The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-09-10

purse DIR. Talmage shows the folly Of al
towing forebodings to influence us and
how expectation % evil weakens and de-
stroys; text, Matthew vi, "a, Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof"
The life Of every man, woman and
child is as closely under the divine care
as though such person were the only man,
woman or child. There are no accidents
AS there is a law of storms in the natural
world, so there is q law of trouble, a law
of disaster, a law Of misfortune; but the
majority of the troubles Of life are i'm
aginary, and the most of those antlclpat-
ed never come. At any rate, there is no
cause of complaint against God. See
how much he has donetOmake you happy,
his sunshine filling the earth with glory,
making rainbow for the storm and halo
for the mountain, g~reenness for the moss,
saffron for the cloud and crystal for the
billow and procession of hammered flame
through the opening gates of the morn
ing, chafinches to sing, rivers to glitter,
seas to chant and springs TO blossom, and
oYerpowering all other sounds with its
song and overarching all other splendor
with it's triumph, covering up all other
beauty with its garlands and publishing
all thrones with its dOminiOn-deliver-
ance for a lost world through the Great
Redeemer.
| discourse of the sin of borrowing
trouble.
First, such a habit Of mind and heart
is wrong, because it puts one into a de-
spondency that i'll fits him for duty. L
planted two rosebushes in M garden;
the one thrived beautifully, the other per-
ished. | found the dead one on the shady
side of the house. Our dispositions, like
our plants, need sunshine. Expectancy
of repulse is the cause of many secular
and religious failures. Fear Of bank
ruptcy has uptOrn many a fine business
and sent the man lodging among the
note shavers. Fear of Islander and abuse
has often invited all the long beaked
~vultures of scOrn and backbiting. Many
of the misfortunes of life, like hyenas,
flee if you courageously meet them.
How poorly prepared for religious duty
is u man who sits down under the gloom
of expected misfortune! If he prays, he
says, 81 do not think 1 shall be answer
ed" If he gives, he says, Il expect they
Will steal the money" Helen Chalmers
told me that her father, Thomas Chalm-
ers, in the darkest hour Of the history of
the Free Church of Scotland and when
the woes of the land seemed to weigh
upon his heart said to his children,
"CUme, let US go out and play ball or fly
kite and the only difficulty ia the play
was that the children could not keep up
with their father. The McCheynes and
the Summerfelds Of the church who did
the most good toiled in the sunlight.
Away with the horrors! They distill poi
son; they dig graves, and if they could
-l.-L-- III A. -.o-Il I----z l.
! j~oicings of heaven with sobs and wailing.
Watching For Misfortune.
You will nave nothing but misfortune
in the future if you sedulously watch for
it. How shall a man catch the right
kline of fish if he arranges his line and
hook and bait to catch lizards and water
serpents? Hunt for bats and hawks, and
bats and hawks you will find. Hunt for
robin redbreasts, and you will find robin
redbreasts. One night an eagle and an
owl got into fierce battle. The eagle, I'M
used to the night, was no match for the
owl, which is most at hOme in the dark
ness, and the king of the air fell helpless.
But the morning rose, and with it rose
the eagle, and the owls and the night
hawks and the bats came a second time
10 the combat. Now, the eagle in the
sunlight, with 4 stroke of his talons and
a great cry, cleared the air, and his enc
mics, with torn feathers and splashed
b with blood, tumbled into the thickets. Ye
are the children of light. In the night of
dependency you will have no chance
against your enemies that flock up from
beneath: but, trusting in God and stand
ing in the sunshine of the promises, you
shall renew your youth like the eagle"
Again, the habit of borrowing trouble
is wrong because it has a tendency to
make US overlook present blessing. To
slake mans thirst the rock is cleft, and
cool waters leap into his trimming cup.
To feed his hunger the fields bow down
with bending wheat, and the cattle come
down from the clover pastures to give
him milk, and the orchards yellow and
ripen, casting their juicy fruits into his
lap. Alas. that amid such exuberance
of blessing man should growl as though
he were n soldier on half rations or q
sailor on short allowance; that a man
eshould stand neck deep in harvests look
ing forward to famine; that one should
feel the strong pulses of health marching
with regular tread through all the ave-
nues of life and yet tremble at the ex-
pected assault of sickness; that a man
should sit in his pleasant home, fearful
that ruthless want will some day rattle
the broken window sash with tempest
and sweep the Goals from the hearth
and pour hunger into the bread tray;
that a man fed by him who owns all the
harvests should expect TO starve; that
one whom God loves and surrounds with
benediction and attends with angelic es-
cort and hovers over with more than
motherly fondness should be looking for
q heritage Of tears. Has God been hard
with thee that thou shouldst be forebod-
ing? Has ne stinted thy board? Has
he covered thee with rags? Has he
spread traps for thy feet. and CALLED thy
cup, and rasped thy soul, and wrecked
thee with storm, and thundered upon
thee with q life full Of calamity?
. If your father or brother come into
your bank where gold and silver are lying
about, you do not watch them, for you
y know they are honest, but If an entire
stranger come by the safe you keep your