Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-09-15

and over on the ferTybOat. You felt ey-
erybody would be looking at you and
blaming you and denouncing you. You
hastened home You told your wife all
about the affair What did she sayf
Did she play the butterfyI Did she
talk about the silks and the ribbons
and the fashions2 No. She came up to
the emergency She quailed not under
the stroke She offered TO go out Of the
comfortable house into a smaller one
and wear the old cloak another winter.
She was the one who understood your
affairs without blaming you.
You looked upon what you thought
was thin. weak wOman's arm holding
you mp. but while you looked at tLas
arm there came into the feeble muscles
of it the strength Of the eternal God
No chiding No fretting. No telling
you about the beautiful house Of her
father from which you brought her 10.
20 or 30 years ago. You said: "Wen.
this is the happiest day Of my life.
am glad have got from under my bur-
den My wife don t care; don't care. "
At the moment you were exhausted
God sent Deborah to meet the host OF
Amalekites and scatter them like chaff
over the plain. There are sometimes
women who sit reading sentimental
novels and who wish that they had
some grand field in which to display
their Christian powers. What grand
and glorious things they could do il
they only had an opportunity Ny sis
ter, you need not wait for any such
time A crisis will come in your affairs
There will be Thermopylae in your
own household where God will I'll you
to stand There are scores and hum
dreds Of households today where as
much bravery and courage are demand
ed Of women as was exhibited by Grace
Darling or Marie Antoinette or Joan OF
Arc
Christian Women.
Again, remark it is woman's right
to bring to rs the kingdom Of heaven.
| 1t is easier for a woman to be Chris
tian than for a man. Whyl You say
she is weaker No. Her heart is more
responsive to the pleadings Of divine
love. She is in vast majority. The fact
! that she can more easily become a
Christian l prove by the statement that
three-fourths Of the membersof churches
in all Christendom are women. So God
appoints them to be the chief agencies
for bringing this world back to God
may stand here and say the soul IS i'm
! mortal There is a man who will deiy
it. 1 may stand here and say we are
lost and undone without Christ There
is a man who will contradict IT, | may
stand here and say there viii be a judg-
ment day after awhile. YOnder is some
one who will dispute it. But Chris
tian woman in a Christian household,
| living in the faith and the consistency
OF Christ's gospel-nObOdy can refute
/ that The greatest sermons are not
preached on celebrated platforms; they
are preached with An audience Of two
or three and in private home life. A
consistent, consecrated Christian service
is an unanswerable demonstration Of
Gods truth.
A sailor came slipping down the rat
lines one night, as though something
had happened, and the sailors cried.
whats the matter" He said. My
mothers prayer haunts me like
ghost" Home influences, consecrated
home influences, are the mightiest OF
all influences upon the soul There arc
men who have maintained their integ-
rity not because they were any better
naturally than some other people, but
because there were home influences
praying for them all the time. They
got a good start. They were launched
on the world with the benedictions Of
Christian mother They may track ST.
berian SHOWS, they may plunge in Afri-
can jungles, they may flee 70 the earths
end-they cannot go so far and so fast
but the prayers will keep up with
them
Power For Good.
speak TO women who have the
eternal salvation Of their husbands in
their right hand. On the marriage day
YOU took an oath before men and angels
that you would be faithful and kind
until death did you part and | believe
you are going TO keep that oath. but
after that parting at the grave will It
be an eternal separationg Is there any
! such thing as an immortal marriage.
making the flowers that grow on the
top of the sepulcher brighter than the
garlands which at the marriage banquet
flooded the air with aromay Yes
stand here as an ambassador Of the
most high God to proclaim the banns
of an immortal union for all those who
ioin hands in the grace Of Christ y
woman. is your husband. yOur father.
your son. away from Godl The Lord
demands their redemption at your
hands. There are prayers for you to
offer, there are exhortations for you to
give, there are examples fer you to set,
and say now as Paul said to the Cor
inthian woman, "What knowest thou
but thou shalt save thy husbandT' A
man was dying. and he said TO his
wife. "Rebecca, you wouldn't let me
have family prayers you laughed about
all that and you got me away into
yorldliness. and now I'm going to die,
and my fate is sealed, and you are the
cause Of my ruin" o woman, what
knowest thou but thou canst destroy
thy husbandf
Are there not some Of you who have
kindly influences at homer Are there
not some who have wandered far away
from God who can remember the Chris
tian influences in their early homer DO
net despise those influences, my broth
er. II you die without Christ what
will you do with your mothers prayers
with your wife's opportunities, with
your sisters entreatiesl What Will you
do with the letters they used to write
TO you, with the memory OF these DAYS
when they attended you so kindly IN
times of sicknessl Oh. if there be Just
one strand holding you from floating
off from that dark sea, | would just
like to take hold of that strand now
and pull You to the beach For the sake
4 s. la culr ~