Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1901-06-28

~ A IVY
WASHINGTON, June 23.-From a pas.
sage Of Scripture unobserved by most
readers DR.. Talmage iu this discourse
shows the Importance Of prompt action
liz anything we have to do for ourselves
or others; text, Eccl0siastes XII, 4, HE
that Observeth the wind shall not SOW"
What do you find in this packed sen.
tence Of SOlomOn's mOnOlOgue! ! find IN
it farmer at his front door examining
the weather. 1t is seedtime. His fields
have been plOwed and narrowed. The
wheat is in the barn in sacks, ready tC
be taken afeld and scattered. Now Is the
time to sow. But the wind is not favor
able. 1t may blow up a storm before
night, and he may get wet if he starts
out for the sowing; or it may be a long
storm, that will wash out the seed from
the soil; or there may have been a long
drought, and the wind may continue to
blow dry weather. The parched fields
may not take in the grain. and the birds
may pick It up. and the labor as well as
the seed may be wasted. So he gives up
the work for that day and goes into the
house and waits TO see what 1t will be on
the morrow. On the morrow the wind is
still in the wrong direction, and for
whole week and for month. Did you
ever see such a long spell of bad weatheri
The lethargic and overcautiOus and dila-
tory agricultuTist allows the season to
pass without sowing, and no sowing, Of
course, no harvest. That is what Solo,
mon means when he says in his text, HE
that Observeth the wind shall not SOW"
As much in our time as in SOlomOniO
times there is abroad a fatal hestancy, a
disposition to let little things stop us, a
ruinOus adjournment. We all want to do
some good in the world, but how easily
we are halted in our endeavOrs. Perhaps
we are solicitors for some great charity.
There is good man who has large means,
and he Is accustomed to give literally to
asylums, to hospitals. to reform organiza.
lions, to schools, to churches, to communi-
ties desolated with food or devastated
with fires. But that good man, like many
a good man, is mercurial in his temporal
ment. He is depressed by atmospheric
changes. He is always victimized by
the east wind. For this or that reason
you postpone the charitable solicitation.
Meanwhile the suffering that you wish to
alleviate does its awful work, and the Op-
portunity for relief is past If the wind
had been from the west or northwest,
you would have entered the philanthro-
pist's counting room and sought the gift,
but the wind was blowing from the east
or northeast. and you did not make the at
tempt. and you thoroughly illustrated my
text, "He that Observeth the wind shall
not SOW"
Crisis Was Not Met.
There comes dark Sabbath morning.
Inc pastor looks sri Of the window and
sees the clouds gather and then discharge
their burdens Of rain. Instead Of full
church It will be a handful OF people
with wet feet and the dripping umbrella
at the doorway or in the end Of the pew
The pastor has prepared one of his best
sermons. It has cost him great research
and he has been much in prayer whilC
preparing It. He puts the sermon aside
for q clear day and talks platitudes anC
goes home quite depressed, but at the
same time feeling that he has done hi,
duty. He did not realize that in thai
small audience there were at least two
persons who ought TO have had bette
treatment. One Of those hearers was
man in a crisis of struggle with evil appe
tite. A carefully prepared discourse I'm
der the divine blessing would have bcel
TO him complete victory. The fires Of sill
would have been distinguished. and hi
keen and brilliant mind would have beef
cOnsecrated to the gospel ministry, an,
he would have been a mighty Pvangel. an
tens OF thousands Of souls would have
under the spell of his Christian eloQuencC
| given up sin and started new life, an
throughout all the heavens there woul
have been congratuation and hOsanna
and after many ages of eternity ha
passed there would be celebration anon
the ransomed of what was accomplishe
one stormy Sunday In a church on cart
under a mighty gospel sermon delivere
TO IS or 20 people. But the crisis spea
OF was not properly met. The man /
struggle with evil habit heard tha
stormy day no word that moved him. II
went out in the rain unlimited and III
hGApGn baNA " Ills xvii way anu uOMu
his overthrow. Had il been a sunshin
Sabbath he would have heard somethin
worth hearing But the wind blew fr0l
stormy direction that Sabbath da,
That gospel husbandman noticed it an
acted upon its suggestion and may di
cover some day his great mistake. Il
had a sack full of the finest of the whea
but he withheld it. and some day he wi
find. when the whole story is told. that
was vivid Illustration of the truth
l my text, "He that observeth the wiz
shall not SOW"
There was another person in tn
stormy Sunday audience that deserv,
something better from that pastor th;
extemporized nothingness. 1t was
mother who was half awakened to
sense of responsibility in regard to h
household. She had begun to questi
herself as to whether it would not
Z. better to introduce into her home a re
/ giOn that would decide Alright the d,
y tiny OF her sons and daughters. II
home had so far been controlled only
worldly principles. She had dared t
riot of the elements that morning a
aad found her way to church, hoping
hear something that would help her
3 decide the domestic question which W
; TO her solicitude. A good, strong s
mon under the divine blessing wol
have led her into the kingdom Of G
and afterward her whole family. 7
3 children. whether they became farm
{ or mechanics or merchants or artists
I men of learned profession or women
5 the head Of households. would have d.
q | hi L., :
3 lives of usefulness on earth would h,
& taken thrones in heaven. 1t would hi
Z been q whole family saved for time {
saved for eternity. But the pastor
- adjourned the strong and effective
= course to a clear Sunday. The mot
went home chilled in body. mind and s
n and concluded not to trouble herself
her household about the future and to
tomorrow take care of itself and keep
doing as they had been doing. No {
:, in that home. No religious cOnsOlat
In time of bereavement. No formation
thorough Christian character in the Il
y. Of those growing up boys and girls. I
will go out into the world to meet Its
cissitudes without any sublime re
fOrcement Of the gospel. What a
It was that he did not put down the n
uscript Of his well prepared sermon
the Bible It. he preached from nOtei
"a pour it out of his soul il he had lodge
there through careful preparation!
He allowed that opportunity, W
II could never return, to pass into eteT
stl, unimproved. He observed by the
~ or the rain dashed against the window
her the parsonage and the windows Of
nty church that the wind was from the
'rd. or the northeast. and he DID not so
sowed that which was not worth SOW