The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, August 05, 1891, Image 3
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/BEY. DR. TALMAGE. j
KTHE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN- ]
DAY SERMON. J
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Snbject: "The Vacant Chair."
i
Test: "Thou shalt be missed, because
thy seat toill be empty."?I Samuel xx.. IS. j
! 8et on the table the cutlery and the chased I
Silverware of the palace, for King Saul will Ji
'give a state dinner to-day. A distinguished <
place is kept at the table for his son-in-law, ]
'a celebrated warrior. David by name. The i
,guests, jeweled and plumed, come in and i
itake their places. When people are invited ,
to a kind's banquet they are very apt to so. j
'But before the covers are lifted trom the j
;feast Saul looks around and finds a vacant ,
,geat at the table. He savs within ,
;himself. perhaps audibly, "What does ,
ithia mean? Where is my son-in-law?
'Where is David, the great war- :
Tior? I invited him. 1 expected him. What! (
a vacant chair at the kinj^s banquet!" The
fact was that David, the warrior, had
|been seated for the last time at his fatherin-law's
table. The day before Jonathan
had coaxed David to go and occupy that
place at the table, saving to David in the
words of my text, "Ihou shaJt be missed,
because thy seat will be empty." The prediction
was fulfilled. David was missed.
His seat was empty. That one vacant chair
spoke louder than all the occupied chairs at
tne banquet.
In almost every house the articles of furniture
take a living personality. That
picture?a stranger would not see anything
remarkable either in its design or execution,
?mt it is more to vou than aQ tho Dictures of
(the Louvre and the Luxembourg. You remember
who bought it, and who admired
it. And that hymn book?you remember
who sang out Qf it. And that
cradle?you remember who rocked it. And
that Bible?you remember who read
out of it. And that bed?you remember who
slept in it. And that room?you remember
who died in it. But there is nothing in all
your house so eloquent and so mighty voiced
A8 the vacant chair. I suppose that before
Saul and his guests got up from this banquet
there was a great clatter of wine pitchers,
but all that racket was drowned out by the
voice that came up from the vacant chair at
the table.
Millions have gazed and wept at John
Quincy Adams's vacant chair in the house of
representatives, and at Wilson's jcant
chair in the vice-presidency, and at Henry
Clay's vacant chair in the American senate,
and at Prince Albert's vacant chair in Wind- I
eor castle, and at Thiers' vacant chair in the
councils of the French nation. But all these |
chairs are unimportant to you as compared :
wrJ+h t.ho vonont ohn ina in rnnpnwn household.
Have these chairs any lesson for us to learn? !
Are we any better men and women than
-when they first addressed us?
First I point out to you the father's vacant
chair. Old men always like to sit in
the same place and in the same chair.
They somehow feel more at home, and sometimes
when you are in their place and thev
come into the room you jump up suddenly
and say, "Here, father, here's your
chair." The probability is it is an armchair,
for he is not so strong as he once
was, and he needs a little upholding. His
hair is a little frosty, hi3 gums a little depressed,
for in his early days there was not
much dentistry. Perhaps a cane chair and
old fashioned apparel, for though you may
have suggested some improvement, father
does not want any of your nonsense. Grandfather
never had much admiration for new i ]
fangled notions.
I sat at the table of one of my parishioner!!
in a former conerezation: an asred man !
was at the table, and the son was presiding, '
and the father somewhat abruptly addressed j
the son and said, "My son, don't trv now to :
show off because the minister is here!" '
Your father never liked any new customs
or manners, he preferred the old way of i J
doing things;, and he never looked so j '
happy as when with his eyes closed, he sat !
in the armchair in the corner. From
the wrinkled brow to the tip of the slippers,
what placidity! The wave of the past years
of his life broke at the foot of that chair. '
Perhaps sometimes he was a little impa- J
tient, and sometimes told the same story j '
twice; but over that old chair how many | '
blessed memories hover! I hope you did i 1
not crowd that old chair, and that it did not j 1
get very much in the way.
Sometimes the old man's chair gets very
much in the way, especially if he has been so j
unwise as to make over all his property to
his children, with the understanding that I
they are to take care of him. I have seen in 1
such cases children crowd the old man's j
chair to the door, aud then, crowd it clear 1
into the street, and then crowd into the
poor house, and keep on crowding it until 1
the old man fell out of it into his grave.
But your father's chair was a sacred place.
The children used to climb up on the rungs
of it for a good night kiss, and the longer he |
stayed the better you liked it. But that
chair has been vacant now for some time.
The furniture dealer would not give you
fifty cents for it, but it is a throne of influ- j
ence in your domestic circle. 1 saw in the 1
French palace, and in the throne room, the
chair that Napoleon used to occupy. 1
'It was a beautiful chair, but the most
significant part of it was the letter
4lSr" embroidered into the bacli of the chair
! in purple and gold. And your father's old
chair sits in the throne room of your heart,
and your affections have embroided into the I
j back of that old chair in purple and gold the
letter "F." Have all the prayers of that
old chair been answered? Have all the
counsels of that old chair been practiced?
Speak out! old armchair.
History tells us of au old man whose thre?
! sons were victors in the Olympic games, and
: When t n came back these three sons, with !
! their gar .dads, put them on the father's brow, I
| and the old man was so rejoiced at the vici
taries of his three children that he fell dead
i in their arms. And are you,oh man, going to
bring a wreath of jov and Christian usef ulnes
and put it on your father's brow, or on the
acant chair, or on the mem ory of the one
1 i. -?J L_i rrr-it.
uepurueur opaas out, um aruicoairi mui
, reference to your father, tie words of my
text have been fulfill ad, "Thou sb&it be
missed, besause thy seat will be empty."
I go a little farther on in your house and
I find the mother's chair. It is very apt to
be a rocking chair. She had so many
cares and troubles to soothe that it must
have iockers. I remember it well; it was
an old chair, and the rockers were almost
worn out, for I was the youngest, and the
chair had rocked the whole family. It
made a creaking noise as it moved; but
thera was music in the sound. It was just
high enough to allow us children to put our
heads into her lap. That was tha bank
where we deposited all our hurts and worries.
