The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-30

Again, my subject teaches that God keeps trial on us until we let go. The | Farmer shouts "Whoa!" to his horses as soon as the grain is dropped from the stalk. The farmer comes with his fork and losses up the straw. and he sees that the straw has let go the grain and the grain is thoroughly thrashed. So God. Shifting rod and turning wheel both cease as soon as We let go. We hold on to this world. with its pleasures and riches
 and emoluments, and our knuckles are so firmly set that it seems as If we could i hold on forever. God comes along with some thrashing trouble and beats us loose. We started under the -delusion that this was a great world. We learned out of our geography that 1t was so many thousand miles in diameter and so
 many miles in circnmference,. and we said "Oh, my, what world!, Trouble came in after life, and this trouble sliced off one part of the world, and it
 has got to be smaller world and in some estimations a very insignificant world, and it is depreciating all the time as a spiritual property. Ten per cent. off, 50 per cent off and there are those who would not give 10 cents for this world-the entire world-as a soul pos session.
 The Friendship That Endures.
 We thought that friendship was grand
 positions about friendship, and perhaps
 we made our graduating speech on com-
 mencement day .on friendship. Oh, 1t
 was l charming fhng But does it mean as much to you as it used to? You have gone on in life, and one friend has be- trayed you, and another friend has mis-
 interpreted you, and another friend has
 negleoted you, and friendship comes now
 sometimes to mean to you merely an
 other ak to grind! So with money. We
 thought if a man had competency he was safe for all the future. but we have learned that mortgage may be deteateo by an unknown previous incumbrance;
 that signing your name on the back Of a note may be your business death war rant; that a new tariff may change the current of 1rade; that man may De rich today and poor tomorrow. And God.
 by all these misfortunes, Is trying to
 loosen our grip, but we still hold on.
 God Smites with a staff. but we hold on.
 And H. strikes us with rod, but we hold on. And He serds over us the iron
 wheel of misfortune. but We hold on. There are men who keep their grip on this world ur.il the las- omnt. Who sugge st to me the condition of the poor Indian in the boat in the Niagara rapids
 coming on toward the fall. Seeing that
 he could not escape, a moment or two
 before he got to the verge of the plunge
 he lifted wine bottle and drank it or
 and then tossed the bottle into the air
 So there are men who clutch the world
 and they go down through the rapids of tempta tion and sin, and they hold on to the very last moment to life, drlnk-
 ing to their eternal doom as they go over and go down. Oh let go, Let go!
 The best fortunes are in Heaven. There
 are no abscondng cashiers in that bank,
 no failing in promises to pay. set your directions on things above. not on things
 on the earth. Let Ego! Depend upon t
 that God will keep upon you the staff
 or the rod or the iron wheel until you
 Another thing my text 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 pc God for that. Pound away 0 fail! Furn 4n, o wheel! Your Work will soon be &one. He will not ever be thrashlng it!" Now
 the Christian has almost as much use in the organ for the stop tremulant as he has for the trumpet, but after awhile he