The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-10-29


hood. Our planet feels the b~enediction Of
Alcyone and all the other stars Of the
Pleiades. Yea, there are two other
worlds that decide the fate of our world,
its redemption or its demolition. Those
two worlds are the headquarters OF an
GEOLOGY and demonology. From the one
world came Christ, come ministering spir-
its, come all gracious influences. From
the other world rise all satanic and dia-
bolic influences. From that world Of NOR
al night rose the power that wrecked our
poor world 5000 years ago and all the
good work dom since then has not been
able TO get our world put of the breakers.
But the signals of distress have been
hoisted and the life lines are out, and our
worlds release is certain. The good in
huences OF the consecratad people in our
world will be centupled by the help from
the heavenly world, and the divine power
will overcome the demoniac. o man, .
woman, expand your idea and know the
magnitude of q contest in which three
worlds are specially interested. From all
the seven worlds which my text calls the
Pleiades there come no such powerful in
fuepces as from the two worlds that /
am now mentioning. Ny only hope for
this world is in the reinforcement that is
TO come from another world. But that is
promised, and so | feel as sure of the
ratification Of all evil as though looking
out of my window today / saw the parks
and the gardens Towering into another
paradise and the apocalyptic angel flying
through the midst of heaven with the
news that the kingdoms OF this world
nave become the kingdoms of our Lord.
My text called Job and calls US TO con-
c;ln- sGtho uv-,. ;nn,.no,r w, r,% +oo
much emphasis upon the acidities OF life,
Upon the irritations OF life, upon the dis
appointments of life. Ammianus Marcel
linus said that Chaldea was in olden
times overrun with lions. but many Of
them lost their power because the great
swamps produced many gnats that would
get into the eyes of the lions. and the
ions to free themselves of the gnats
would claw their own eyes out and then
starve. And in our time many n lion has
been overcome by a gnat. The little
singing annoyances of life keep US from
approaching the sweet influences. And
how many of these last there are! Sweet
influences of home, however plain it may
be! That is the harbor into which we
sail. That is the goal for which we run.
That is the place where we rest. There
abide all confidence and affections. There
we lay out our plans. There we extend
our sympathies. There we talk over our
successes. There we unload our griefs.
Its four walls shut out a prying and in
quisitive world. Thank God for the home
in which we were born, the home in
which we now live, the home in which
we expect to die!
The wife's influence.
Not S1fIoiont1v do wa raanoDi1a tho
sweet influences of the wife. We men are
Of a rougher mold, and our voice is loud,
and our manners need to be tanned, and
g%entleness is not as much of a character
istic as it ought to be, and we often say
things we ought to take back. 1t is to
change this that the good wife comes in.
The interests of the twain are identical.
That which from outsiders would be con-
sidered criticism and to be resented be-
comes kindly suggestion, sweet influences
that make us better men than We other
wise would nave been or could have been.
The last chapter of Proverbs recog-
nizes the good wife's influence when it
says, Her husband is known in the gates
when he stitch among the elders of the
land"-that is, his apparel indicates that
he has some one to look after his ward
robe, and his manners show that he is
under refining influences at home. But no
one fully appreciates the sweet Influences
Of the wife until the dark day comes and
the slight symptoms become serious and
the serious phases of the disorder pass
into the fatal and the temperature is LOG
ard medical ingenuity is exhausted and
you are told for your consolation that
while there is life there is hope" which
means that there is no hope at all, and
the precious life 1utters and is gone and
you must put out of sight the one who
from the day she took the VOW amid the
orange blossoms under the marriage bell
had been to you more than all the world
besides. Then you realize as never before
what had been the sweet influences.
Sweet influences of friendship! If we
have behaved ourselves tolerably well, we
have friends. In our days of mirth they
come with their congratulations. In times
of sorrow they come with expressions Of
solace. In times Of p~erplexity they come
with their advice. They are with us at
weddings and at burials. If there is any
thing good in US, they find it out and our
f~railties they overlook or excuse. If
something appears against us, they say,
"Wait till 1 hear the other side" If dis
aster shall befall US, we know from
"AoII NOulu SOLlC IL hloI NoAoOAChSS-
family friends, church friends, business
friends, lifelong friends. In our heart Of
hearts we cherish them.
Sweet influences of our holy religion,
surrounded as we are by all the ameni-
ties of Christian society, men and women
who have felt the refining and elevating
power of the gospel! Sweet influences of
the Sabbath, ffty-two Of them Ginning
their joy into every year! Sweet infu-
ences of the Scriptures, with their balm
for all wounds and their light for every
darkness. When the heirs of a vast es-
tate in England wished to establish their
claim to property worth 500, 10000,
they offered a reward of $500 for the re-
covery of an old Bible, the family record
of which contained the evidence requisite.
But any Bible, new or old, can help US to
a vaster inheritance han the one spoken
of, one that never fades away.
The World of Reunion.
The sweet influences of the heavenly
world, which many wise men thought fol-
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