Ah! what a chair that was. It was
different from the father's chair; it was entirely
different. You ask me how? I cannot
tell; but we all felt it was different.
Perhaps there was about this chair more
gentleness, more tenderness, more grief
when we had done wrong. Whan wo wera
wayward father scoldei, but mother crie i.
It was a very wakeful chair. In the
aick days of children other chairs
could not keep awake; that chair always
kept awake?kept easily awake. The chair
knew all the old lullabies and all thosj
wordless songs wntch mothers sing to their
jgick children?songs in which all pity anl
compassion and sympathetic influence are
combined.
That old chair has stopped rocking for a
?ood many years. It may be set up in the
loft or the garret, but it holds a queenly
power yet. When at midnight you went
into that grog shop to get the intoxicating
draught, did you not hear a voice that said,
*'My son, why go in there?" And louder
than the boisterous encore of tee place of
sinful amusement, a voice saying, "My
son, what do you do here'/' And when
you went into the house of abandonment,
a voice saying, "What would your mother
do if she knew you were here?" And you
were provoked with yourself, and you
charged yourself with superstition and fanaticism
and your head got hot with your
own thoughts, and you went home and
you went to bed, and no sooner had you
touched the bed than a voice said: "What!
a prayarless pillow? Man! what is the
matter?' This.' You are too near your
mother's rocking-chair.
"Oh, pshaw!" you say. "There'3 nothing
in that. I'm five hundred miles off trom
where I was born. I'm three hundred miles
off from the church whose bell was the
flr3t music I ever heard." I cannot help
that. You are too near your mother's
rocking chair. "Oh," you say. "there
can't be anything in that. That
chair has bpen vacant a great while." I
cannot help that. It is all the mightier for
that. It is omnipotent, that vacant motharer's
chair. It whispers, it speaks, it weeps, it
carols, it mourns, it prays, it warns, it
thunders. A young man went off and
aroke his mother's heart, anil while he was
iway from home his mother died, aui the
:elegraph brought the son, and he came
nto the room where she lay and looked
ipon her face, aud he cried out: "Oh,
nother, mother, what your life could not do
Af " TUif* m/vmanf T frivtl
j" OUT Q6%liU blllllI t^LLOUt . x UIJ ? ?..,. f.. A T w
uy heart to God." And he kept his promise.
Another victory for the vacant chair.
With reference to your mother the words of
ny text were fulfilled, "Thou shalt ha
uissed, because thy seat will be empty."
I go on a little further, and 1 come to the
invalid's chair. What! How long have you
t>een sick? "Oh! I have been sick ten,twenty,
thirty years." Is it possible? What a story '
3f endurance. There are in many of the
families of my congregation these invalids'
chairs. The occupants of them think they
ire doing no good in the world, but that invalid's
chair is the mighty pulpit
from which they have been preaching,
all these years, trust in God. The first
time I preached here at Lakeside, Ohio, amid
the throngs present, there was nothing that
so much impressed me as the spectacl3 of
just one face?the face of an invalid who
was wheeled in on her chair. I said to her
afterward: "Madam, how long have you
been prostrated?" for she was lying flat in
the chair. "Ohl" she replied. "I have
been this way fifteen years.'' I said,
"Do you suffer very much?" "Oh, yes,"
she siaid, "I suffer very much; I suffer all
the time; part of the time I was blind. I
always suffer." "Well," I said, "can you
keep your courage up?" "Oh, yes," she said,
ilI &m haDDV. very happy indf^d." Her face
showed it, * "She looked the nappies vi ou?
one on the ground.
Oh, what a means of grace to th? world,
these Invalid chairs. On that field of human
suffering the grace of God gets its
victory; Edward Payson, the invalid,
and Richard Baxter, the invalid, and
Robert Hall, the invalid, and the ten thousand
of whom the world has never heard,
but of whom all heaven is cognizant. The
most conspicuous thing on earth for God's
eye and the eye of angels to rest on, is not
a throne of earthly powe?, but it is the invalid's
chair. On, these men and women
who are always suffering, but never complaining?these
victims of spinal disease,
and neuralgic torture, and rheumatic excruciation
will answer to the roll call of
the martyrs, and rise to the martyr's throne,
and will wave the martyr's palm.
But when one of these invalids chairs bacomes
vacant how suggestive it is! No
more bolstering up of th9 weary head. No
more changing from side to side to get an
easy position. No more use of the bandage
and the cataplasm and the pi-ascription.
That invalid chair may be loiaea ua or
luKen apart, or sat awjvy, bat it will
never lose it3 queenly power, it will always
preach of trust in God and cheerful submission.
Suffering all ended now. With respect
to that invalid the words of my text
have been fulfilled, "Phou shilt bs missad,
because thy seat will be empty.
I pass onaud finl one mora vacant chair.
It is a high chair. It is ths child's chair.
If that chair be oecupiel I think it is the
most potent chair in all the household. All
the chairs wait on it; all tha chairs are
turned toward it It means more than
David's chair at Saul's banquet. At any
rate it makes more racket That is a strange
house that can be dull with a child
in it. How that child breaks up the hard
tvorldliness of the place and keeps you
young to sixty, seventy and eighty years of
ige. If you have no child of your own
idopt one; it will open heaveu to your
?uC It will pay ita way. Its crowing in
the morning will give the day a cheerful
starting, and its glee at night will give the
iay a cheerful close. You do not like chiliren?
Then you had better stay out of
aeaven, for there are so many there they
tvould fairly make you crazy. Only about
Wa htinrirnrl millions of them. The old
:rusty Pharisees tol'i the mothers to keep the
children away from Christ. "You bother
Him," they said; "you trouble the Master."
Frouble Him! He has tilled heaveu with
that kind of trouble.
