The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-01-28

through respectfully and usefuIly You
ought TO feel like people toward the
close OF q summer day seated on the
rocks watching the sunset at Bar Har-
Dor or Cape May or Lookout mountain.
! am glad TO say that most old Chris
tians are cheerful. Daniel Webster
visited John Adams n short time before
his death and found him In very in
firm health. He said TO Mr.. Adams: Il
am glad TO see you. | hope you are get
ting along pretty well" The reply
was: "Ah, sir. quite the contrary. I
find ] am q poor tenant, occupying n
house much shattered by time. Ii
sways and trembles with every wind,
and what is worse. sir, the landlord. as
near as | can make out, does not intend
to make any repairs"
An aged woman sent to her physi-
clan and told him Of her ailments. and
the doctor said: What would you have
me do. madam? cannot make you
young again" She replied: Il know
that. doctor. What ! want you to do
is to help me to grow old a little lou-
ger" The young have their troubles
before them: the old have their trou-
bles behind them. You have got about
all out of this earth that there is in il.
Be glad that you. an aged servant Of
God, are going to try another life and
amid better surroundings. Stop look
ing back and look ahead. o We in
the seventies and the eighties and the
nineties, your best days are yet to
come, your grandest associations are
yet to be formed, your best eyesight is
yet TO be kindled. your best hearing is
yet to be awakened. your greatest
speed is yet to be Travelled, your glad
dest song is yet to be sung. The most
of your friends have gone over the bor-
der, and you are going to join them
very soon. They are waiting for you;
they are watching the golden shore to
see you land; they are watching the
shining gate to see you come through;
they are standing by the throne to see
you mount. What a glad hour when
you drop the staff and take the scep-
ter, when you quit the stiffened joints
and become an immortal athlete! But
hear, hear; a remark pertinent to all
people, whether in the twenties. the
thirties, the ~forties. the tifties, the six
ties, the seventies or beyond.
The Need OF All Ages.
What we all need is to take the SUI
%pernatural into our lives. Do not let
us depend on brain and muscle and
nerve. We want q mighty supply Of
the supernatural. We want with us q
divine force mightier than the waters
Inc the tempestS, and when the Lord
took two steps on bestormed Galilee,
putting one foot on the winds and the
other on the waves. he proved himself
mightier than hurricane and billow.
We want with us a divine force greater
than the fires. and when the Lord cool
ed ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS furnace until
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did
not even have to fan themselves be
proved himself mightier han the fire.
We want a divine force stronger than
wild beast. and when the Lord made
Daniel a lion tanner he proved himself
stronger than the wrath of the jungles.
There are so many diseases in the
world we want with us a divine Physi-
clan capable Of combating ailments,
and our Lord when on earth showed
what he could do with catalepsy and
paralysis and ophthalmia and demen-
tia. Oh. take this supernatural into all
your lives! How to get it? Just as
you get anything you want-by appli-
cation.
A man got up in q New York prayer
meeting and said: "God is my partner.
| did business without him for twenty
years and failed every two or three
years. l have been doing business
with him for twenty years and have
not failed once" Oh. take the super
natural into all your affairs! 1 had
such an evidence Of the goodness Of
! God in temporal things when 1 entered
life, l must testify. Called to preach
at lovely Belleville, in New Jersey, I
entered upon my work. But there
stood the empty parsonage, and not a
cent had l with which to furnish it.
After preaching three or four weeks
the officers of my church asked me If
I did not want to take two or three
weeks vacation. / said, YES" for
had preached about all I knew, but ]
feared they must be getting tired OF
me. When l returned to the village
after the brief vacation, they handed
me the key Of the parsonage and asked
me if I did not want to go and look al
it. Not suspecting anything had hap
pened. / put the key into the parson
age door and opened it, and there wal
the hall completely furnished with car
pet and pictures and hatrack, and
turned into the parlors. and they were
furnished-the softest sofas I ever sa'
oE-and into the study. and found i
furnished with bookcases. and l wen
into the bedrooms, and they were fur
nished, and into the pantry. and tha
was furnished with every culinary ar
ticle, and the s~piceboxes were filled
and a -four barrel stood there ready I,
be opened, and l went down into tn
dining room. and the table was set am
! hoo ,fifnfIr f,,vp;cho1 md into fh,