Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-12-23
ALL MAY SERVE.
TALNEcE TELLS HOW SOULS CON-
FINED CAN WORK FOR GOOD.

NirA anu heiple--->hut IN Tor an All
Wise Purpose.
TExr: The Lord shut him in. r--Genesls
/ vii. 10.
] Cosmlcony has no more Interesting
I chapter than the one which speaks of that
I catastrophe OF the ages. the submsrsion Of
our world IN tim" OF Noah, the first ship
I carpenter. Many OF the nations who never
| saw Eible have a Hood storv-ggyptian
/ Hood story. Grrcian food story. Of which
Ducalion was the Noah: Hawaiian flood
/ story, New Zealand food story. Chinese
4 flood story, American Indian food story
! all OF which accounts agree in the INNER
/ sion Of the continents under universal
| rains, and that there was shin floating
1 with select few Of the human family and
I with specimens Of geological and Ornitho-
/ logical and reptilian worlds, although I
could have wished that these last had been
| shut out Of the ark and drowned.
I All OF these Hood stories represent the
| ship thus afloat AS finally stranded on n
/ mountain top. Hugh Miller, in his sTpsti-
mony of the Rocks " thinks that all these
Hood stories were inilrm traditions OF the
Biblical account. and | believe him. The
worst thing about that great frpshet was
that II struck Noah's Great Eastern from
above and beneath. The seas broke the
chain Of shells and crystal and rolled over
the land, AMI the heavens opened their
clouds for falling columns IF water which
rOarel and Numbered on the roof OF the
great shin for month and ten days
There was one door to the ship. Tut there
were three paris to the door. one part for
each OF three stories. The Bible account
says nothing about parts OF tie door he
longing to two of the stories, aud | do
not know on which floor Moan and his
family voyaGed, but my text tells Us that
the part OF the door Of that particular Il Dor
a. q which Noah L.
had entered. The Lord shut him in" So
there are many people now in tie world
who are as thoroughly shut in, some hy
sickness, some by Old age. some by special
duties that will not allow them to 20 forth,
some surrounded by deluCes OF misior-
tune and trouble and for them my sympa-
thics are aroused, and from them | often
receive messages. and this sermon, which 1
hope may DO good to others. is more cs-
pccially intended for them. To-day / ai-
dress the shut in. The Lord shut him in >
The world has no statistics aS t. the
number OF iuvalids. The physicians know
something about it, and the apothrcarios
and the pastors but who can tell us the
/ number of blind ewes. and deaf ears and
diseased lungs, and congested livcrs, and
tangled nerves. and neuraGic temples and
rheumatic feet, or how many took no food
this morning because they mad no appetite
to eat. or digestive organs to assimilatc or
have lungs SO delicate they cannot 20
forth when the wind is in the east, or there
is Il dampnc~s on the ground or pavement
! because Of the frost coming outg 1t would
be easy to count the people who every day
go through street, or the number Of
passenger carried by railroad company
/ in year, or the number Of those who ross
the ocean in ships, but who can Giyeus the
statistics OF the great multituie3 who are
shut in? / call the attention of all such 10
their superior opportunities of doing good.
Those OF Us who are well and can see
clearly, and hear distinctly, and partake
of food OF all sorts, and questions OF diges-
tiOn never occur to US, and we can wade
/ the snowbankS and take an equinox in our
faces and endure the thermometer at zero,
and every breath of air Is a tonic and a
stimulus. and sound sleep meets Us within
five minutes after our head touches the pill
/ low. do not make so much of an impression
! when we talk about the consultations OF reli
| giOn. The world says right away: II guess
/ that man mistakes hunyancy of natural
spirits for religion. What does he know
I about it, He has never been tried But
| when ons goes out and reports to tine world
that that morning on his way to business
4 he called to see You and found you, after
/ being kept IN your room for two months,
cheerful and hopeful and that you had not
one word of complaint, and asked all about
| everybody, and re1Oiced in the success
of your business friends, although your
. own business had almost come to II stand =
still through your absence from store or
office or shop, and that you sent Your love
to all your old friends, and told them that
il YOU did not meet them again in this
world you hoped to meet them in dominions
. seraphic, with u quiet word Of advice from
f you to the man who carried tie message
about the Importance Of his not neglecting
his own soul, but through Christ seeking
something better than this world could
give him-why, all the business men in the
counting room say: "GoOdl Now, that is
religion And the clerks get hold OF the
story and talk ii over, so that the weigher
and cooper and hackman standing on the
doorstep say: THAT is splendid! Now
that is what | call Religions
No doubt while on that voyage Noah
and his three sons and all the four ladies
of the autedIuvian world often thought of
the bright hilIsides and the green fields
where they had walked and of the homes
where they hadliyed. They had had many
years of experiences. Noah was 600 years
old at the time of this CONFUSION of nature,
He had seen GOO -Vrngtimes, COO summers
800 autumns, 600 winters. We are not
told how old his wife was at this wreck
of earth ant sky. The Bible tells the age
of great many men, but only once gives a
woman age. At ono time it gives Adams
age as 1870 years aud Jaref's age as l6.
years an EhorA age as 800 years, ana al
/ up and down the Bible it gives the age OF
. men, but does not give the age OF women
. why: Because, l suppose, a womah's age
IS none OF our business. But All the mer
anu women that toSseA IN Una. oflchta
crNit ha' IlNeu long enough 10 reNlen
per great many OF INC MerclG9 nu'
kihuEes9'7 OF Hn1, ana thGy ro9iu no
pio' o't, ana l thlhE they haa no 4lspGHL
tioh TO blIl o"t the memory Oh thoSe oI!5I IL
HGft{Ts inoISn now tntS "tlV Iau, rl ~
Nolt4ef 7'""i' the SMUT IN OF our Llt .. i"i
get toe "G>s'uE7 OF lhe last hHNe Eo'
peer, plihd lof ten years; iHhnN uou 10
the time Wueh you 50" rs c1eatIS Hs any y
us can see and let the pageant OF all III