A pioneer in California says that for the
3rst year or two after his residence in
Sierra Nevada county there was not a
jingle child in all the reach of a hundred
nilea. But the Fourth of July came, and
;he miners were gathered together and
they were celebrating the Fourth with orator.
and poem and a boisterous brass band,
ind while the band was playing an infant's
roice was heard crying, and all tbe miners
were startled, and the swarthy men began
to think of their homes on the eastern coast,
md of their wives and children far away,
ind their hearts were thnueu wicn nomesickness
as they heard the babe cry. But
the music went on, and the child cried
louder and louder, and the brass band
played louder and louder, trying to drown
out the infantila interruption, when a
swarthy miner, the tears rolling down his
face, got up and shook his fist and said,
"Stop that noisy band, and give the baby a
chance." Ob, there was pathos in it, as
well as good cheer in it. There is nothing
to arouse and melt and subdue the soul
like a child's voice. But when it goes
away from you the high chair becomes a
higher chair and there is desolation all about
you.
In three-fourths of the homes of this congregation
there is a vacant bigh chair.
Somehow you never get over it. There is
no one to put to bed at night; no one to ask
strange qusstions about God and heaven.
Oh, what is the use of that high chair? It is
to call you higher. What a drawing upward
it is to have children in heaven! And
then it is such a preventive against sin. If
a father is going away into sin he leaves
his living children with their mother; but
if a father is going away into sin what is
he going to do with his dead children floating
about him and hovering over his everv
wayward step. Oh, speak out, vacant high
chair, and say: "Father, come back from
sin, mother, come bac>c from worldlmess. 1
am watching you. I am waiting for you."
With respect to your caua toe woras or my
text have been fulfilled, '"Thou shalt be
missed, because thy seat will be empty."
My hearers, I have gathered up the voices
of your departed friends and tried to intone
them into one invitation upward. I set in ar?
ray all the vacant chairs of your homes and
of your social circle, and I bid them cry out
this morning: ''Time is short. Eternity is
near. Take my Saviour. Be at peaei
with my God. Come up where I am.
We lived together on earth; coma let U9
live together in heaven." We answer that
invitation. We come. Keep a seat for us,
ns Haul kent a seat for David, but that seat
shall not be empty. And oh i when we are
all through with this world, and we have
shaken hands all around for the last time,
ana ail our chairs in the home circle and in
the outside world shall be vacant, may we
be worshiping God in that place from which
we shall go out no more forever.
1 tliau.'; God there will be no vacant chairs
in heaven. There we shall meet again and
talk over our earthly heart-breaks. How
much you have been through since you saw
theru last. On the shining shore you will
talk it all over. The heart-aches. The loneliness.
The sleepless nights. The weeping
until you had no more power to weep, because
the heart was withered and
dried up. Story of empy cradle
and a liAle shoe only half worn out
never to be worn again, just the shape of
the foot that once pressed it. And dreams
waen you thoug&t the departs 1 had come
back again, and the room seemed bright
with their faces, and you started up to
greet them and in the effort the dream
broke and you found yourself standing amid
room in the midnight?alone.
Talking it ail over, and then, hand in
hand, walking up and down in the light
No sorrow, no tears, no death. Oh, heaven!
beautiful heaven! Heaven where our friends
are. Heaven where we expect to be. In the
east they take a cage of birds and bring it to
the toinD of the dead, and then they open
the door of the cage, and the birds, flying
out, sing. And I would to-day bring a cage
of Christian consolations to the grave of
your loved ones, and I would open the door
and let them fill all the air with the music
of their voices.
Oh, how they bound in these spirits before
the throne! Some shout with gladness.
Some break forth into uncontrollable weeping
for joy. Some stand speechless -in their
shock of dfelight. They sing. They quiver
with excessivo gladness. Theygaz> On the
temples, on the palaces, on the waters, oo
each other. Thev weave their iov into zar
lands, they spring it into triumphaj
arches, they strike in on timbrels, and
then all the loved ones gather in a
great circle around the throne of God?fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and
daughters, lovers and friends, hand to hand
around about the throne of God?the circle
ever widening?hand to han 1, joy to joy,
jubilee to jubilee, victory to victory, "antil
the day break and the shadows flse away.
Turn thou, my beloved, and be like a roe or
a young hart upon the mountains of Beth*
V."
Seaside landlords are preparing to
get your surplus money, if it takes all
summer,
RELIGIOUS READING.
PALM STREWING.
The rocky path still climbs the glowing steep
Of Olivet;
Though rains of two millenniums wear it
deep.
Men tread it yet.
These ways were strewed with garments
once and palm,
Which we tread thus:
Here through Thy triumph, on Thon
passedst calm,
On to Thy cross.
Man has not changeJ them in that slumbering
land,
2sor time effaced;
Where Thy feet trod to bless we still may
stanll?
All can be traced.
i'et we have traces of Thy footsteps far
Truer than these;
Where'er the poor and tried and suffering
are,
Thy steps faith sees.
And now whenever meets Thy lowliest
band,
I n praise and prayer,
There is Thy presence, there Thy Holy
Hand,
Thou, Lord, art there.
?[Bishop Huntington, in Christian Advocate.
THE GOOD XRIOnUOH.
"There," said a neighbor, pointing to a
village carpenter, "there is a man who has
done more good. I really believe, in this community.than
any other person who ever
lived in "it.
"He cannot talk very much in public, and
he does not try. He is not worth $2<XK), and
It is very little ne can put uown on suoscriy
tion papers.
"But a new family never moves into the
village that he does not find it out and give
them a neighborly welcome and offer them
some service. He is on the look out to give
strangers a *eat in his pew at church. He is
always ready to watch with a sick neighbor
and look after his affairs for him. I believe
he and his wife keep house-plants in winter
mainly that they may be able to send little
bouquets to friends and invalids. He finds
time for a p'easant word to every child he
meets, and you'll always see them climbing
into his one-horse wagon when he has no
other load. He has a genius for helping
folks, and it does me good to meet him in
i the streets."?[Western Recorder.
A WONDERFUL IIERITAGE.
The more a man is buffeted and woun<Jcd.
disappointed and humiliated, wronged and
persecuted in this life, the more be comes to
fall back upon the sovereign power of God.
God is just, loving, omniscient and almighty.
The reins of the world never slip nor
slacken in His hand. He is never mistaken,
never forgetful nor negligent, never defeated
i on.i nnfin"n<r pvpntnatcs contrarr to his
will. Though He toierates wrongs temporarily,
He will right tbera. Though He
permits suffering. He sees clearlv the path
along which it will find culmination in peacc
and joy.
