53 Sermon Illustrations on Provision

There is a story of a rich woman, that, being at a poor woman's labor, the child being new-born, and nothing to be had for its comfort, "See!" said she, without any pity or compassion, "here is the mouth, but where is the meat?" Not long after, the same rich woman was delivered of a dead child, when another woman, present at her labor, said, "See! here is meat enough, but where is the mouth?" Let none grudge or repine at their issue, be it ever so numerous nor grumble at the greatness of their charge. God never sent a mouth but he sends meat for that mouth. He can as well feed many as few, make the poor man's penny go as far as the rich man's pound. He is the great house keeper, that giveth every living thing meat in due season; and those little ones that bear his image are by no means excluded. Spencer

The Island of Fierro is one of the largest in the Canary group; and it has received its name on account of its iron-bound soil, through which no river or stream flows. It has also but very few wells, and these not very good. In the midst of the island there grows a tree, the leaves of which are long and narrow, and continue in constant verdure winter and summer; and the branches are covered with a cloud which is never dispelled, but, resolving itself into a moisture, causes to fall from its leaves a very clear water in such abundance, that cisterns placed at its foot to receive it are never empty.

Dr. Harris, while a junior in college, being in great want of money, set out on a walk from Cambridge to Boston. On the way, he cut a walking-stick, and, after going a short distance, perceived that something had become attached to the end of it. It proved to be a gold ring with the motto "God speed thee, friend." Hawthorne.

A young man, who was clerk to Mr. Cuthbert, a merchant in the East Indies, being taken very ill, became unusually thoughtful and melancholy. Mr. Cuthbert inquired the cause of his uncursiness. The young man replied, that he was not afraid to die; but he had a mother, and two sisters, in England, to whom he had been accustomed to send £100 every year; and his only regret at dying, was, that they would be left destitute. Mr. Cuthbert begged him to make his mind perfectly easy on that account, as he would take care of his mother and sisters. He was as good as his word, for he instantly went to his attorney, and executed a deed, granting an annuity of £100 a year, in favor of the mother and her two daughters, during their joint lives; and with the benefit of survivorship. He then sent the bond to his clerk, who, clasping it in his hands, exclaimed, "Now I can die in peace; my mother and sisters are saved;" and almost instantly expired.

Every part of God’s creation seems to cater to man’s needs in the great variety of its products. So many beasts, birds, fishes, trees, fruits and flowers; so many minerals, metals and fossils—there is nothing wanting for the use of man or the animals under him. God has provided bountifully.

See FEAR AS A MOTIVE; WARNING.

PREVISION

Otto Meyer and his wife, Mary, solved the difficulties attending the high cost of living as far as they are concerned. They have lived for years on a thirty-acre farm near the village of Riverside, Cook County. By a deed filed in the Recorder’s office, Meyer, for a consideration of $6,000 in cash, conveyed to his son, Fritz H. Meyer, the farm. But in return for this, the elder Meyer is to be furnished with all the necessities of life, including a house, regardless of the market price, as long as he or his wife lives.

A part of this unique deed reads as follows:

“The grantee is to provide a sufficient supply of fruit, a sufficient supply of vegetables of all kinds, to be delivered on demand; one drest hog of 200 pounds weight, one fore-quarter of fresh beef, to be delivered on December 15 in each year; one-half dozen fat ducks, one-half dozen fat roosters, drest, to be delivered November 1 of each year, and three barrels of best quality of wheat flour, to be delivered, one barrel each time on January 1, May 1, and September 1 of each year; twenty bushels of good eatable potatoes, to be delivered on demand; two pounds of fresh butter each week, one dozen fresh eggs each week, one quart of fresh milk each day, except Saturday; one half-gallon of fresh milk and $40 in cash, $20 on March 1 and $20 on July 1 in each year.”

ANGELS, ONCE IN A WHILE

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone.

The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two.

Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave 15 dollars a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it. I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress. I loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck. The kids stayed, crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whomever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job. Still no luck.

The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour and I could start that night.

I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.

That night when little ones and I knelt to say our prayers we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel. When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money - fully half of what I averaged every night.

As the weeks went by, heating bills added another strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home.

One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires! There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires.

Had angels taken up residence in Indiana? I wondered.

I made a deal with the owner of the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.

I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys' pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up. When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning I hurried to the car. I was hoping the kids wouldn't wake up before I managed to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree. (We had cut down a small cedar tree by the side of the road down by the dump.)

It was still dark and I couldn't see much, but there appeared to be some dark shadows in the car - or was that just a trick of the night? Something certainly looked different, but it was hard to tell what. When I reached the car I peered warily into one of the side windows. Then my jaw dropped in amazement. My old battered Chevy was full-full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, scrambled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat.

Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was a whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes. There were candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll. As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.

Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December.

And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.

