The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-03-08

AAAE v A--AA& AAA~ - 49,
and pulling him back into better pas
lures. Here IS a man who has always
been we'll. He has never had any sym
pathy for invalids. He calls them
coughing. wheeling n~uisances. After
awhile sickness comes TO him. He
does not understand what God IS 60
ing 20 do with him. He says. is the
Lord angry with me?" Oh, no, With
the shepherds crook he has been
pulled back into better pastures. Here
is a happy household circle. The par
ent does not realize the truth that
these children are only loaned 20 him.
and he forgets from what source came
his domestic blessings. Sickness drops
upon those children and death swoops
upon a little one. He says, Is God
angry with me-" No. His shepherds
crook pulls him back into better Yas-
lures. l do % know what would
have becora Of Us If il had not been
70! the shepherds crook. On. the
n~ielciCS Of our troubles, You 5ta up
arH,es and plums from u2der tn SHADE
Of Ire trees, and the ve:y best fruits
OF Christian character We find "a tha
!e'D sha4"-of rCCble.
Uses OF ADVERSELY.
hen ] was 81 me steamer coming
across the ocean, l got a cinder in my
eye, and several persons tried TO get it
out very gently, but it could not be
taken out in that way. l was toll that
the engineer had a facility in such
cases. l went to him. He put his large,
sooty hand on me, took a knife and
wrapped the lid Of the Y around the
knife. l expected to be hurt very
much but without any pain and in
stantly he removed the cinder. on,
there come times in our Christian life
when our spiritual vision is being
spoiled and all gentle appliances fail!
Then there comes some giant trouble
and black handed lays hold Of US and
removes that which would have ruined
our vision forever. 1 will gather all
your joys together in one regiment Of
ten companies, and I will put them
under Colonel Joy. Then l will gather
all your sorrows together in one regi-
ment Of ten companies and put them
under Colonel Breakheart. Then l
will ask, Which of these regiments has
gained for you the greater spiritual
victories? Certainly that under Colonel
Breakheart.
In the time OF war, you may remem-
Der at the south and north, the CUES
ton was whether the black troops
would fight, but when they were put
into the struggle on both sides they did
h~erOically. In the great day of eternl-
ty it viii be found that it was not the
white regiment Of joys that gained
your greatest successes, but the black
troops of trouble, misfortune and dis
aster. Where you have gained one
spiritual success from your prosperity.
you have gained ten spiritual successes
from you adversely.
There is no animal that struggles
| more violently than a sheep when You
corner it and catch hold of 1t. Down in
the glen I see a group of men around
a lost sheep. A plOWman comes along
and seizes the sheep and tries to pac-
ify it, but it is more frightened than
ever. A miller comes along, puts down
his grist and caresses the sheep, n
it seems as if it wOu4u die of fright.
| After awhile some one breaks through
the thicket. He says, Let me have
| the poor thing" He comes and lays
his arms around the sheep and 1t is I'M
| mediately quiet. Who is the last man
that comes? 1t is the shepherd. An,
my friends, be not afraid of the shep-
herds crook! It is never used on you
| save in mercy, to pull you back. The
! hard, cold iceberg of trouble will melt
in the warm gulf stream or divine
sympathy
There is one passage I think you
|! misinterpret, The bruised reed he will
not break" DO you know thai the
shepherd in olden times played upon
these reeds? They were very easily
bruised, but when they were bruised
| they were never mended. The shep-
| herd could so easily make another one,
| he would snap the old n and throw 1t
| away and get another. The Bible says
it is not so with our Shepherd. When
| the music is gone out Of a mans soul,
| Goo does not snap him in twain and
throw him away. He mends and re
| stores. The bruised reed he Will not
break"
When in the o'erhanging heaven Of
fate
The threatening clouds of darkness
dwell,
| Then let us humbly watch and wait.
1t shall be well, it shall be we'll.
And when the storm has passed away
And sunshine smiles on flood and
/ How sweet to think, how sweet to say
It has been we'll, it has been well!
THE SHEPHERDS DOGS.
Next I speak Of the shepherds dogs.
| They watch the straying sheep and
| drive them back again. Every shep-
herd has his dOg-frOm the nOmadS or
| the Bible times down to the Scotch
herdsman watching his focks on the
| IIdiIlDldu Hills. ouI 6AlIpAANAN ONN
ploys the criticisms and prosecutions
of the world as his dogs. There are
those, you know, whose whole work 1t
is to watch the inconsistencies of Chris
tians and bark at them. If one Of
Gods sheep gets astray, the world
! howls. With more avidity than a shep-
herds dog ever caught a stray sheep
by the tanks or logged it by the ears
Worldlings seize the Christian astray'
1t ought to do US good to know that we
are thus watched. 1t ought to put US
on our guard. They cannot bite US, II
we t lear the Shepherd. The SHARP
knife Of worldly assault will only trim
the vines until they produce better
grapes. The more you pound mar
joram and rosemary, the sweeter they
smell. The more dogs take after you,
the quicker you will get to the gate.
You have noticed h a different
hocks of sheep have different marks
upon them; sometimes a red mark
sometimes a blue mark, sometimes q