Connecticut western news., 1898-03-03
oyer the precin,ces.

sOul, thl, anu U6 lutTIJ! DUST ness disaster comes to him. What is God going to do with him? Has God any grudge against him? Oh, no. God is throwing over him the shepherd s crook and pulling him back into better pastures. Here is man who has always been we'll. He has never had any sym pathy for invalids. He calls them cough ing, wheezing nuisances. After awhile sickness comes to him. He does not un- derstand what God is going to do with him. He says, Is the Lord angry with me?" Oh. no. With tho shepherd s crook he has been pulled back into bet ter pastures. Here is happy household circle. The parent does not realize the truth that these children are only loaned to him, and he forgets from what source came his domestic blessings. Sickness drops upon those children and death swoops upon little one. He says. "Is God angry with me?' No. His shep- herds crook pulls him back into better pastures I do not know what would have become of us if it had not been for the shepherds crook. Oh, the meroies of our troubles You take up apples and plums from under the shade of the trees, and the very best fruits of Christian character we find in the deep shade of trouble.
 When was on the steamer coming across the ocean, 1 got a oinder in my eye, and several persons tried to get it out very gently, but it could not be talk en out in that way. 1 was told that the engineer had facility in such cases. I went to him. He put his large, sooty hand on me, took knife and wrapped the lid of the eye around the knife. l expected to be hurt very much, but without any pain and instantly he re- moved the cinder. Oh, there come times in our Christian life when our spiritual vision is being spoiled and all gentle appliances fail. Then there comes some 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 will put them under Colonel Joy. Then l will gather all your sorrows together in one regiment of ten companies and put them under Colonel Breakheart. Then I will ask which of these regiments has gained for you the greater spiritual yio- tories. Certainly that under Colonel Breakheart.
 In the time of war, you may remem- Der, at the south and north the ques- tion was whether the black troops would fight, but when they were put into the struggle on both sides they did heroical- ly. In the great day of eternity it will be found that it was not the white regi- ment of joys that gained your greatest successes, but the black troops of trou- ble, misfortune and disaster. Where you have gained one spiritual success from your prosperity you have gained ten spiritual successes from your adver- sity.
 Divine Sympathy.
 There is no animal that struggles more violently than a sheep when you corner it and catch hold of 1t. Down in the glen see group of men around lost sheep. A plowman comes along and seizes the sheep and tries to pacify it, but it is more frightened than ever. A miller comes along, puts down his grist and caresses the sheep, and it seems as if it would die of fright. After awhile some one breaks through the thioket. He says. "Let me have the poor thing" He comes up and lays his arms around the sheep, and it is imme- diately quiet Who is the last man that comes? It is the shepherd. An, my friends be not afraid of the shepherds 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 of divine sympathy.
 There is one passage think you mis- "The bruised reed he will not break" Do you know that the shep- herd in olden times played upon these reeds? They were very easily bruised, but when they were bruised they were never mended. The shepherd could so easily make another one, he would snap the old one and throw it away and get another. The Bible says it is not so with our Shepherd. When the music is gone out of man's 8 soul, God does not snap him in twain and throw him away. He mends and restores. "The bruised reed he will not break.'
 When in the o'erhanging heavens of fate
 The threatening clouds of darkness dwell,
 Then let us humbly watch and wait.
 It shall be well, it shall be welll
 And when the storm has passed away
 And sunshine smiles on flood and fell
 How sweet to think how sweet to say.
 It has been well, it has been we'll.
 Next speak of the shepherds dogs. They watch the straying sheep and drive them back again. Every shepherd has his dog, from the nomads of the Bible times down to the Scotch herds man watching his flocks on the Gram plan hills. Our shepherd employs the criticisms and prosecutions of the world as his dogs. There are those, you know, whose whole work it is to watch the in- constituencies of Christians and lark at them. If one of Gods sheep gets astray, tho world howls. With more avidity than shepherd s dog ever caught a stray sheep by the Hanks or lugged 1t by the ears worldlings seize the Chris tian astray. It ought to do us good to know that we are thus watched. It ought to put us on our guard. They cannot bite us if we stay near the Shep- herd. The sharp knife of worldly as- sault will only trim the vines until they produce better grapes. The more you pound mar1oram and rosemary tho sweeter they smell. The more dogs take after you the quicker you will get to the gate.
 You have noticed that different focks of sheep have different marks upon them sometimes red mark, sometimes a blue mark, sometimes straight mark and sometimes @ crooked mark. The Lord our Shepherd has mark for his sheep. It is red mark, the mark of the cross. Blessed are they that are perse- cuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
 Rich Pastures.
 Furthermore, consider the shepherds pasture grounds. The old shpeherds used