God is as good as He is strong, benevoent
as He is wise, true as He is great. We
can trust in Him, rest in Him, and we can
assure ourselves tliat all that there is of Him
in power, wisdom, love, is ours. The
weakest of us is in Him stronger than all the
powera of time, circumstance, or enemies
that may be arrayed against us. God is our
Father, and no earthly father's love is so
nnpa and true as His love. But for suffer
I log and danger and di>aster we should never
know bow woudrous a heritage we have in
God.?[Exchange.
PRINCIPLE AND FEELIVG.
"Religion is a matter of principle." lies,
so it is; but principle ought to be set on fire
with love. There may be extravagances
connected with revivals of religion. \V esley
was a calm. self-po3sessed kind of man, and
yet under his quiet preaching, it is said,
strong men would sometimes full to the floor
as though thev were shot. He tried to check
all undue demonstrations, but did he stop
preaching the vital doctrines of Methodism
Ko/.?ii.nt)ismrirpmpnthiid a few drawbacks?
If he had (lone so, God would have raised
up some one else to preach His Gospel of a
new era. God was not willing to stay this
tidal wave of salvation because it may'have
had a little foam upon its crest. Even a
fanatic with a heart lull of love is a thousand
miles nearer heaveu than a coldhearted
formalist.
The Gospel is not merely a cold, abstract
creed, nor a code of iron laws, nor a system
of forms aud ceremonies?what does God
care for the frippery of forms and the child's
play of emptv ceremonies??but it is the
Kwer of God unto salvation, enabling bevers
to say, "The love of God is shed
abroad in our heartsand this indwelling
love light* up the whole life, making It saintly
and lovelv and beautiful.?[Rev. M
Griffith. "
HOW TO FIND BEST.
If anyone is restless there is a cause for it.
There is no use of reading books or of longing
for rest in order to get it. Christ says:
"Learn of Me. and ye shall find rest." If
we learn of Him we shall lind rest at once;
if we accept Him as our teacher and take
lessons of Him how to lire we will obtain
rest. It is the same thing He meant when
He said: 4 Take-my yoke upon you"?not a
burden, remember." What is a collar to
a horse? Is the yoke of the horse the barden?
No, the collar is what helps him to
bear the burden easily. Christ saw men
borne down with burdens. He said: "Try
life as I live. My voke is easy, and therefore
My burden is light." Instead of Christianity
adding to the burden, it is the secret
of the amelioration of life. It enables one
to take the burdens of life without findinz
their weight. He actually goes on to specify
what we are mainly to learn of Him: "For I
am meek and lowly in heart." Do you see
the connection between being meek and
having rest? Most are not meek aDd lowly
m heart. Many worry, thinking they are
| not in their right phice, that they have been
i looked down 011; and at night they are bitter
and lose their rest for wounded pride, and
from imagining people are slighting them.
These tilings would be impossible for us, if
we learned of Christ and were meek aud
lowly in heart.?[Professor Drummond.
witat is dkatii?
Taere is this difference between John's
view of denth and ours. He saw what souls
go to, We are so apt to see only what souls
| go from. When onr friend dies, we think
| of all tbt warm desires of life, all the sweet
| friendships, ail the interesting occupations,
all the splendor of the sunlight which he
leaves behind. If we eou!d only know somewhat
as John must have known after his
vision, the presence of God into whieh our
friend enters on the other side, the higher
standards, the larger fellowship with all his
race, and the new assurance of personal immortality
in God: if we could know all this,
how our poor comfortless efforts of comfort
when our friends depart, our feeble raking
over of the nsihes of memory, our desperate
struggles to think that the inevitable must be
all right; how this would all give way to
something almost like a burst of triumph, as
the soul which we loved went forth to sttCh
vast enlargement, to such glorious consummation
of its life! We should be able to
forget our own sorrow, or at least to bear it
gladly, in our thankfulness for him, as the
generous farmer-boy might see his brother
taken from his side to be made a king, and
toil on himself all the more cheerfully at his
humble and solitary labor, thinking of the
glory to which his brother's life had come.
It is well, then, with those to whom John's
vision is fulfilled. Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord and stand immortal before
Him!?fPhillips Bfooks.
Two of the Herman Emperor"* favorite
dogs recently'ran away from the
Btables at Potsdam withont leave and
without their muzzles, which is a necessary
article of a dog's attire in Berlin
and its neighborhood. "Fix" and
"Schnurchen," after a day's enjoyment,
were taken up by the police, but were
erventually restored to the royal stables
after payment of a fine of three marks
for each by the Emperor.
~An adulf laboring man' 'wastes five
ounces of muscle in the oourse of his
J daily labor . ^ ....... ,
SABBATH SCHOOL. 1
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
AUGUST O.
i
Lesson Text* "Christ's Authority,"
John v., 17-30?Golden Text:
Matt, xxviii., 18?Com
uicuiaij.
After the last lesson we see Jesus at Cana
again, whence He healed the nobleman's son
atCaperhaum. In the regular narrative of
His life there would then come in, probably,
the call of the four as they were engaged at
their work by the sea of Galilee, the Sermon
on the Mount, a number of miracles at Capernaum,
and the call of Matthew. We now
find Him again at Jerusalem, at one of the
feasts of the Jews, and He heals a helpless
man, who had been a sufferer for thirtyeight
years, on the Sabbatti day, command
ing him to take up his bed and walk. There
fore did the Jews persecute Jesus, aud
sought to slay Him, because He had done
these things on the Sabbath day.
17. "But Jesus answered them, My Fathei
worketh hitherto, and I work." The oneness
of the Father and Son is a truth much dwelt
upon in this gospel, and constantly empha
sized, and that all the words and works of
Jesus were not His but the Father's (chaptet
viii., 28; xii., 49,50).
18. "Therefore the Jews sought the more
to kill Him, because He had not only broken
the Sabbath, but said also that God was His
Father, making Himself equal with God."
