Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-02-08
SERMONS OF THE DAY

Tho Successful Are Not the Most Bril-
liant, But Those Who Everlastingly
Stick to One Line of Endeavor.
TEXT: "But when the children of Israe
cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised then
Benjamite. a man left handed; and by hin
the children OF Israel sent a present unto
Eglon, the king of Moab."-Judges Ill.,, Is
Ehud was a ruler in Israel. He was left
| handed, and what was peculiar about the
| tribe Of Benjamin, to which he belonged
there,were in 1t 700 left handed men, and yet
80 dexterous had they all become In the use
could sling stones at hairbreadth and moi
miss. Well, there was q king by the nam'
OF Eglon, who was an oppressor OF Israel
| He imposed upon them most outrageoui
, tax. Ehud, the man of whom first spoke
had a divine commission to destroy tha
| oppressor. He came pretending that hi
| was going to pay the tax and asked to set
Eglon. He was told that he was in the sum
mer house, the place to which the king re
tired when it was too hot to cit in the
palace. This summer house was a place
surrounded by flowers and trees and spring
ing fountains and warbling birds. Ehu6
entered the summer house and said tc
Immediately all the attendants were waived
out OF the royal presence. King Eglor
rises up to receive the messenger. Ehud
the left handed man, puts his left hand tt
his right side, pulls out dagger and
thrusts Eglon through until the shaft went
comes forth to blow trumpet of liberty
amid the mountains of Ephraim, and q
host is marshsled, ana proud Moab sub
mits to the conquerer and Israel is free
So, o Lord, let all Thine enemies perish
So, o Lord, let all Thy friends triumph
learn first from this subject the power
Of left handed men. There are some men
who by physical organization have az
much strength in their left hand as in theiI
right hand, but there is something in the
writing Of this text which implies thai
Ehud had some defect in his right hanc
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
own ACKNOWLEDGMENT, while many man
with no natural endowments, actually de-
fective in physical and mental organiza-
tion, has an earnestness for the right, pa
tisnt industry, all consuming persever.
ance, which achieve marvels for the king
dom OF Christ. Though left handed as
Ehud. they can strike down sin as great
and imperial as Eglon.
have seen men of wealth gather about
tQem AL tu6lI tftdsuEcS, SuuluS dt tus
world lying in wickedness, roughly order.
ing Lazarus of their doorstep, sending
their dogs, not to lick his sores, but tc
hound him OF their premises; catching al
the pure rain Of Gods blessing into the
stagnant, ropy, frog inhabited pool o.
their own selfshness-right handed mel
worse than useless-while many a man
with large heart and little purse has ou,
OF his limited means made poverty leap fol
Joy and started an influence that overspani
the grave and will swing round and round
the throne Of God world without end
Ah, mel 1t is high time that you left
handed men, who have been longing 10
| this gif sand that eloquence and the othe
mans xealth, should take your hands ou
of your pockets. Who made all these rail
roadsf wTho SCI uD eli eli these eiIttiss2
| started all these churches and schools ans
asyiums? Who has done the tugging ant
running and pulling2 Men OF no wonder
knowledging themselves to be left handed
and yet they were earnest, and yet the!
were triumphant.
But do not suppose that Ehud, the first
time he took a sling in his left hand coult
throw a stone at a hair-breadth and no
miss. suppose 1t was practice that gav'
him the wonderful dexterity. Go forth tt
your spheres Of duty and be not dtscour
aged II, in your first attempts you miss the
mark. Ehud missed 1t. Take anothe,
stone, put 1t carefully into the sling, swing
It 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 q perfect wall. The first time carpen.
ter sends the plane over board or drive.
bit through a beam he does not expeci
to make perfect execution. The frs
time boy attempts a rhyme he does
not expect to chime "Lalla Rookh," o.
a Lady of the Lake." Do not b,
surprised if sin your first efforts at doing
good you are not very largely successful
Understand that usefulness is an art, sci
ence, a trade. There was an oculist per
forming a very difficult operation on thu
human eye. A young doctor stood by ane
said: .'How easily you do that; it DOM
5eem to cause you any trouble at ALL
"Ah," said the old oculist, sit Is very cas-,
now, but spoiled hatful of eyes to learr
that" Be not surprised II 1t takes soms
practice before we can help men to mora
eyesight and bring them to vision of the
cross. Left handed men, to the work
Take the gospel for sling and faith an6
repentance for the smooth stone from tn,
brook, take sure aim, God direct the wsap
on, and great Goliaths will tumble before
you.
when Garibaldi was going out to battl'
he told his troops what he wanted them tt
do, and after he had described what h,
wanted them to do they said, well, gen.
sSis *n:s we ss G" gs gsspis Gon 'Hn know
what else you will get. but you will get
hunger, and cold, and wounds and death.
fore him for a little while in silence and
then they threw up their hands and cried,
I'VE are the menl We are the menu The
Lord Jesus Christ calls you to His service.
do not promise you an easy time in this
world. You may have prosecutions, and
afterwards there comes an eternal weight
of glory, and you can bear the wounds,
and the bruises, and the misrepresenta.
tions, II you have the reward afterward
Have you not enough enthusiasm to cry
out, "We are the menl We are the meni'
We laugh at the children of Shinar fol
trying to build tower that could reach tc
the heavens, but think II our eyesight
were only good enough we could see g
Babel in many a dooryard. oh, the strug
gle is fiercel 1t is store against store
house against house, street against street,
nation against nation. The goal for which
men are running is chairs and chandeliers
and mirrors and houses and lands and
presidential equipments. II they get what
they anticipate, what have they? Men are
not safe from calumny while they live, and,
worse than that, they are not safe after
they are dead, Cor have seen swine root
up graveyards. One day a man goes up
into publicity, and the world does him
uOuOT, duu pcOplc ClluU iutO SycdiuOTe
trees to watch him as he passes, and as he
goes along on the shoulders of the people
there Is waving of hats and a wild huzza
Tomorrow the same man Is caught be-
tween the jaws of the printing press and
mangled and bruised, and the very same
persons who applaudsd him before cry,
DOWN with the traitorl down with himl''
Belshazzar sits at the feast, the mighty
men Of Babylon sitting all around him.
Wit sparkles like the wine and the wine
like the wit. Music rolls up among the
chandeliers; the chandeliers has down
on the decanters. The breath of hanging
gardens floats in on the night air. The voice
Of revelry floats out. Amid wreaths and
tapestry and folded banners finger
writes. The march ola host is heard on
the stairs. Laughter catches in the
throat. A thousand hearts stop beating.
The blow is struck. The blood on the
1oor is richer hued than the wine on the
able. The kiDgdom has departed. Bel
shazzar was no worse perhaps than hun
ireds OF people IN BABYLON, but his posi-.
Ion slew him. Oh, be content with just