The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1900-12-21


Joash2
Can you imagine any sublimer worl
than this soul saving? That was wha
hushed Paurs cheek with enthusiasm
that was what led Munson to risk hi
life amid Bornesian cannibals; tba
was what sent DR.. Abeel to preacl
Hnder the consuming skies of China
that was what gave courage to Phocai
In the third century. When the mill
tary officers came TO put him TO death
for Christ's sake. he put them TO beo
that they might rest, while he him.
self went out and In his own gar.
den dug his grave and then came back
and said: 81 am ready" But they
were shocked at the idea Of taking the
life of their host. lie said 1T is
the will of God that / should die. "
and he stood on the margin OF his own
grave. and they beheaded h:ra. You
say il is a mania. a foolhardiness. a
fanaticism. Rather would / call il a
glorious self-abnegation, the thrill of
eternal satisfaction. the plucking of
Joash from death and raising him to
coronation.
The third thought hand TO you is
that the church of God is a good hid
ing place. When Jehosheba rushes In
to the nursery Of the king and picks
up Joash, what shall she do with him 4?
Shall she take him TO some room in
the palace2 No, for the official des-
peradoes will hunt through every
nook and corner of that building.
Shall she take him to the residence
of some wealthy citizen2 No; that
citizen would not dare 10 harbor the
fugitive. But she has to take him
somewhere. She hears the cry Of the
mob In the streets; she hears the
shrek of tho dying nobility; so she
rushes with Joash unto the room of
the temple, into the house Of God,
and there she puts him down. She
knows that Athaliah and her wicked
assassins will not bother the temple
a great denl. They are not apt TO go
very much to church, and so she sets
down Joash In the temple. There he
will be hearing the songs of the wor-
shippers year after year; there he will
breathe the odor of the golden CEN
sers; in that sacred spot he will tarry,
secreted until the six years have
passed and he come to enthronement.
Would God that we were all as wise
as Jehosheba and knew that the
church of God is the best hiding placel
Perhaps our parents took us there in
early days. They snatched us away
from the world and hid US behind the
baptismal fonts and amid the Bibles
and psalm books. o glorious in
closurel We have been breathing the
breath OF the golden censers all the
time, and we have seen the Lamb on
the altar, and we have handled the
vials In which are the prayers of all
saints, and we have dwelt under the
wings of the cherubim. Glorious In
closurei When my father and mother
died and the property was settled up,
there was hardly anything left. But
they endowed us with a property |
worth more than any earthly posses
sion because they hid us in tho temple
And when days Of temptation have
come upon my soul have gone there
for shelter, and when assaulted Of
sorrows have gone there for CON-
fort, and there mean to live. want
like Joash, TO stay until coronation.
o men Of the world outside there,
betrayed, caricatured and cheated Of
the world, why do you not come in
through the broad. wide-opsn door Of
Christian communion / wish ! could
vet the part of Jehosheba to-day and
steal you away from your perils and
hide you in the temple. How few Of
rs appreciate the fact that the church
If God is q hiding place! There are
naLy people who put the church at so
ow a mark that they begrudge It
even the few dollars they
rive toward Il. They make no sacrl-
ices. They dole little out Of their
They pay their butchers
I'LL. and they pay their doctors bill,
nd they pay their landlord, and they
'ay everybody but the Lord. and they
ONE in at the last to pay the Lord
n His church, and frown as they say;
There, Lord. II Is. Send me a re-
eipt In full and don't bother me soon
gain" There is not more than one
nan out Of thousand that appreei-
ties what the church Is. Where are
he souls that put aside one-tenth for
nstitutions-one-tent Of
heir income2 Where are those who,
aving put aside that ose-tenth, draw
pom it cheerfully7 Why, It is pull
nd drag and hold on and grab and
lutch, and giving is an afiliction to
iost people, when 1t ought TO be an
and a rapture. Oh, that
cd would remodel our souls on this
ubject and that we might appreciate
he house OF God as the great refugel
your children are 10 come up TO
yes Of virtue and happiness, they
Ill come up under the shadow of the
iurch. If the church does not get
lem, the world will.
Church Of God, be hiding place to
I these peoplel Give them a seat !
here they can rest their weary souls.
lash some light from your chandeliers
pom their darkness. With some sooth-
2 hymn hush their griefs. Oh. church
God. gate of Heaven, let me go
trough I'll All other institutions are !
,ing to fail. but the church of Cod ,
, foundation is the Rock Of Ages, its !
arter is for everlasting years. its :
Tvs are held by the universal Pronri-