The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1900-10-12
EVENINGS SHADOWS.
DR.. Talmage's Comforting Words
to Those in Declining Years.
Helpful Thoughts Suggested by che
Invitation to Christ Ia Abide
Overnight In nm Orient
al village.


COURSES spon The invitation given to
Christ to stay over night in the oriental
village and makes some consolatory
suggestions. The text is Luke "a, 20:
abide with Us. for il is toward even
ing.
Two villagers, having concluded their
err and in Jerusalem have started out
at the city gate and are on their way
TO Emmaus, the place of their resi-
dence. They go with sad heart.
Jesus. who had been their admiration
and their JOY. had been basely massa-
cred and entombed. AS with sad face
and broken heart they pass on their
way stranger accosts them. They
tc. Him their anNieties and bitterness
OF soul. He i'm turn talks TO them,
nightly eNpounding the Scriptures. lie
throws over them the fascination of in
tell GENT conversation. They forgot the
tine and notice not the objects they
pass. and before they are aware have
come up in front OF their house. They
pause before the entrance aud attempt
10 persuade the stranger TO tarry with
them. They press upon Him their hos
pi;alities Night j. coming On and lie
may meet a prowling wild beast or be
Obliged to lie unsheltered from the
dew. He cannot go much farther now.
Why not stop there and continue their
Pleasant conversation? They eSe Him
by the arm. ard they insist upon His
coming in. addressing Him in the
words: abide with MS, for il is toward
evening" The lamps are lighted, the
table is spread. pleasant sociabilities
are enkinaled. They rejoice in the pres
ence Of the stranger guest He asks
4 blessing upon the bread they eat, and
II hands a piece to each. Suddenly,
ead with overwhelming power. the
thought flashes upon the astonished
p, cple IL is the Lord, And as they sit
in arrathless wonder. looking upon the
resurrected body of Jesus. He vanished.
Tie interview ended. He was gone.
With many Of us Il Is a bright, sun
shiny day of prosperity. There is not
a cloud in the sky. not IA leaf rustling
in the forest. No chill in the air. But
We cannot expect all this to last. lie
is not an intelligent man who expects
perpetual daylight of JOY. The sun
will after awhile near the horizon. The
shadows will lengther. While ! SPEAK
many of us stand in the very hour de-
sc.ibed in the text: ~ror il is toward
evening" The request Ct Che text
IS appropriate for some IN every com
nlunify. For with them II is toward
the evening of old age. They have
passed the meridian of life They are
sometimes startled to think how old
they are. They do not. however. like
others TO remark upon il. II others
suggest their approximation toward
venerable appearance. they say: why.
I'm not so old after ALL" They do in
deed notice that they cannot lift quite
as much as once. They cannot wax
tie so fast. They cannot read quite
so well without spectacles. They can
not so easily recover from u cough or
any occasional ailment. They have lost
their taste for merriment. They are
surprised at the quick passage of the
year. They say that il only seems but
a little while ago that they were boys.
They are going little down hill. There
is something in their health. something
in their vision. something in their
walk. something in their changing as
sociations. something above, some
thing beneath. something within TO re-
mind them that il is toward evening.
The great want of all such is TO have
Jesus abide with them. IL Is a dismal
thing TO be getting old without che re-
juvenating influence of religion. When
we stop on the down grade of life and
sec that il dips 20 the verge of the cold
river. we want to behold some one near
who will help us across il. When the
sight loses its power to glance and gath
err up, we need the faith that can illum-
inc. When we feel the failure of the
ear. we need the clear tones Of that
voice which in oiden times broke up the
silence of the deaf with cadences of
mercy. When the axmen of death hew
down whole forests of strength and
beauty around us and we are left in sol
itude, we need the dove of divine mercy
TO sing in our branches. When the
shadows begin to fall and we feel that
the day is far spent, we need most of
ali TO supplicate the beneficient Jesus
in the prayer OF the villagers: "Abide
Vi n us. for il is toward evening"
The request of the text is an appro-
priate exclamation for all those who
are approaching the gloomy hour of
temptation. There is nothing easier
than 10 be good natured when every
thing pleases or to be humble when
there is nothing to puff us up or forgiv-
Jag when we have not been assailed,
or honest when we have no induce
ment to fraud. But you have felt the
grapple of some temptation. Your ma
ture at some time quaked and groaned
under the Internal force. You felt that
the devil was after you. You saw
your Christian graces retreating. You
feared that You would fail in the aw-
full wrestle with sin and be thrown
Into the dust. The gloom thickened.
The first indications OF the night were
seen. In all the trembling of your soul,
in all the Internal suggestions of Satan,
in all the surgirg up Of tumultuous
passions and excitements, you felt with
awful emphasis that IL was toward
evening. In the tempted hour you need
TO ask Jesus 10 abide with you. You
can beat back The monster that would
1axottr Won can unf.orsa the sin fha 4