Observe the significance of the relationship
of Son and Father as here brought out?it is
not inferiority, nor descent by generation,
bat equality, oneness of character. See also
chapter x., 33; and in reference to them, His
enemies, chapter viii., 44.
19. "The Son can do nothing of Himself,
but what seeth He the Father do; for what
things soever He doeth, these also doeth the
lilfawnVa " OoAinflr .Tociia fhflw onw flrvH
the Father; hearing Him, they heard the
Father; in all His works they saw the Father's
worits (chapter i., 18; xiv., 9, 10). What
afield for meditation is here for us, and what
great reason for the deepest humiliation on
the part of every believer! For if we have
truly received Christ we are children of God
and as the Father sent the Son to reveal
Him to men, so the Son sends us to be His
representatives, but who relies upon Jesus
to speak and act through us, as He relied
upon and yielded Himself to the Father.
20. "For the Father loveth the Son, and
showeth Him all things that Himself doeth;
and He will show Him greater works than
these, that ye may marvel." Demons had
been cast out, and all manner of sickness,
and even leprosy, had fled at His touch or
at His word, but up to this time He had not
yet raised the dead. The greater works may
possibly point to opening blind eyes and
raising the dead to life.
As to the Father's love to the Son, consider
these wondrous words .in reference to
us who believe- "As the Fdther hath loved
Me. so have 1 loved you;"" The Father Himself
loveth you" (xv., 9; xvi., 27). And as to
the greater works, hear these words to His
disciples: "He that believeth on Me, the
works that I do shall he do also; aud greater
works than these shall he do, because I go
unto My Father" (xiv., 12), and to this He
prefixes His verily, verily.
21. "For as the Father raiseth up the
dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son
quickeneth whom He will." The word
"quicken"' is sometimes used in reterence to
bringing life to a soul dead in siii, as in Eph.
ii., 5; Col. ii., 13; and sometimes in reference
to bringing to life a dead body, as in I Cor.
xv., 36; I Pet. iii.. 18. It would 6eem from
the verses which follow that this verse in
our lesson includes both meanings.
22. "For the Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son."
And whether it will be the judgment for believers
when their works shall be approved
or disapproved or the judgment of the living
nations when believers shall be associate
judges, or the judgment of the rest of the
dead at the end of the thousand years, here
is the great fact that all judgment hath been
committed unto the Son.
23. "That all men should honor the Son,
even as they honor the Father. He that
bonoreth not the Son honoreth not the
Father which hath sent Him." Aud yet
there are many who say they believe in God,
and trust in Him and worship Him, who will
not acknowledge the Divinity of the Son, or,
in other words, His equality with the Father.
24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He
that heareth My word,and believeth on Him
that sent Me, hath everlasting life." So al^o
in chapters iii., 16, 36; vi., 47. Not will have
when we die, nor will have if we are faithful,
nor will have if wo add so many good
works, but simply and emphatically, "He
that heareth and believeth hath."
"And shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death into life." To the
believer there is no future judgment for sins,
for all were laid on Jesus, and we have the
assurance of Him who cannot lie that they
shall t>e remembered no more (Isa. liii., 5, 6;
xliii., 25).
25. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The
hour is coming and now is, when the dead
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
thoy that hear shall live." As in chapter iv.,
21-23, so here and in verse 28 our Lord uses
the word "hour" in reference to an indefinite
narJnd nf fcimo ThA hrmr nf this verse still
continues, and will till the hour of verse 28,
and probably till the end of that hour, when
the judgment of the great white throne
shall be set. To prove that all who have
not yet received Jesus are dead read I John
v., 12; Ephii., 4, 5; Tim. v., 6; Rev. iii.,1.
28. "For as the Father hath life in Himself,
so hath He given to the Son to have life
in Himself." Even science has proved that
there can be no life apart m?m pre-enstent
life. If thi3 is true of natural life, can we
for a moment question the fact that there
can be no spiritual life apart from. God the
Father. Son and Spirit, source of all life,
natural and spiritual.
27. "And hath given Him authority to
execute judgment also, because He la the Son
of Man " This emphasizes verse 22, but
brings out a new thought, "because He is the
son of man." As our Great High Priest He
was taken from among man, and is ordained
for men in things pertaining to God, and as
son of man.
!&. "Marvel not at this, for the hour ia
coming, in the which all that are in the
graves shall hear His voice." If the hour of
verse 25, which now is, and still continues,
has already lasted over 1800 years.it will not
be strange if the coming hour shall last at
least 1000 years. Then shall his voica reach
even the bodies of those whose spirits have
been called from earth; and though those
bodies may have crumbled to dust, or even
have been burned ip the fire and scattered to
tae winds, yet shall they hear his voice and
come forth, for He who spake a universe into
existence can as easily speak into existence
the bodies of all who have ever lived.
09. "And shall come forth: they that have
done good unto the resurrection of life, and
they that have done evil unto the resurrection
of damnation." Here are two resurrectious,
one to life and one to loss eternal. Rev.
xx. is a good, clear opening up of this veree,
telling us of a first resurrection of the
blessed and holy at the beginning of the
hour, or 1000 year?; and at the end of that
period a resurrection of such as shall eo to
the lake of fire, tiieir names cot bsiug in the
book of life.
30. "I can of Mine own self do nothing."
So He said before in verse 19, and He says to
us in chapter xv., 5, "Without Me ye can do
nothing." Let us therefore abide in Him,
that we speak His words and dojHis works by
His spirit dwelling i:i us.
"As 1 hear I judge, and My judgment is
just, because I 3eok no: Mine own will, but
the will of the Father which hath sent Me."
His judgment is just or righteous because He
judges not according to the appearance,
M'hich al?o He exhorts us not to do (chapter
vii., 24). And then He is wholly lost in
the will of Goi having no will of His own
whatever apart from His Father's will.?
Letoon Helper.
Three California lions were recently
killed by & hunter in Fresno County,
One of tbom measured fully eight feel
! from tip to tip, and is being stuffed.
The other two were nearly a3 largo.
New Mexico has a clergyman named
the Rev, Innocent Wolf. The name is
horribly suggestive of sheep's clothing,
but we are assured that there ia ab
olutely nothing in a name.
