1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



225 



and I could not understand it ; but I could 

 fall back on my old brief prayer that had 

 been breathed so naany times before — 

 "• Lord, help I "" With bowed head, I prayed 

 as I have seldom prayed before, almost 

 during that whole sermon. At one time 

 Christ Jesus seemed to be gainins; ground ; 

 and then worldly matters (with that "■ cloud 

 land,'' temptation, always surmounting the 

 rest) seemed to get between me and my old 

 and tried Redeemer. Before the sermon 

 ended, however, Satan, with all his ma- 

 chinery, began to retreat ; and even before 

 victory had come, came the bright faith that 

 it loould come if I kept on praying, and 

 pleading the promises. Before communion 

 the conflict was ended, and peace reigned in 

 my soul. I was anchored, and at rest. 



Then the devil leaveth him, and. behold, angels 

 came and ministered unto him.— Matt. 4:11. 



How about the cloud-land investment, for 

 which, during the week, I had felt at one 

 time almost willing to risk five thousand dol- 

 lars y May the Lard be praised, I did not 

 want it at all. I would not give even one 

 copper for it, even had it possessed all the 

 advantages Satan had pictured and held out 

 to me. I could say honestly and truly, as a 

 little child might say, " Xo, thank you, I 

 have no use for any such property at all. I 

 am happy and contented without it." 



Some of you may say, "• What is the use 

 of making one's self miserable all this time 

 by being deprived of this, that, and the 

 other y If I wanted a glass of lager as badly 

 as vou wanted it, I would drink it and done 

 with it ; and if I wanted to invest five thou- 

 sand dollars in something I took a notion to, 

 if I had the money, I w^ould make the pur- 

 chase. If people didn't like it, I would tell 

 them it w^as r)iy business and not theirs.'''' 

 Well, friends, there are people who do just 

 that way. There are people, too, who for- 

 get their religion ; forget the debt they owe 

 their fellow-men, and, under temptation, 

 set fire to buildings, or run off with other 

 people's money that is intrusted to their 

 care. There are people who sell themselves 

 as Esau did, simply because Satan w'hispers 

 it is worth the price. On the other hand, in 

 the Bible there are promises to those who 

 resist evil and cliug to the good. Here is 

 one of them : 



He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in 

 white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out 

 of the bonk of life, but T will confess his namj be- 

 fore my Father, and before his angels. 



And here is another : 



And he that overcometh and keepeth my works 

 unto the end, to him I will give power over the na- 

 tions. 



Another still : 



To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me 

 in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set 

 down with my Father in his throne. 



When I first united with Christian people 

 I was a good deal prej udiced against forms, 

 ceremonies, ordinances, etc. Communion 

 was a sore trouble to me. It seemed to me 

 as if it w^ere going through a formal cere- 

 mony that had no particular significance in 

 it. As years passed, however, I began to 

 comprehend that it was a sacred duty — a 

 sort of reminder — that in one sense it was 



to the Christian somewhat as the Fourth of 

 July is to the descendants of the Revolu- 

 tionary heroes. Slowly I began to feel that 

 it was a serious and sacred matter to com- 

 mune with Christians, and I began to be a 

 little afraid of the communion season — or, 

 rattier, if you choose, afraid of myself when 

 communion Sunday came around.' Of late, 

 whenever I see the table spread, it makes 

 me think of David's little prayer : '' Create 

 in me a clean heart, O God, "and renew a 

 right spirit within me." 1 have never been 

 absent a communion day — that is, when I 

 am at home. I should be afraid to be ab- 

 sent. Yes. I should be afraid to stay away 

 from church if it were a possible thing for 

 me to get there. I presume you know why. 

 I am afraid I should backslide or slip back. 

 I remember vividly what the old life was 

 without a Redeemer, and I hope that, w^hat- 

 ever shall happen through life, like Chris- 

 tian in the Pilgrim's Progress (in the Slough 

 of Despond) I may always be found strug- 

 gling toward the further shore. 



The moral to this experience seems to be 

 this: 'Let him that thinketh he standeth, 

 take heed lest he fall ; " and let him that 

 recognizes that he is a sinful creature, and 

 prone to w^ander (whether it be in the line 

 of tobacco, drink, profanity, or sin in any 

 form), be regular in attendance at church 

 services. Let him be careful how he neg- 

 lects daily prayer alone by himself. I have 

 felt all during this week as if I wanted to 

 tell of my deliverance. The fragments of 

 an old hymn that I learned at my mother's 

 knee in childhood come floating back 

 through the forty years or more since I first 

 heard them. I can not find the hymn in the 

 books now, but I think it commences some- 

 thing like this : 



Come, saints and sinners, hear me tell 

 The wonders of Immanuel; 

 I'll point to his redeeming blood. 

 And say, "Behold the Lamb of God." 



Another verse starts out : 



I wonder why old saints don't sing. 

 And praise the Lord upon the wing. 

 And make the heavenly arches ring 

 With loud hosannas to our King. 



Another one, perhaps the last of all, con- 

 tains these two lines: 



Then will I tell to all around 

 What a dear Savior I have found. 



The last thought is the one I want to leave 

 with you in closing : 



If you have no temptations to meet; if it 

 is easy for you to love your neighbor and to 

 fulfill the requirements of the gospel, you 

 perhaps do not care especially for this Home 

 Paper ; but if you have difficulties to meet ; 

 if you have trials and temptations to fight 

 against, then, my dear friends, let me tell 

 you that there is no safety outside of the 

 Rock Christ Jesus. Do not, I beg of you, 

 think that following Christ is going to debar 

 you from any true enjoyment that this world 

 has to offer. Old age has no terrors for him 

 who is anchored to the Rock Christ Jesus. 

 Although I am now past fifty, I am sure 

 that, never in my life — not even in my boy- 

 hood — have I had the keen enjoyment and 

 relish in every thing going on round about 

 me that I have now. I love business and I 



