Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-07-09

he knees by his bed and says: 40
God, am awfully weak. l know not
which way to turn unless l look to
thee. Save me this day from the wine
cup. Save me from the fatal pitfalls
which are yawning at my feet. Save
me, o God, save me, save met! Will
God answer such pleading prayer
rs that? oh, yes. God says to this
moral cripple: Come, my child, come
under my wing, my protecting wing
| will surround thee with holy COM
partnership. will shut out from thy
sight the buzzards and the hawks and
the serpents and the rats Of sin which
would destroy your life! Come, my
child. come. Come under the shadow
My friends. some Of us have been try
ing to resist temptation in our own
strength. Will you not depend upon
the strength of God? Some of us are
trying to do as the brilliant Tom Mar
shall Of Kentucky did, who one day
stood up in Broadway Tabernacle and
said: Were this great globe one crys
tUiiitt 6uO ObCltu wv BOSotSSloh IL
would drink one glass Of brandy
would refuse 1t with scorn. And
want no religion. want the temper
ance pledge alone" But. alas. Poor
Tom Marshall, depending upon his
own strength was at last shoveled into
a drnnkard's grave. Will you today, as
Christian, accept Gods protecting
xr,{v L., Cd,
wing is a pledge that God will not al
low your temptation TO be stronger
than you shall have power given to re-
sist.
Gods protecting wing is one Of Chris.
tan fellowship. An old homely prov.
erb says. "A hen will make Just as
much noise and scratch Just as hard
for one chicken ms she will for ten"
That may be true Such actions upon
the part of the feathered bird might be
very exemplary. But one Of the most
ridiculous sights to me Is great. big
fat hen strutting through the barnyard
followed by one wee, little chirping
chicken. Better for that little chicken
to be killed and the hen go about her
legitimate business of laying eggs for
the breakfast than for the mother bird
to continue to waste her energies upon
that one offspring. The natural brood
for a hen Is not one or two chickens,
but eight, nine or ten or even thirteen
chickens. Every would be sitting hen
II left alone nearly always lays thir.
teen eggs for her nest. She wants
large family. A large family is good
for the hen 1t is good for the chick.
ems.
Practical Application.
What is the pra ctical application OF
this smile? Why. Gods wing is
place under which not only one Chris.
tan can find rest, but many Christians.
Gods children are going to find safety
and protection under Gods wing be.
cause they will work together and live
together and have their hearts beating
together and as it were. snuggle up to.
gether and keep each other spiritually
warm. They will be together as close
in fellowship as the chickens are close
together under their mothers wing. II
you lift up hen who is covering her
little ones at night you will be sur
prised how many chickens her small
area is able to shelter. The reason
each chicken is pressing close against
the other chickens as well as against
its mothers breast.
What today Is the Christian fellow
ship Of your daily life? Remember the
records are being kept In reference &c
this matter which shall decide your
spiritual welfare for time and for eter'
nifty. A lady one day came to the Rev.
John Newton and asked him how
friend of hers who was a member OF
Mr.. Newton's congregation had died.
"Ah. my lady" answered the venerable
prea cher. that is not the important
question you ought to have asked. You
should have asked not how she died,
but how she lived Are you living in
fellowship with Christ's children? Are
you living in close copmunion with the
members Of your church? Are you liv-
ing in prayerful love with all men and
women who are trying to bring the
name of Jesus before a sinful race?
Are you living with Christ's followers
as closely as chickens gather under the
wings Of a mother hen?
Gods wing often protects his children
best when they themselves are envel-
oped by total darkness. The little
chickens, running to the warning call
Of the clucking hen, answer for the
most part TO the blind obedience Of
fnifh UhTr fIat dnv
the ovcrshadowing and enveloping Gov
crlng of that wing they can see moth
ing. Under that wing is total dark
ness. Once in awhile chickens curl
osity will impel her to poke her little
head out of the mothers feathers to
see what is going on. But when the
chickens are truly under that wing
they leave all and trust all to their
mothers care. 1t Is because those
chickens stay in total darkness under
that wing that they often escape the
searching eye Of an advancing foe.
In Darkness ms In Light.
My dear nearer, are you ready to
trust God In darkness as we'll as In the
lightf You came to me the other day
and said. ~ cannot understand why
this trouble was laid at my door"
Neither can ], my brother. do not
understand why God should have
taken away from your side that young
man Just five months after he was
graduated for the bar, He WAS n
bright fellow. He was a pure boy.
He was the child upon whom you set
your heart to take your own place.
You are in total darkness about this
ma tier So q m I But L do know Cod