-- Barb Irwin

*

Story that portrays what God must see, when he sees us in times of discouragement.

The Continental Singers visited First Baptist of Homer, New York. The Gundersons were keeping a couple of the guys in their home. At the concert they made a plea for one of the group, named Kirk, who needed $850 or he couldn't continue with the group as they left the United States and went to Spain. If God didn't provide $850 in the next 24 hours, Kirk would be left behind.

Kirk was a young guy from a hog farm in South Carolina. That night a person from the church wrote a check for $850, yet they weren't going to give it to him until everyone in the group was on the bus ready to leave. This way he would appreciate how God answers prayer. Kirk didn't know this, but Pastor Gunderson did.

That night Kirk called his mother in South Carolina and began crying. The Gundersons wanted to burst out, “It's paid for!” but couldn't. In the morning the pastor's wife got up at 5:30 to feed her newborn baby, and she saw a light on in Kirk's room. It was all she could do to stop from opening the door and saying, “Kirk, stop praying and go to bed and get some sleep - the need has been met.” The next morning they saw him get on the bus and they made the announcement and Kirk got to go to Spain.

This must be exactly what it is like for God. During our times of discouragement, he knows exactly how he is going to answer our need. He can see the future and knows the check is in the mail, the answer has already been given for that particular need. And here we are worrying, and sweating it out.

God wants us to pray, and depend on him, but since he wants us to grow in our trust, it must be all he can do to not intervene immediately. But only his waiting can we grow.

They're usually some of the most exciting moments in sports. The touchdown or field goal that wins the game with no time left on the clock. That game-winning basket as the final buzzer sounds. The game-winning home run with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Whatever the sport, there is nothing like a sudden victory when victory seems out of reach to make the fans go ballistic.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Last-Second Victories.”

It can be really nerve-wracking when you're behind and time is running out. But it's really thrilling when a hero pulls it out at the last minute. The longer I walk with this God of ours, the more I've come to appreciate Him as the God of the last-second victory, the God of the eleventh hour, as I've called Him so often.

The Bible reveals many names by which God wants us to know Him. One that has meant so much to so many for so long is the name Jehovah-jireh. It means, “The Lord will provide.” You may be facing a need or situation right now where that is literally your only hope - that the Lord will provide - a job, a friend, the funds you need, the person you need, the answer you need, the house, the healing, the breakthrough you need.

We have His rock-solid promise in Philippians 4:19 that “my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Now, God's supply has nothing to do with what's happening in the economy, in the news, at work, in what your resources can do. It's all about His unlimited “Jesus-account” in heaven - which transcends every limitation earth has.

To be honest, God often waits a while to meet that need. And that's when we tend to panic, to come up with some desperate way to meet the need on our own, to abandon our trust in God because, well, He's taking too long. Which takes us right out of the will of God and aborts what God was going to do. It's in Genesis 22, where we find our word for today from the Word of God, that God is known as Jehovah-jireh for the very first time. We can learn a lot from how He worked that day for Abraham. Abraham had, by faith, obeyed God's direction to take the son God had once promised to him, climb Mt. Moriah with him, and sacrifice his son there - as God Himself would do one day when Jesus died on the cross.

Believing that God will somehow provide something he can't imagine, Abraham promises his servants that both he and his son Isaac will return from the mountain. Genesis 22:10 says his faith and obedience went so far that “he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” At that very last moment, God stopped him - and showed Abraham a ram, stuck in a thicket, who would be sacrificed instead of his son. And the Bible says, “So Abraham called that place, 'The Lord Will Provide.'“ Jehovah-jireh - making His move when there was no time left.

Now, about your need. God loves to come through for us when there is absolutely no place else that answer could come from. And there's no time left on the clock. It's 11:59. The buzzer is about to sound. And God shows up with His provision at a time and in a way that will blow you away, that will give Him all the glory ... that will show the people around you the greatness of your God and take you to a whole new level of faith and worship. God's last-minute victories are some of the most awesome moments of your life. So don't lose faith now. The greater the need, the later the hour, the more amazing God's work on your behalf is going to be. Hang in there until the end of the game, because that is when God really does His stuff!

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1734]

"Provision"

The lush Hawaiian island of Kauai has supported dense

tropical forests for thousands of years. By all rights, the

soil on this volcanic island should have been depleted of

phosphorous long ago. Yet the forests continue to thrive.

A scientist named Oliver Chadwick began investigating this

strange phenomenon. By analyzing the chemical signature of

the phosphorous in Hawaii's soil, he found that the

life-giving nutrient actually originated in Asia. Dust,

carried aloft by winds, had traveled almost 10,000 miles to

fertilize the beautiful vegetation which covers the islands

today.

This story reminds me of an old saying: "No man is an

island." That simple proverb challenges us to admit that

each of us is nourished, supported, and sometimes carried by

other men and women. Many times, without our knowledge, we

are carried by God.

