The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-03-04

VI N1tS anu IL WIS a
hawk- But all the chickens were un-
der old Dominick's wings, and either
the bird Of prey caught a glimpse of
US or, not able to find the brood bud-
lie under wing. darted back into the
So Christ calls with great ear
nestness TO all the young. WHY. what
Is the matter? 1t is bright sunlight.
and there can be no danger. Health Is
theirs. A good home is theirs. PLENTY
OF food is theirs. Prospect of long life
is theirs. But Christ continues to call.
calls with more emphasis and urges
haste and says not a second ought to
be lost. Oh, do tell us what is the
matter. All. now l see; there are hawks
or temptation in the air, there are vul-
lures wheeling for their prey, there are
peaks OF death ready to plunge, there
are claws Of allurement ready to
clutch Now l see the peril. Now 1
understand the urgency. Now / see
the only safety. Would that Christ
might this day take our sons and
daughters into his shelter las a hen
gathereth her chickens under her
wing"
The fact is that the most of them
will never mind the shelter unless
while they are chickens. 1t is a simple
matter of memorable statistics that
most Of those who do not come to
Christ in youth never come at all.
What chance is there for the young
without divine protection? There are
the grogshOps, there are the gambling
hells. there are the infidelities and i'm
moralities of ~spiritualism, there are
the bad books, there are the impurities.
there are the business rascalities. and
so numerous are these assailants that
it is n wonder that honesty and virtue
are not lost arts. The birds of prey,
diurnal and nocturnal, of the natural
world are ever or the alert. They are
the assassins of the sky; they have va
rieties of taste. The eagle prefers the
flesh of the living animal; the vulture
prefers the carcass; the falcon kills
with one stroke. while other styles of
beak give prOlongation Of torture. And
so the temptations of this life are va
riouS.
Protect the Young.
Fathers, mothers, older brothers and
sisters and Sabbath school teachers, be
quick and earnest and prayerful and
importunate and get the chickens un-
der wing. May the Sabbath schools of
America and Great Britain within the
next three months sweep all their
scholars into the kingdom. Whom
they have now under charge is uncer-
tain. Concerning that scrawny, puny
child that lay in the cradle many years
ago, the father dead, many remarked,
what a mercy if the Lord would take
the childr' And the mother really
thought so too. But what a good thing
hat God spared that child, for it be-
came world renowned in Christian lit
erature and one of Gods most %illustri-
GUS servants-John Todd. Remember,
your children will remain children only
a little while. What you do for them
as children you must do quickly or
never do at all. "Why have you never
written a book?" said some one to a
talented woman. She replied: 81 am
writing two and have been engaged on
one work ten years and on the other
five years-my two children. They are
my life work" When the house of
John Wesley's father burned and they
got the eight children out, John Wesley
the last before the roof fell in, the ia
Their said: Let US kneel down and
thank God. The children are all saved.
Let the rest of the place 60" My hear
ers, if we secure the present and ever
lasting welfare of u children, most
other things belonging to us are of but
little comparative Importance. Alexan-
der the Great allowed his soldiers to
take their families with them to war,
and he accounted for the bravery of his
men by the fact that many Of them
were born in camp and were used to
warlike scenes from the start. Would
God that all the children of our day
might be born into the army of the
Lord!
The Mercy of God.
But we all need the protecting wing.
II you had known when you entered
upon manhood or womanhood what
was ahead of you. would you have
Oareu TO unQeTldke lire! HOW mucn
you have been through! With most
life has been a disappointment. They
tell me so. They have not attained
that which they expected to attain.
They have not had the physical and
mental vigor they expected or they
nave met with rebuffs which they did
not anticipate. You are not at forty or
fifty or sixty or seventy or eighty
years of aSe where o thought you
would be. | do not know any one ex-
cept myself TO whom life has been a
happy surprise, ! never expected any
thing. and so when anything came in
the shape Of human favor or comforta-
BILE position or widening field of work it
was to me Il surprise. | was told in
the theological seminary by some of
my fellow students that never would
get anybody to hear me preach unless
| changed my style. SO that when l
found that some people did come to
hear me it was Il happy surprise. But