The Penn's Grove record., 1899-01-27

subject: "Ihe rover OF RerseferhnCe'-
The Successful Are Not tho Most Bril-.
liant But Those who INCREASINGLY
Stick TO One Line of Endeavor.
TEXT: "But when the children Of Israel
cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them
up q deliverer, Ehud the son OF Gera, a
Benjamite, q man left handed; and by him
the children OF Israel sent a present unto
Eglon, the king Of Moab."-Judges ILL, 15i
Ehud was a ruler In Israel. He was left
handed, and what was peculiar about the
tribe of Benjamin, to which he belonged
tlereiwere In it 700 left handed men, and yet
80 dexterous had they ali become in the use
of the lett hand that the Bible says they
could sling stones at a hairbreadth and not
miss. Well, there was a king by the name
Of Eglon, who was an oppreasor Of Israel.
He imposed upon them a most outrageous
tax, Ehud, the man OF whom first spoke,
had o divine commission to1 'estroy that
oppressor. He came prefer that he
was going to pay the tax am fo see
Eglon. He was told that he was. Il am
mer house, the place to which the 3 re-
tired when it was too hot to sit In the
palace. This summer house was a. place
surrounded by flowers and trees and spring.
ing fountains and warbling birds. Ehud
entered the summer house and said to
Eglon that he had q secret errand with him,
Immediately all the attendants were waived
cut OF the royal presence, King Eglon
rises up to receive the messenger. Ehud,
the left handed man. puts his left hand to
hts right side, pulls out a dagger and
tbrusts Eglon through until the shaft went
In after the blade. Eglon falls. Ehud
comes forth to blow O trumpet OF liberty
amid the mountains Of Ephraim, and d
host Is m~arshaled, n proud Moab sub
mits to the conquerer and Israel Is free.
SO, o Lord, let all Thine enemies perishl
So, OLord, let all Thy friends triumph
l learn first from this subject the power
Of left handed men. There are some men
who by physical organization have as
much strength In their left hand as in their
right hand, but there is something in the
writing of this text which implies that
Ehud had some defect In his right hand
which compelled him to use his left. Oh,
the power Of left handed men! Genius Is
often self observant, careful OF itself, not
given to much toll, burning incense to its
ACKNOWLEDGMENT, while many man
with no natural endowmehts, actually de-
fective In physical and mental organiza-
ton, has al earnestness for the right, pa
tient industry, all consuming perseyer-
anee, which achieve mHryels for the king
don Of Christ. Though left handed as
Ehud, they can strike down a sin as great
and imperial as Eglon.
Ihaye seen men OF wealth gather about
them all their treasures, snufilng at the
world lying In wickedness, roughly order
Ing Lazarus off their doorstep, sending
their dogs, not to lick his sores, but to
hound him of their premises; catching all
the pure rain of Gods blessing into the
s%tagnant, ropy, frog inhabited pool of
their own selashness-right handed men
worse thar useless-while many a man
with large heart n little purse has out
OF his limited means made poverty leap Tor
- - 500 -. AEnA A,1 $50 ~ -
the grave and will swing round and round
the throne Of God world without end.
All, mol 1t is high time that you left
handed men, who have been longing Tor
this gift and that eloquence II the other
mans wealth, should take your hands out
of your pockets. Who made all these rail-
roads2 Who set up ali these cities? Who
started all these churches and schools and
asylums? Who has done the Juggling and
running and pulling? Men of no wonder
full endowmsnts, thousands of them ac-
knowledging themselves to be left handed,
and yet they were earnest, and yet they
were triumphant.
But l do not suppose that Ehud, the first
time he tool q sling In his left han could
throw a stone at a hair-breadth and not
miss. l suppos 1t was practice that gave
him the wonderful dexterity. Go forth to
your spheres of duty and be not discour-
aged II, In your first attempts you miss the
mark. Ehud missed 1t. Take another
stone, put it carefully into the sling, swing
1t around your head, take better aim and
the next time you will strike the centre.
The first time "a mason rings his trowel
upon the brick he does not expect to put
In a perfect wall. The first time a carpen-
ter sends the plane over u board or drives
a bit through a beam he does not expect
to make perfect execution. The first
time a boy attempts a rhyme he does
not expect to chime Italia Rookh," or
q "Lady of the Lake" Dc not BIO
surprised If lin your first efforts at doing
good you are not very largely successful.
Understand that usefulness is an art, n sci
ence, a trade. There was an oculist per-
forming q very difficult operation on the
human eye. A young doctor stood by and
said: Glow easily you do that; it don't
seem to cause you any trouble at ALL"
"Ab," said the old %oculist, cit is very easy
now, but 1 spoiled a hatful OF eyes to learn
Be not surprised II 1t takes some
practice before We can help men to moral
eyesight and bring them to a vision Of the
cross, Left handed men, to the work!
Take the gospel for a sling and faith and
repentance for the smooth stone from the
brook, take sure aina, God direct the weap-
on, and great GoliGths will tumble before
you.
When Garibaldi was going out to battle
be told his troops what he wanted them to
do, and after he had described what he
wanted them to do they said, "Well, gem
eral, what are you going to give us for all
this2" "Well," he replied, II don't know
what else you will get, but you will get
hunger, and cold, and wounds and death.
How do you like it?" His men stood be-
fore him for a lite while In silence and
then they threw up their hands and cried,
1--WE are the menl We are the menl" The
Lord Jesus Christ calls you to His service.
| do not promise YOU an easy time in this
-yorld. You may have prosecutions, and
wards there comes an eternal weight
wy, and you can bear tho wounds,
bruises, and the misrepresenta.
'ou have the reward atterward.
not enough enthusiasm to cry
y. 70 the menl We are the menu
We 4 at the children OF Shinar for
trying IL build a tower that could reach to
the heavens, but l think II our eyesight
were only good enough we could see a
Babel in many a dooryard. Oh, the strug-
gle Is fercei 1t is store against store,
house against house, street against street,
against nation. The goal for which
men are running Is chairs and chandeliers
and mirrors II houses and lands and
presidential equipments. II they get what
they anticipate, what have theyp Men are
safe from calumDy while they live. and,
worse than that, they are not safe after
are dead, Cor | have seen swine root
g~raveyards. One day a man goes up
publicity, and the world does him
honor, and people climb into sycamore
trees to watch him as he passes, and as he
goes along on the shoulders Of the people
there is a waving of hats and a wild huzza.
Tomorrow the same man is caught be-
tween the jaws of the printing press and
m a n Ulah md hrufEad md fha xarNr e n M |