The same God who oversees the 10,000 mile flight of

life-giving dust across the ocean arranges for your needs to

be met as well. A word of encouragement when you need it

most...an unexpected check in the mail...a circustance that

just works out, in spite of the odds....and on and on, each

a gift from a God who knows your needs better than you do

and who loves you more than you could even love yourself.

Twenty centuries ago, Paul told the Philippians,

"My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious

riches in Christ Jesus."

(Phil. 4:19, NIV)

It's still true today.

Got any rivers

you think are uncrossable?

Got any mountains

you can't tunnel through?

God specializes

in things thought impossible,

He does the things

others cannot do!

*

1. O worship the King, all glorious above,

And gratefully sing His pow'r and His love;

Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,

Pavilioned in splendour and girded with praise.

2. O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,

Whose robe is the light, Whose canopy space;

His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,

And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

3. Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?

It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;

It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,

And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

4. Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,

In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;

Thy mercies how tender! How firm to the end!

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.

[Tune “Lyons”]

*

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

[Tune “Old 100th”]

*

1. All glory to Jesus,

begotten of God,

The great "I AM" is He;

Creator, Sustainer –

but wonder of all,

The Lamb of Calvary!

2. To think that the Guardian

of planets in space,

The Shepherd of the stars,

Is tenderly leading

the church of His love,

By hands with crimson scars!

3. The King of all kings and

the Lord of all lords,

He reigns in glory now;

Some day He is coming

earth's kingdom to claim,

And ev'ry knee shall bow!

Coda

And ev'ry knee shall bow!

[Tune “Ridgemoore”]

In December 1994, the Air Force Times reported that Army soldier Joseph Cannon, who had just ended a six-year career, had not received a single military paycheck since boot camp. Officials said that Cannon's records were lost at his first duty station and he had never complained. He missed 144 paychecks, totaling more than $103,000! It seems Cannon had lived in the barracks, eaten only in the mess halls, and when he had special needs he had borrowed a few dollars from relatives.

One observer noted, "It appears he thought his room and board were the payment the military offered, so he took it all in stride and never felt deprived or overlooked. He figured somebody 'higher up' would take care of him as long as he took care of his job."

While Cannon's example may seem a major injustice or simply an example of "ignorance gone to seed," his simple trust in authority is endearing.

(God's Little Devotional Book for Men)

*

Dr. F. B. Meyer was traveling to America on one occasion, and preached on “Answered Prayer.” An infidel approached him after luncheon and said, “Dr. Meyer, I do not believe a word you said.”

After some time spent in discussion, Dr. Meyer said, “I have to preach in the steerage now, but come with me to the service, and we shall resume our talk at the close.”

As they passed along the main deck, they saw a poor old immigrant woman, with a shawl over her head, seated on the deck fast asleep. The infidel put his hand in his pocket, and quietly dropped in the old lady's lap two oranges. As they returned, they saw the woman eating an orange.

Stopping before her, the infidel said, “Well, mother, you seem to be enjoying that orange.”

“Yes,” she replied, “isn't my Father good to me?”

“Your father,” said the surprised man, “surely your father can't be alive!”

“Oh, yes,” was the reply, “He is very much alive. I felt so sick, and I longed for an orange, so I lifted up my heart to my heavenly Father and asked Him to send me one. And He sent me two. Isn't that just like my Father?”

___________

Moody Bible Institute Monthly

Robert Foster had just graduated from high school. He was 18 years old, and he had just gotten a good job when he was involved in an auto accident that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. He had been a very independent person before the accident, and he didn't want to be a helpless man.

One day he was watching a TV show featuring a scientist who was training monkeys to help handicapped people. He contacted Dr. Willard, of Tufts University, in Massachusetts. Robert learned that only capuchin monkeys (pronounced ka-POO-chin) were used because they are very intelligent, affectionate, and loyal. (These are the monkeys that organ grinders use.) They are only eighteen inches tall and weigh from five to eight pounds. Because they can live for thirty years, they are good prospects for helpers of the disabled.

This is where Hellion comes into the picture. Hellion, capuchin monkey, is Robert's “helpmate.” Hellion picks up things, brushes Robert's hair, turns the lights off and on, operates his stereo, and even dusts and vacuums! (She has her own special vacuum cleaner with a short handle.) She gets Robert's food from the refrigerator, sets it before him, and feeds it to him with a spoon. With Hellion's help, Robert has become the independent person that he wants to be. And naturally Robert and Hellion have grown quite fond of each other. He says that she is like a pet, but so much more. She is indeed a helpmate.

Just as God used the ravens to feed Elijah, His creatures are being used today to bring help and comfort to those in need.

