Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1900-10-13
lCopyrlght. Louis Kiopsch. 1901


entail village and makes some consola-
tory suggestions. The text is Luke xiv,
%. Abide with US, for il is toward even
ing"
Two villagers, having concluded their
erraud in Jerusalem, have started out at
The city gate and are ON their way to
EmmauS, the place of their residence.
They 20 with sad heart. Jesus, who
had been their admiration and their Joy,
had been baSely masSacrcd and cptomb-
ed As with sad face and broken heart
they pass on their way a stranger ac-
costs them. They tell him their anxieties
and bitterness of soul lie in turn talks
10 them, nightly cNpuundiuG the Scrip
tuftS. He throws over them the faSClna-
ton of intelligent conversation. They
forget the time 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 and attempt to
persuade the stranger to tarry with them.
They press upon him their inequalities.
Night is coming on, and he may meet a
proving wild beast or be obliged TO lie
unsheltcred from the dew. lie cannot
go much farther now. Why not stop
there and continue their pleasant CONVEX
satiou: They take him by the arm. and
they insist upon his coming in, addressing
him in the words Abide with us. for il
is toward evening The lamps are light
ed, the table is spread. pleasant social
ties arc cukndlrd They rejoice in the
presence Of the stranger guest. He asks
u blessing upon the bread they eat. and
he hands a piece Of it 10 each. suddenly
and with overwhelming power the
thought flashes upon the a>towdrl PEG
ple-it is the Lord, And as they sit in
breathless wonder, looking upon the res
directed hodv Of Jesus, he vanished. The
Interview cr4cd. 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 Il leaf rustliug in
the forest. No chill in the air But We
cannot expect all this to last He is not
an intelligent man who expects perpetual
daylight of joy. The sun will after awhile
near the horizon. The shadows will
lengthen. While | speak many of us
stand in the very hour described in the
text, For it is toward evening" The
request of the text is appropriate for
some iii every community. For with
them it 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,
i r. others to remark upon it. Ii others
suggest their approximation toward ven
cradle appearance. they say, why, Pm
not so old after all" They do indeed
notice that they cannot lift quite as much
as once. They cannot walk quite so fast.
They cannot read quite so we'll without
spectacles. They cannot so easily re-
cover from 4 cough or any occasional
ailment. They have lost their taste for
merriment They are surprised at the
quick passage of the wear. They say that
it only seems but little while ago that
they We're boys. They are going a little
down hill. There is something in their
health something in their vision. some
thing in their walk, something in their
changing associations. something above,
something beneath. something within to
remind them that it is toward evening.
Our Greatest Need.
The great want Of all such is to have
Jesus abide with them. 1t is dismal
thing to be getting old without the re-
Juvenating influence of religion. When
we stop on the down grade of life and see
that it dips to 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 gather mp,
we need the faith that can iIlumjnc.
When We feel the failure of the ear. we
need the clear tones of that voice which
in olden times broke mp the silence Of the
deaf with cadenccS Of mercy. When he
axmen Of death hcw down whole Tor
csts Of strength and beauty around MS
and we are left in solitude, we need the
dove OF divine mercy TO sing in our
When the shadows begin 10
fall and we feel that the day is far spent,
we need most of all to supplicate the
beneiicent Jesus N the prayer OF the
villagers. ABIDE with Us. for it is toward
evening"
The request Of the text is an appropri-
ate exclamation for ali those who are ap-
preaching the gloomy hour Of temptation.
There is nothing easier than 10 be good
naturcd when everything plcases or 10 be-
humble when there l. nothing 10 puff
us up or forgiyng when We have not
been assailed or honest when we have
no inducement to fraud. But you have
felt the grapplc Of some temptation.
Your nature al some time quaked and
groaned undcr the Internal force. You
felt that the devil was after you. You
saw your Christian graccs rctreating.
You feared that YOU would fail IN The
awful wrestle with sin and be thrown
into the dust The gloom thicaened. 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 surging up Of tumultuoug passions
and excitements. you felt with awful pm-
phasis that it was toward evening. In
the tempted hour yon need to ask Jesus
to abide with You. You can beat back
the monster that would devour. You can
unhorse the sin that would ride you
down. You can sharpen the baulea1
with which you split the head Of helmet.
ed abomination. Who helped Paul shake
the brazen gated heart OF Felix? Who
acted like good sailor when ail the
crew howled in the Mediterranean ship
wreck! Who helped the martyrs TO be
firm when one word Of recantatjou would
have unfnstened the withes u the stake
aid put ont the kindlinr FIRE?
The source of Strength.
When the might Of tho soui came an