Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1898-03-05


He says: After awhile shall be in
dependent Of all the world. Oh, my
ioul, eat, drink and DO merryl" Bust
hess 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. Hero is man who has always
been we'll. He has never had any SYM
pathy for inyalids. He calls them cough
ing, wheeling nuisances. After awhile
sickness comes to him. He does not un-
derstand what God is going to do with
him. He says, sis the Lord angry with
me?' Oh, no. With the shepherds
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, us
God angry with me?' No. His shep-
herds crook pulls him back into better
pastures do not know what would
have become of US if it had not been for
the shepherd 8 crook Oh, the mercies
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, got cinder in my
eye, and several persons tried to get it
out very gently, but it could not be TAX
ell out i'll that way | was told that the
engineer had facility i'll such cases. l
went to him. lie put his large, sooty
hand on me, took knife and wrapped
the lid of the eye around the knife. /
expected to be hurt very much, but
without any rain 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
giant trouble and, black handed, lays
! hold of US and removes that which
would have ruined our vision forever. l
will gather al your joys together i'll one
regiment of ten companies, and will
put them under Colonel Joy. Then |
will gather all your sorrows together in
one regiment of ten companies and put
them under Colonel Breakheart. Then l
will ask which of these regiments has
gained for you the greater spiritual vic
tories. Certainly that under Colonel
Breakheart.
In the time of war, you may remem-
Der, at the south and north the ques-
ton 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-
lie, misfortune and disaster. Where
you lave 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 ard catch hold of it. Down in
the glen l 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
prist and caresses the sheep, and it
seems as if it would die Of fright. After
awhile some one breaks through the
thicket. He says, "Let me have the
poor thing" He comes up and lays his
arms around the sheep, and it is imme-
diatcly quiet Who is the last man that
comes? 1t is the shepherd. All, my
friends, be not afraid of the shepherds
crook. 1t is never used on you save i'll
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-
interpret, 1.-THE bruised reed be 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
easil, make another one, be would snap
the old one aud throw it away aud get
another. The Bible says it is not so
with our Shepherd. When the music is
gone out of man soul, God does not
snap him in twain and throw him away.
He mends and restores. 1.-The bruised
reed be will not break. u
When in the Exchanging heavens Of fate
The threatening clouds Of darkness dwell.
Then let us humbly watch nnd wait.
1t shall be well. it shall he vol!
And when the storm has passed away
And sunshine smiles on flood and fell
How sweet 10 think, how sweet to say,
| 1t 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 focks on the Gram
plan hills. Cur 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 bark at
them. Ii one of Go.l sheep gets astray,
the world howls. With more nvidity
than shepherds S. deg ever caught
stray sheep 10y the TANKS or lueged it
by the cars worldlings seize the Chris
tian astray 1t ought to do us good to
know that we ara thus watched. 1t
ought to rut US Oh CIR guard They
cannot bite Us if we stay near tie Shop
herd The sharp knife of worldly as
sault will only trim tie vines until they
produce better grales. The more you
POUND rarlorarn and rosemary the
sweeter they smell. Tho more dogs take
after you tho quicker you will get to
the gate.
You have noticed that different fiocEs