__________

Source: Glimpses of God's Love by James A. Tucker and Priscilla Tucker, Copyright (c) 1983 by Review and Herald Publishing Association. Submitted by Nancy Simpson; For a special sequel to this story including pictures visit: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/05/eveningnews/main591455.shtml

*

[Original illustration here was a duplicate in HolwickID 25837-26027]

He … delivered me from all my fears. — Psalm 34:4.

She was only a little girl unaccustomed to traveling. It happened in the course of the day that her train must cross two branches of a river and several wide streams. The water, which could be seen before reaching the stream, awakened doubts in the the mind of the child. She did not understand how it could be crossed in safety. As they drew near the river, however, a bridge appeared and furnished a way over. Two or three times the experience was repeated. Finally the child leaned back with a sigh of relief and said, “Somebody has put bridges for us all the ‘way’.”

Heavenly peace, divinest comfort,

here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, whate’er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well.

When my spirit, clothed, immortal,

wings its flight to realms of day,

This my song through endless ages -

Jesus led me all the way.

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in urban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc. and on Dec. 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On Dec 19 a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sunk when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 6 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, hand-made, ivory colored, crochet table cloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. “Pastor,” she asked, “Where did you get that tablecloth?” The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crochet into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike? He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a concentration camp. He never saw his wife or his home again for all the 35 years in between. The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

~~~~~~~~~~

People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant. – Helen Keller

An old man, going on a lonely way,

Came at evening, cold and gray,

[All wearied to a deathly river's side —]

To a chasm vast and deep and wide;

The old man crossed in the twilight dim,

The sullen stream had no fear for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side

And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,

“You are wasting your strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day,

You never again will pass this way;

You’ve crossed the chasm deep and wide,

Why build a bridge to span the tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head —

“Good friend, in the path I have come” he said,

“There followeth after me today

A youth whose feet must pass this way,

This chasm that has been naught to me,

To the fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”

1. A mighty fortress is our God,

A bulwark never failing;

Our Helper He amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe–

His craft and pow’r are great,

And, armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

2. Did we in our own strength confide

Our striving would be losing,

Were not the right Man on our side,

The man of God’s own choosing.

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is He–

Lord Sabaoth His name,

From age to age the same,

And He must win the battle.

3. And tho’ this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim,

We tremble not for him–

His rage we can endure,

For lo! his doom is sure:

One little word shall fell him.

4. That word above all earthly pow’rs –

No thanks to them – abideth;

The Spirit and the gifts are ours

Through Him who with us sideth.

Let goods and kindred go,

This mortal life also–

The body they may kill,

God’s truth abideth still:

His kingdom is forever.

[Tune “Ein’ Feste Burg”]

*

1. O worship the King, all glorious above,

And gratefully sing His pow'r and His love;

Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,

Pavilioned in splendour and girded with praise.

2. O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,

Whose robe is the light, Whose canopy space;

His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,

And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

3. Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?

It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;

It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,

And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

4. Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,

In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;

Thy mercies how tender! How firm to the end!

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.

[Tune “Lyons”]

*

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

[Tune “Old 100th”]

*

1. Praise the Saviour, ye who know Him!

Who can tell how much we owe Him?

Gladly let us render to Him

All we are and have.

2. Jesus is the name that charms us,

He for conflict fits and arms us;

Nothing moves and nothing harms us

While we trust in Him.

3. Trust in Him, ye saints, forever—

He is faithful, changing never;

Neither force nor guile can sever

Those He loves from Him.

4. Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving

To Thyself, and still believing,

Till the hour of our receiving

Promised joys with Thee.

5. Then we shall be where we would be,

Then we shall be what we should be;

Things that are not now, nor could be,

Soon shall be our own.

[Tune “Acclaim”]

*

“There isn’t one man in ten thousand who has the remotest idea of the vast number of uses to which the once despised cotton-seed is now being put,” said Captain B. J. Holmes, of New Orleans.

“From the clean seed are obtained linters and meats and hulls, the hulls making the best and most fattening feed for cattle that has yet been found. From the linters are gathered material for mattresses, felt wads, papers, rope, and a grade of underwear, and likewise cellulose, out of which gun-cotton is made. The meats furnish oil and meal, the oil after refining being now in almost universal use in the kitchens of this and other countries. Before refinement to the edible stage, the oil is known under many names, such as salad-oil, stearine, winter-oil and white-oil, oleomargarine being the product of stearine. The white-oil is the chief ingredient in compound lards. The original oil, also known as soap stock, has fatty acids used in the manufacture of soaps, roofing-tar, paints and glycerine, and from this comes the explosive nitroglycerine. I might also add that the meal, aside from its use as cattle provender, is transformed into bread, cake, crackers and even candy. Last of all come the doctors, who are saying that this wonderful seed is a boon to the sick, since from its oils an emulsion is prepared that has been known to be of value in tuberculosis and other ailments.”--Baltimore _American_.