed you saving.
BLESSED Is the man whose transgress'ons arr
forgiven aud whose sins are covered. A
yery dark starting in conviction, very
bright ending Ia the pardon and the hope
and the triumph OF the gospel
So very often in our worldly business or
In our spiritual career we starr on on very
dark path. We must go. The hesh may
shrink back, but there is a voice within, or a
voice from above. saving. "lou must go.
And We have to drink the gall. and we have
to carry tho cross. and We have 70 traverse
the desert, aud we ara pounded anu nalled
Of misrepresentation and abuse. and We nave
10 urge our way through 10000 obstacles
that havo been slain by our own right arm.
We have TO ford the river. We have to climb
The mountain. We have to storm the castle.
out blessed be God, the day OF rest ana re-
ward will come. On the tin top OF the cap
.ured battlements we will shout the victory;
II not in this world. then in that world where
there is no gall to drink. no burdens to carry.
no battles to fight. How do | know IL Know
H. l know it because God says SO: They
shall hunger no more. neither thirst any
more, neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat, for the Lamb which IL In tue
midst of the throne shall lead them to living
fountains OF water. and God shall wipe all
tears from their eyes
Itwas very hard for Noah TO endure the
soothing Of the people in his day, while ne
was trying to build the ark and was every
morning quIzzed about his old boat that
would never he OF any practical use; but
when the deluge came aud the tops OF the
mountains disappeared like the backs OF sea-
monsters, and the elements, lashed up in
fury. clapped their hands over drowned
world, then Noah in the ark rejoiced in his
own safety and in the safety OF his family
and looked out on the wreck OF a ruined
earth.
Christ. bounded OF prosecutors, denied a
pillow, worse maltreated than the thieves on
either side Of the cross, human hate smack.
Ing its lips in satisfaction after il had been
draining its last drop of blood, the sheeted
dead bursting from the sepulchers Mt HIS
cruciflxion! Tell me, o GethsemRne and
Golgotha. were there ever darker times thun
chose? Like the bo ling OF the midnight
sea against the rock, the surges Of Chrlst's
anguish beat against the gates OF eternity, to
be echoed back by all the thrones OF heaven
and all the dungeons of hell. But the day
OF reward comes for Christ All the pomp
and dominion Of this world are to be hung
on His throne, crowned heads are to bow be-
fore Him on whose head are many crowns.
and all the celestial worship is to come upat
His feet. like the humminC OF the forest, like
the rushing Of the waters. like the thunder
ing Of the seas. while all heaven, rising on
their thrones. beat time with their scepiers,
"Halleluinh for the Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth
That song OF love. now low and far.
Ere long shall swell from star to star:
That light, the breaking day which tips
The golden spired Apocalypse
Again. learn from my subject that events
which seem to be most Insignificant may be
momentous. Car You imagine anything
more unimportant than the coming OF poor
woman from Moab to Judah? Can YOU
imagine anything more trivial than the fact
that this Ruth just happened to aiight-as
they say-just happened to alight on that
field of Boa2? Yet all ages, all generations.
havo an interest in the fat that she was to
become nm ancestress Of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and all nations and kingdoms must
look at that one little incident with a thrill
of unspea6able and eternal satisfaction. So
it is in your history and in mine. Events
that you thought Of no Importance at all
udNe bttu VI very great unOulGuA. L udt
casual conversation, that accidental meet.
ing-you did not think of it again for long
while. hut how it changed all the phases Of
your life.
1t seemed TO be of no Importance that
Jubal invented rude instruments Of music
calling them harp and organs, but they wert
the introduction of all the world minstrelsy
and as YOU hear the vibration OF a stringel
instrument, even after the fingers have been
taken away from it, so all music now OF Lutte
and drum and cornet is only the long con-
tinued strains of Jubal's harp and JubaH:
organ. II seemed to be Il matter of very lit
tie Importance that Tubai Cain learned the
uses OF copper and iron, but that rude foun
dry OF ancient days has its echo in the rattl,
of Birmingham machinery and the roar and
bang of factories on the Merrimac.
Ii seemed to be Il matter OF no importance
that Luther found Bible in monastery
but as he opened that Bible and the brass
bound lids fell back they Jared everything
and the rusting of the wormed leaves wa
the sound Of the wings OF the angel OF tn,
| reformation. 1t seemed to be matter OF NJ
| importance that q woman whose name ha!
Teen forgotten dropped a tract in the way o
a very bad man of the name OF Richard Bax
ter. He picked up the tract and read 1t, ant
1t was the means OF his salvation. In atte
| days that mai wrote book called 'Th'
| Call to the Unconverted, that was the mean
/ Of bringing a multitude to God, lannon's
| others Phillip Doddridge. Philip Doddridg
| wrote a book called 1.-THE Rise and Pro
gress OF Religion" which has brough
! thousands and tens of thousand
into the kingdom OF God and among other
the great WiIberforco. Wllberforce wrote
book called "A Practical View OF Christian
ity," which was the means of bringing
great multitude to Christ, among other
Leigh Richmond. Leigh Richmond wrote
| tract called "The Dairyman's Daughter,
which has been the means Of the salvation o
unconverted multitudes And that tide o
! influence started from the fact that on
| Christian woman dropped Christian trac
| in the way of Richard Baxter, the tide of In
! huence rolling on through Richard Baxter
! through the great Wilberforce, through
Leigh Richmond. on, on, on, forever, for
ever. So the insignificant events of thi
world, seem, after all, TO be the most mo
| men:ous.
Again, I see in my subject an illus" ratio
! of he beauty of female industry.
Rehold Ruth toiling in the harvest flel,
under the hot sun or at noon tax ing plai
bread with the reapers or eating the parche
| corn which Boaz handed to her. The Gus
toms of society, of course, have changed
and without the hardships and exposure
which Ruth was subjected every intelliger
woman will find something to do.
| know there is u sickly sentimentality o
this subject. In some families there al
persons OF no practical service 20 the house
hold or community, and, though there are 5
many woes all around about them in til
world they spend their time anguishing Owe
new pattern or bursting into tears ct mic
night over the story of some lover who shi
himself. They would not deign to look {
Ruth carrying back the barley on her wa
home to her mother-in-law. Naomi. A
this fastidiousness may seem to do very we
while they are under the shelter of the
fathers house, but when the sharp winter
misfortune comes, what Of these butterflies
Persons under indulgent parentage may g
upon themselves habits of Incidence, hi
when they come out into practical life the
soul will recoil with disgust and ,chagril
They will feel in their hearts what the POI
so severely satirized when he said:
Folks are so awkward, things, SO impoite,
They're elegantly panied from morning unit
night.