An Ionia (Mich.,) barber broke th<
record by shaving a man in twenty-six
seconds. Wonder if the man broke anj
! of the oommandmentofc ^
WORDS. OF WISDOM.
Love never gives any small gifts.
What the baby learns it nevor forgets
A man is old twice as long as he i
young.
Love can be misunderstood, but neve
overestimated.
Uncharitable criticism is throwing mu
at everything you don't like.
The sluggard usually prefers going t
the dogs rather than the ant.
. One of the hardest thing3 on earth t
do is to tell a miser that be is one.
You can tell by the looks of a man'
ears how much he knows about music.
A woman can say more with a fei
tears than a man can express in a book.
When you want a hard master, wori
for a beggar who has just become rich
People will forgive anything soone
than forgetfulness of their own import
ance.
Oh, what a bitter thing it is to loo
into happiness through another man'
eyes I
The way to enjoy the blessings of thi
life is to earn them. They seldom com
otherwise.
A slim waist isn't an unfailing sign o
euemiuauy . v^uixaiuci uid auuauuuo
virile wasp.
If you would please a woman, praia
her children; if you would please a man
praise him.
Whole years of joy glide unperceive
away, while sorrow counts the minute
as they pass.
It's the busy bee among mortals wh
fully appreciates the chaste harmony (
"Home, Sweet Home."
It is astonishing how much you ca
find out about human nature by charg
ing ten cent3 admission.
The thing that is the most dangerou
to every man is that which does th
most to make him selfish.
The fly is a quaint humorist. He ca
tickle a man in more places at once tha
the best paid funny man going.
Th? snider'fi hoanitalitv is unaue!
-J J * *
tionable. So long as a guest remains he
table is always bountifully supplied.
The man who knows he was one kim
of a fool yesterday often has a suspicio
he is some other kind of a fool to-day.
? ' ?^
Honey-Dew.
Honey-dew is a viscid saccharic
matter found on the leaves and stems c
plants, occurring on both trees an
herbaceous plants. Its flow is otte
induced by punctures of aphides, coci
and other insects that feed on the juicc
j of plants. But it seems also to be induce
by any rupture of the tissue of the plani
and warm, dry weather appears nece
sary for the production iu the sap <
that abundance of sugar which ** th\
thrown off. Honey-dew is often <
abundant as to fall in drops from 01
leaf to another, sometimes even faiiic
from the tr6es as a copious shower. Ga
deners dread its appearance, because
drying on the surface of the leaves,
coats them with a clammy, filmy sut
stance to which everything brought b
the atmosphere adheres, thus cloggin
the plant and forming a bed for mo]
I and fungi. Orange and lemon grov<
suffer great injury from superabundant
of'honey-dew, as also do coffee planto
tions.?Courier-Journal.
Airana tsooxa seventy reei juva^-.
"I spent a few days near HumtJJid
Nev., recently,"said George D. Evar
to a San Francisco Call reporter, "and
saw a field of alfalfa several acres in ei
tent growing out in the desert,and I wj
assured that not a drop of water ha
fallen on it, nor had it been irrigated
for more than/;wo years. In spite of a
this it was growing rapidly, and that tc
in the midst of a country where a grasi
hopper would starve to death in twentj
four hours. How do I explain it? Quil
a simple matter, but it interested a
greatly. It had been supplied with watt
when first planted from the sink of tt
Humboldt,, but when that became e:
bausted the alfalfa, contrary to expect
tion, continued to thrive. Now, Strang
as it may seem, the roots of the gra
had actually penetrated to a depth <
seventy feet below the surface and ha
reached a subterranean lake, whence tt
moisture was drawn."
A Monster Tine.
There is a curiosity at the rooms <
the State Board of Trade on Mark
streel, that looks more like the scarrc
trunk of an oak tree than anything els
It is a grape vine cut a day or bo ag
at General Bid well's vineyard in Chic
The bod; of what was once a slende
twinning plant is now fully sixteen fe<
tali ana as large arouuu as a bwj*c-ph
bat. It is full of deep seams, some i
them almost reaching the center of tl
trunk, and there is bark upon it that
rough and ragged.
Arms, larger than a man's, start 01
from the body, and there are seven <
them in all. Some of the runners we;
200 feet in length, and the vine wh<
bearing bore hundreds of pounds i
grapes -every year.?San tVancisco Exar
iner.
Nicknames of Authore.
Some one gives the following as tl
nicknames of authors: Emerson, Tl
Sphinx. Schiller, The Republican Poe
Goethe, The Poet of Pantheism. She
ley, The Eternal Child. Keats, Tt
Resurrectionized Greek. Byron, Tt
Poet of Passion. Moore, The Butterfl;
Jeremy Taylor, The Shakespeare <
Divines. Coleridge, The Insulated Sc
of Reverie. Bunyan, Sponsor of tl
People. Shakespeare, The Myriac
Minded. Ben Jonson, The Divine Bui
of the Old English Parnassus. Spense
The Poet's Poet. Chaucer, The Well <
English Uadefiled, or the Morning St
of English Poetry. Caedmon, Ti
Milton of the Forefathers.?Neva Ya
Tribune.
Florida Cocoannts.
A new industry is likely to bo deve
oped in Florida in growing cocoanuts, l
which the lower half of the State is we
adapted. After planting the nut to tl
depth of three feet, and gradually fillin
around the shoot as it comes to the su
face, the cocoanut requires no furthi
care. In from tive to eight years it b
gins to bear, and will thereafter yiel
yearly one hundred to two hundred nu
per year for a half century or mor
Owing to the depth to which it
planted the cocoanut tree i3 never u;
rooted, but in violent storms, whic
often prevail in tropical regions, i
trunk is gnarled and twisted, killing ti:
i tree.?Boston Cultivator
, AGRICULTURAL
. TOPICS OF INTEREST RELATIVE
j 10 FAKM AAJU
!) BEABtKQ PET LAMBS.
Lamb3 cannot live on custards alone,
d Eggs aud milk may do very well for a
fejv days, but when a lamb gets to be a
c month old some vegetable food is needed.
A little breyi may be given at first,
and then bran and crushed oats, which
may be gradually increased in quantity.
