The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1898-06-01
SERMONS BY EMINENT D|VINES.
GOSPEL MESSAGES.

Bereavcinents Fortify Our Spirit.
TEXT, "And now men see not the bright
light which Is I'm the clouds."-Job xxxyii.,
3l.
Wind east. Barometer falling. Storm
signals out. Ship reenng maintopsaili
Awnings taken in. Prophecies OF foul
weather everywhere. The clouds congre-
gate around the sun, proposing to abolish
him. But after awhile he assais the tanks
OF the clouds with flying artillery OF light,
aud here and there Is IA sign OF clearing
weather. Many do not observe It. Many
do not realize II. "And now men see not
the bright light which is in the clouds" In
other words, there are hundred men look
lug for storm, where there is one man look
ing for sunshine. My object is to get you
and myself into the delightful habit OF
making the best Of everything.
You may have wondered at the statistics
that in India, In the year 1875, there were
over nineteen thousand people slain by
wild beasts, and that in the year 1876 there
were In India over twenty thousand peo-
pie destroyed by wild animals. But there
Is monster In our own land which Is year
by year destroying more than that. It is
the old bear OF melancholy, and with Cos
pei weapons propose to chase 1t back to
Its midnight caverns. l mean to do two
sums-a sum In subtraction and n sum In
addition-a subtraction from your days
OF depression and an addition to your days
you to see the bright light that there Is in
the clouds. and compel you to make the
best OF everything.
In the first place, you ought to make the
very best OF all your financial misfortunes.
During the panic years ago, or the long
years OF financial depression, you oil lost
money. Some Of you lost 1t in most unac-
countable ways. For the question, "How
many thousands Of dollars shall put aside
this year?" you substituted the question,
"How shall pay my butcher, and baker,
and clothier, and landlord?" You had the
sensation OF rowing hard with two oars,
and vet all the time going down stream
You did not say much about II because
1t was not polite to speak much OF flnan-
cial embarrassment; but your wife knew.
Less variety OF wardrobe, more economy
at the table, self-deninl in art and tap
estry. Compression; retrenchment. Who
did not feel the necessity Of it2 My friend,
did YOU make the best of this2 Are YOU
aware OF how narrow an escape you made?
suppose you had reached the fortune to-
ward which you were rapidly going2 What
then2 You would havo been as proud as
Lucifer.
How few men have succeeded largely in
n financial sense and yet maintained their
simplicity and religious conservation! Not
one man out OF Il hundred. There are glori-
Gus exceptions, but the general rule is that
IN proportion as n man gets well off for this
world he gets poorly of for the next. He
loses his sense OF dependence on God. He
gets distaste for prayer meetings. With
plenty OF bank stocks and plenty OF Gov
ernment securities. what does that man
know OF the PRAYER, .Give me this day my
daily bread?" How few men largely sue
cessful in this world are bringing souls to
Christ, or showing self-denial for others, or
are eminent for piety2 You can. count
them all upon your eight fingers and two
thumbs.
nnr st khn a
was sick, and sick unto death, used to
have basir brought ina basin filed
with gold, and his only amusement and
the only relief he got for his iniamed
hands was running them down through
the gold and turning It up in the basin.
Oh, what fnfatuation and what destroying
power money has for many q mani Now,
you were sailing at thirty knots the hour
toward these worthless of worldliness-wha
mercy 1t was, that honest defalcationl
The same divine hand that crushed your
store-house. your bank, your office, your
struction. The day you honestly sus-
pended In business made your fortune for
eternity.
"Oh," you say, 81 could get along very
we'll myself, but am so disappointed that
cannot leave competence for my chill
dren." My brother. the same financial mis-
fortune that is going to save your soul will
save your children. With the anticipation
OF large fortune, how much industry would
your children have?-without which habit
OF industry there is no safety. The young
man would say, well, there's no need OF
my working; my father will soon step out,
and then I'll have just what want" You
cannot hide from him how much you are
worth. You think you are hiding It; he
knows all about 1t. He can tell you almost
to dollar. Perhaps he has been to the
county offlce and searched the records of
m nd In hon a1I IAI
all up, and he has made an estimate OF how
long you will probably stay in this world,
and Is not as much worried about your
rheumatism and shortness OF breath as you
are. The only fortune worth anything
that you can give your child is the fortune
you put in his head and heart, OF all the
young men whofstarted life with seventy
thousand dollars capital how many turned
out welia do not know half a dozen.
The best Inheritance young man can
have Is the feeling that he has to fight his
+ own battle, and that life is q struggle into
which he must throw body, mind and soul,
or be disgracefully worsted. Where are
the burial places OF the men who started
life with a fortune? Some OF them in the
potter's field; some In the suicides grave.
But few OF these men reached thirty-five
years OF age. They drank, they smoked,
they gambled. In them the beast de-
stroyed the man. Some OF them lived long
enough to get their fortunes and went
through them. The vast majority OF them
did not live to get their inheritance. From
the gin-shop or house Of infamy they were
brought home to their fathers house, and
in delirium began to pick off loathsome
reptiles from the embroidered pillow, to
fight back imaginary devils. And then
they were laid out in highly upholstered
parlor, the casket covered with flowers by
tndulgent parents-fowers suggestive OF a
resurrection with no hope.
As you sat this morning at your break
fast table, and looked into the faces OF your
children, perhaps you said within yourself,
sPoor thingsl How wish could start
them In life with competencel How I
have been disappointed In all my expecta-
tions Of what woulG do for them!" Upon
that scene of pathos break with a paean
of congratulation, that by your financial
losses your own prospects for heaven and
the prospect for heaven Of yourchildren are
nightly improved. You may have lost "A
toy. but you have won u palace. Let me
here say. In Pc .ng, do not put much stress
on the treasures Of this world. You cannot
take them along with you. At any rate,
you cannot take them more than two or
three miles; you will have to leave them at
the cemetery. Attila had three cofins. 80
Aho ~ fhia I'M hsd a ad l,af