The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-03-25

NONOl0 III OtaNo 10 AOOcN-
We started under the delusion that this
was a great world. We learned out of
our geography that It was so many
thousand miles in diameter and so
many miles in circumference, and we
said, "Oh. my. what a worldr.' Trou-
bic came in after life. and this trouble
sliced of one part Of the world, and ii
has got to be a smaller world and in
some estimations a very Insignificant
world, and il is d~epreciating all the
time as a spiritual property. Ten per
cent of, so per cent Or and there are
those who would not give 10 cents for
this world-the entire world-as a soul
4 possession.
The Friendship That Endures.
We thought that friendship was n
grand thing. In school we used to
write compositions about friendship.
and perhaps we made our graduating
speech on commencement day on
friendship. Oh, it was a charming
thing, But does it mean as much to
you as it used to? You have gone on in
life, and one friend has betrayed you.
and another friend has misinterpreted
you. and another friend has neglected
you, n friendship comes now some
times to mean to you merely another
AK to grind. So with money. We
thought if a man had a competency he
: was safe for all the future, but we
have learned that a mortgage may be
defeated by an unknown previous in
cumbrance; that signing your name on
the back of a note may be your busi-
ness death warrant; that q new tariff
may change the current of trade; that
a man may be rich today and poor to-
morrow. And God, by all these mis-
fortunes, is trying to loosen our grip,
but we still hold on. God smites with
q staff, but we hold on. And he strikes
US with a rod. but we hold on. And he
sends over US the iron wheel Of misfor-
tune, but we hold IN. There are men
who keep their grip on this world until
the last moment, who suggest to me
the condition and conduct of the poor
Indian in the boat in the Niagara rap
ids. coming ON toward the fall. Seeing
hat he could not escape. q moment or
two before he got to the verge of the
Wig hN " "ihN DoIIIC aIu
drank it of and then tossed the bottle
into the air. So there are men who
clutch the world, and they go down
through the rapids of temptation and
sin. and they hold on to the very last
moment to life, drinking to their eter-
nal doom as they go over and go down.
Oh. let goi Let go! The best fortunes
are in heaven. There are no abscond-
ing cashiers from that bank. no failing
in promises to pay. Set your affections
on things above, not on things on the
earth. Let go! Depend upon it that
God will keep upon you the staff or the
rod or the iron wheel until you do let
go.
Another thing my ext teaches us is
that Christian sorrow is going to have
a sure terminus. My text says Bread
corn is bruised because he will not ever
be thrashing it, Blessed be God
for that. Pound away. o fail! Turn
on. o wheel. Your work will soon
be done. He will not ever be thrash
ing it," Now. the Christian has almost
as much use in the organ for the stop
trcmulant as he has for the trumpet,
but after awhile he will put the last
dirge into the portfolio forever. So
much of us as is wheat will be sepa-
rated from SO much as is chaff, and
there will be no more need of pound
ing. They never cry in heaven be-
cause they have nothing to cry about.
There are no tears Of bereavement, for
you shall have your friends all round
about you. There are no tears of pow
erty because each one sits at the
Kings table and has his own chariot
of salvation and free access to the
wardrobe where princes get their ar
ray. No tears Of sickness, for there
are no pneumonias in the air and no
malarial e~Xhalations from the rolling
river of life and no crutch for the lame
limb and no splint for the broken arm,
but the pulses throbbing with the
health of the eternal God in a climate
like our June before the blossoms fall
or our October before the
leaves scatter.
The Cure For the Souls
in that land the souls will talk over
the different modes of thraShing. Oh,
the story of the staff that struck the
itches and the rod that beat the cum
min and the iron wheel that went over
the corn! Daniel will describe the
lions and Jonah leviathan and Paul
the elmwood whips with which he was
scourged. and Eve will tell how aro-
matte Eden was the day she left it,
and John Rogers will tell Of the smart
Of the flame and Elijah Of the fiery
team that wheeled him up the sky
sleeps and Christ of the numbness and
the paroXysms and hemorrhages OF
the awful crucifXion. There they are
before the throne Of God-on one ele-
walton all those who were struck of
the rod, on the highest elevation and
amid the highest attitudes Of heaven
all those who were under the wheel
He will not ever be thrashing it.
Is there not enough salve in this tex
TO make q plaster large enough to heal
oil your wounds? When a child is hurt.
the mother is very apt to say to it.
Now. il will soon feel BETTER" And