, A month-old lamb will eat grass, and
s this with the bran and oats and a quart
of fresh cow's milk daily will afford am
pie and perfect nutriment.?New York
Time-a.
k Trav.irnnra
mr/ura.
,i It is too late to batch ducklings with
profit, and as soon as tho old stock have
ceased to lay, the flock should be re^
duced to a minimum. We believe old
ducks to be much better than those that
are young, if intended for .breeding purposes,
as they -will lay more eggs and
* produce stronger young than the
0 younger ducks, but the drakes may be
not over one year old. Hence, send all
f the old drakes to market as soon as
i, it can be profitably done.?Farm and
Firtride.
a
lf' MAMMOTH CLOVES FOR BEES.
In 1889 I had a large field of mammoth
d clover within a few feet of the hives,
a The first growth did not attract the
bees, as they were busy with the white
0 clover, for all will remember how abundant
the white clover was that year. But
later, when the second growth blossomed,
the bees flocked to it in great numbers.
ra Of course, that was an exceptional fall
" for clover. But I think the bees gathered
about as much honey from the
3 mammoth clover as they did from the
0 white daring the summer. Our bees,
which are Italians, had, I noticed, gathn
ered considerable honey from the ordinn
ary red variety, but they prefer the mammoth.
I think the mammoth clover dej.
serves to be sown more extensively than
.r it is, for it not only affords abundant
pasturage, but the stalks form a matted
^ covering upon the ground, which is verj
beneficial.?National Stockman.
OATMEAL FOR REFRESHING DRINK.
During the severe labors of the ha]
ig and harvest field it used to be a common
practice to serve liquid stimulants to men
j hard at work. These probably did less
Q harm then than they would at othei
times, as the stimulation was generally
^ worked off in muscular force withj
out much effect on the brain. Cold
c. water, though good as a beverage, n
s' alone not enough for men at seven
}f labor. Milk and water is somewhal
13 better, but does not agree with all
0 stomachs, as milk is difficult to digest.
ie One of the best harvest-field drinks if
made by putting a small quantity of fine
r_ oatmeal in cold water. It gives nourish
3 ment in so easily digestible form that 11
J acts almost as quickly as a stimulant,
j. We have often given it to horses while
they were at work plowing or drawing
? reaper or mower, and with excellent
2 effect in enabling them to do a gooc
33 day's work even in the hottest weather,
;q Where oatmeal is stirred ia water foi
horses the pails used should be carefullj
cleaned afterwards, as they will get soui
and become offensive. Oats have mor<
nourishment in proportion to weighl
than any other grain, and especially o!
the kind that makes bone and muscle,
and a small quantity taken in drink
* gives better results, in enabling those
c" taking it to withstand fatigue than any
^ thing else that can be given.?Button
. Cultivator.
?renewing
obchabds.
T-. n f Vl Q
J? OX JilCl 3 YfUVJ UJV u V4A44
. are beginning to deteriorate, recom
^ meads a West Virginia fruit grower
IQ should lose no time in preparing t<
3r plant new ones. It takes many years U
ie got an orchard into good bearing condi
c. tion, and the new one should becomi
j. available before the old one has becomi
,e unprofitable. The practice of a gradua
33 renewal on the same ground by planting
jf a young tree here and there to replace i
^ falling one, as is sometimes done, xs om
ie to be condemned rather than recommended.
One orchard on the sami
ground is enough during the lifetimi
of any individual, and there are just a
good reasons for including the orcharc
in a rotation of crops as can be given foi
et applying it to any other plants raised 01
the farm. When the new orchard ha
e* reached a good bearing stage, clear thi
>? ground of what is left of the old ones
unless it may be a few favorite trees o
r? exceptionally good varieties, and -devofo
Bt the land to other crops. It is quite i
}C common mistake in planting apple tree
to set them too close together. On gooc
*e soil, where the trees are cxpected to at
13 tain a large size, a distance of forty fee
from tree to tree is better than a lease:
one, as will fully appear when they read
maturity. In the early stage of the orch
re arrl T often gee what aDDears to be use
less space planted with peach trees whicl
of often bear good crops and are out of th
n~ way before the ground they occupy i
needed by the apple trees. In planting
apple trees on thin soil the holes shoulc
be made large and tho filling should
ie partly at least, be of richer earth or veg
le etable mould from another field; other
t. wise that taken out should be well mixet
I- with manure that the young trees ma;
ie take a vigorous start.?New York World
ie
y. THE TREATMENT OP FOOT-ROT.
A recent Massachusetts Experimen
,n Station bulletin describes foot-rot ii
ie sheep and its treatment. There are tw<
?- kinds of foot-rot?the sporadic or non
y contagious and contagious foot-rot. Th
r> former may result from accident an;
readily yields to treatment. The latte
ar ia caused by a specific poison which oftoi
ie makes rapid inroads upon the constitu
tion of the animal, and unless promp
and active measures are taken spreads t<
the whole herd.
The first thing to be done in the treat
il- ment of both kinds of foot-rot is to re
to move all superfluous horn from the foot
U Then with a small sponge apply butter o
ie antimony to the healthy portions of th
ig foot. Keep the foot as clean as possibh
r- and wa3h daily with some antiseptic so
cr lution, such as one composed of one par
e- of sulphate of copper to twelve parts o
Id rain water. Twenty-four hours after th
ts first application of butter of antimony, i
e. the wound is still foul with a fetid dis
is charge, the caustic may be again used
P* A third application is seldom nccessary?
:h at least not for some days.
ts The virus of contagious foot-rot re
ia mains, active for a long time. It sain
access to the system through tfw skin c
the foot. To prevent contagion to* C.f
flock or a pasture newly purchased sheep
should be kept strictly quarantined for d
least two weeks. It foot-rot appean
the healthy animals must be at once Mp->
arated from the diseased and from thojg
having a suspicious appearance. Pat tba
healthy animals through a trough com
taining a mixture of about three inches
deep of one part of carbolic acid to 200 f
parts of water.' As fast as the diseased |
animals become convalescent they should V
be placed in a separate pen until all dan* j
ger has passed.?New York Voice.
