The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1901-02-09

lOiC wv oosS
betterment of the world and not for
selfish purposes? l only take the risk
of asking the question and leave to
YOU the risk of answering it. These
things / say to show you that in order
to have the promise of the text full
filed in your case it is not necessary
you have phenomenal worldly success.
Notice also that God gives the
righteous the power to extract good
out of evil and by a divine chemistry
to change the bitter into the sweet
and the harmful into the beneficial.
The promise that it shall be well with
you does not imply that you are to be
free from trouble. There is no escape
from that. We all have family rela-
tons, and some of them will be max
ing exit from this world, so that be-
reavement is the universal inherit
ance. So also is financial loss. The
difference between the prospered and
those not prospered is the difference
in the amount they can afford to lose.
The more wealth a man has the more
he can lose, but n man can afford
to lose a million dollars where anoth-
err man cannot afford to lose one dol
lar. On larger or smaller scale all
suffer financial loss. Amid the rapid
ity of the revolutions of the wheel OF
national and international finance
monetary perplexity is as common as
day or night.
So also misinterpretation and slam
der came to all who live active lives.
Our actions, thoroughly honest and
above board, may come under sus-
picion. Every courtroom at every term
of court hears illustrations of the de-
fusion of what is called circumstan-
tial evidence. Innocent men are fined
or imprisoned or electrocuted because
of an unfortunate conjunction Of
events. What is true in courtrooms
is true in all circles of domestic or
social or political or official life. You
have been misunderstood and misrep-
resented or will be misunderstood and
misrepresented. Then how can my
text be true? My explanation is this:
The man without any divine grace in
his heart finds in these troubles irri-
tation and unbelief and melancholla
and despair. A Christian man finds in
them submission and enlarged views
and divine support and reconsecra-
ton. Bereavement to the wording
brings hard thoughts of God and a re-
~sistance so violent 1t dares not fully
express itself. Bereavement brings to
tire Christian the thought of heavenly
reunion and a more complete laying
hold of God, and a more tender appre'
citation Of the divine presence, and
deeper gratitude hat we were per
mitted to have the departed one SC
long, and a more lively sympathy fol
the sorrows of others and another evil
dence of Gods love, for whom the
Lord loveth he ch~asteneth."
Financial loss, which l just now said
is sure to come, never breaks up
! man who has strong faith in God. II
most cases it is a loss of surplus or il
5 is the Punishment of luxuries. Mos
: Of the wants of the prosperous classe,
: are artificial wants. The late Mr.. Ar
mour of the $50, 200, 900 estate pointed
: to one of his clerks on ordinary salary
: and said: THAT man has a better ap
5 petite than l, sleeps better nights ant
: enjoys life more than l do" Oh, tn,
e gigantic miseries of those who hav,
I too much! A man in Solomon's tim,
: expressed as philosophic and reason
y able n wish as any man of those time
or of our times. His name was Agur
q and he offered a prayer hat he nigh
= never have "A superabundance or
I deficit, crying out: "Give me neithe,
e 49, ~ a .
he had seen the awful struggle of tn,
poor to get food and clothes and shell
ter and to educate their children, an,
h on the other side he had seen tn,
q equity foot and the indigestion, ant
the insomnia, and the anxiety abou
n large investments. and the threatened
q paresix often characteristic of thos
$ who are loaded up and loaded dow
e with too many successes. Those pee
pie who are generally called the mass
e es-that is, the most of folks-hav
the things absolutely necessary TO
their well being. They have no Mu
rillos on their wall, nor a "~Belshazzar'
IS Feast" in the dining room, nor a pal
OF $4,000 sorrels at their doorway
% But they have something which thos
IS superabundantly supplied seldom have
They have better health because, be
q ing compelled to walk, they get tn
r necessary exercise, and, their diet be
re ing limited to plan food, they do no
"a suffer from midnight salads and ar
'e not victimized by rare caterers. The
L retire for wholesome sleep at the yer
l. hour in which others are leaving thei