Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1907-10-26

not Jesus deadI was not MS little
band Of followers scattered? Was
not the hated sanhedrin triumphant
in its mercIess work? So Peter felt
that Christ's blood was sacrificed In
vain. He felt that Chrst's death had
sealed the fate Of his kingdom.
How Christ Appeared.
Then upon the summit OF these griefs
came the failure Of his present effort.
Hour after hour those fishermen were
dragging at their nets. No fish, no
food, nothing to appease the hunger
Of their dear ones. Yet In the early
dawn Of the morning Christ appeared
unto Peter upon the shores of Galilee.
And so. my friend. when the darkest
hours Of your night Of trouble have
passed Christ will appear to you. Not
in the darkness Of your first trouble
will you get the blessed peace which
passeth all understanding. not even In
the second trouble, but in the third
trial or trouble Christ will appear as
he appeared to those disciples on the
crystal shore of Lake Gennesatet.
In personal life have had a most
dramatic illustration Of this pregnant
truth Ny fathers life was drawing
toward is close Thick and fast came
a succession of terrific troubles The
impenr;r:.l lle darkness seemed to be
everyN here. First came the confagra-
tion which In q few minutes swept
away his great tabernacle, where so
many of his gospel triumphs had been
won. Every one Of its stones had
been mortared by years of self sacri-
fee and work Then came the death OF
my beloved mother, who to a great
extent was the cause Of his wonder
full success. Then came his removal
from Brooklyn to Washington and his
selling of the old homestead where ne
had passed the greater part or his ac-
tive ministerial life That home to him
was the dearest place on earth de
never felt at home anywhere else. He
was too old a tree to transplant ana
take root again. as you would be II
YOU had to leave the home or your
children and the home from which
you had buried your dead. 1t was at
this time that he prepared his sermon
entitled formulating Troubles" 1t was
from Chronicles, eleventh chapter and
twenty second verse. "Benaiah, the son
of Jehoiada. the son Of valiant man or
Kabzeel. who had done many acts; he
slew two ionlike men Of Moab; also
he went down and slew lion in pit
in a snowy day
The whole purpose of that sermon
was to prove that every man. like Be
naiah. had three troubles to ight-hrst,
q lion; second. dark cavern; third.
snowy day. 4 short time after this
my father came on to preach In my
pulpit. He brought this sermon along.
He arose and gave out the text Then
suddenly his tongue became thick ana
his speech heavy He was threatened
with an apoplectic stroke. His lifes
work from that moment rapidly drew
to its close. All. yes. he had his "ac-
cumuatlng troubles" Church gone.
| Old homestead gone. Health gone
Three troubles like Benaiah-a lion.
pit and snowy day. So. o man. you
| shall have three troubles. You are
| like Renaiah and Peter. But God will
reveal himself to you in your darkest
| troubles as he revealed himself to his
children OF old Christ appeared to
Peter walking upon the crystal pave
ments of the sea Of Galilee. In the
fourth watch of the night AS the
darkness settles Christ will appear to
YOU in his glorious love, soon. very
soon. Aye. he will appear to you now.
If you will only love him and trust
him you can see him at this very mo-
ment.
Are we willing to open our eyes now
and see Christ face to face? Christ
did not appear unto the repentant
APOSTLE NEST vividly on a great occa-
sion. but while he was at his humble
duties. i'm the common walks Of life.
When Jesus appears most viyidly to
us he will in all probability reveal
himself not so much in church as on
the street car: not so much at com
munion service as when we. as ply
sicians. are bowing over the sickbeds
Of our patients. or when we. rs farm
ers. are laboring in the fields. or when
we. as housewives. are working about
the kitchen stoves. And Christ Will
not appear unto us SO vividly when we
are alone as when. like Peter. in the
darkness Of the night. with Nathaniel
and James and John. we are being
tossed about upon the waves Of trou-
BILE. May God grant that today. side
by side. we may see the divine face of
Jesus Christ.