FAKJt A2TD GARDEN KOTES. V "! $
Sell the old hens.
Dry soil is a good deodorizer. j
Cement makes the best floor for th?
poultry house.
Incubator? and brooders are best for ; r!.
winter hatching.
The hens will moult better if separated f fM
from the roosters.
Cut down the tall weeds end gram
where the fowls run.
Linseed oil meal can be given daily *. m
while the hens are moulting.
Wheat is a good ration to gitfe for tfca /
morning meal when eggs are wanted. " !. ^
Introducing new blood annually it
neccssary to secure healthy, vigoroo* a
poultry.
Give a variety of grain to the fowl*? .J,
oats in the bundle, corn in the ear aact ;
small grain in litter.
T# MAnAMAi) MAnU??* <VIM Ka mftiffjl ' .
XI WCli UUUa^CUj pvuxuj V4U MV IIIWI? i .jj
1 to supply a fair proportion of the meat
1 needed for family use.
The refuse of the crop from an acre of M
tomatoes contains more fertilizing ma*-;,
terial than similar remains of most other \
crope.
Pruning the cunant may begin at;>:.;4#
, planting by shortening the last yeart,
growth nearly one-half. The aonn^^i^
pruning ought to be done before tbfr
budsstart.in the springs. . UtS
Road dust is an excellent absorbent for \^
' man lire cellars, and during a dry seaaoaa :/J
can be gathered in quantity by the aid ot
i a seraper. It usually contains also &
; considerable percentage of horse ma1
nure.
' An experienced florist says; "H t t j ^
were restricted in my gardening opera^ Ji
tioba to the use of four species of plantar
then without hesitation I should chooaa !:n&
r hardy roses, lilies, rhododendrons and. <<?
j clematis." : /M
i H. M. Engle, of Pennsylvania, if
i credited with saying that prematura v
r ripening of peaches on a small branch or
r part of a branch is a sure indication of . M
yellows, and that the tree should at oaM. ' $
i . _ -a -_.a i j i 'i/.-zt.
[ oe cut ana ouraeu.
' Several farmers in New Jersey are pre- 'i'&M
5 paring to praft large areas of natural
' chestnut suckers in timber clearings wifte . ' '
' Numbo, Paragon and other large vario-^ggH
ties, with a view to creating chestnut ' V
1 orchards out of them. M
'' M. Crawford said at an institute laWf'
' that he would not prune an orchard 3Sf *
' more than he could do with his pocketknife.
While young he would prevent >:-i: '''ijA
' any little limbs starting out wrong from. .. 4'$
I time to time ; but do no wholesale pna-;;j^
One of the mysteries of nature as seen. J ill
. in fruit is realized in the delicate differ- ' %
\ encea of flavor. The combination ami
r proportion of ingredients that make a. f
3 certain flavor?that m&kea peach a peach
: and blackberry a blackberry?is a study . r ,:
[ for scientists. . ^
, Any caltivation which disturbs th?^ ^
: fine roots of growing planfc is an injury.
i Deep cultivation, therefore, after tha
roots have spread through the sou snomo. . -
be avoided. This applies to everything
that you grow. Clean, shallow culture -j $j
and plenty of it should be the rule. . 7
Good butter cannot be made from ist
ferior or spoiled cream with any dot*
. certainty than good bread from bad
, flour, no matter with what care it may b*
) managed. Results depend altogether
) upon conditions, and if these " axe
. neglected, lailures are sure to follow.
i Dairymen should remember that lesseo- ' . -J
3 ing the cost ia producing milk is quite
1 as short a cut to the profits, and equally
I as certain, as an advance in price pprgml*
Ion. Improvement in the cow, the food,
s and the management will insure the fiat!
- condition, and will moat likely be fot'
lowed by the second.
9 Those who are obliged to keep tbeir .
3 poultry confined all the time may, bf
giving an hour's liberty just at nigh^ y
r provide a daily grass ration and quite ?
1 supply of animal fcxid without expense. '
3 The amount of scratching a hen can d?
3 in one hour in the morning is surprising^1 ?
but at nurht this may be avoided. .
2 The extra labor of soiling cows bar f .r-.
^ been shown to call for more than am S
3 stout boy, and a one-horse mower and
j wagon for two hours, for thirty cow*.
About three cents per day for each cowj
The increased milk on thirty cows has
' been shown to be over 100 quarts. Th*
saving of manure more than pays all the t >)
coat.
Live stock constitute a most Important
branch of farming, if not the moct ';)
1 tlio "(>nrnprraHl>m,,?_
0 impunaubi jlluu vuw vvmww. ? ?
s so called?of farmers adhering to old
t and antiquated methods for the care of
1 farm animals greatly aids in creating tha
depression of which farmers complain.
Pasturing, for instance, is a legacy of
. barbarism.
1 "Get rid of the scrubs." Yes; by all
j means. But you need not kick them oa
. the head or chop them tip for aauaage.
Treat them as you would a $200 Jersey
cow and they will no longer be scrub#t
As the goodness of the farm id-JUQre iat ^
! the farmer than in the land or thepft55Jr^
3 so the scrubbiness of the cows is in tha. \
. owner of them. "
e The birds which have suffered most,
i from the English sparrow, and those wa
r miss from our lawns, parLs and field* art
i the robin, bluebird, wren, song sparrow*
chipping sparrow, yellowbird, oriole and
t catbird. The sparrow not only drives
) away and sometimes kills the adult bird,
but destroys the nests and throws out
- the eggs and young.
The Unrest of Man.
f Ransack the world, says one, and
e show me one man who has been mada
J happy by temporal success. You cannot
find one out of the millions and hundreds
t of millious of instances?not one. Firafe
f a man wants to get a liviug. Having^
c obtained this he wants a competency^
f This won, he straightway desires %
superfluity, and then he wants?anoreS
The husks of this wilderness can nevee;
- satisfy the hunger of the soul. Tha
lion is carnivorous and wants meat; th*
ox is graminivorous and wants grass,"
b but man is omniverous and wants every^'f
thing.?St. Louis Republic.
- v?1vv.^^BHBbbh