"My times are in Thy hand," sang the inspired Psalmist, and the consecrated Hymnist has devotionally paraphrased it: --

"My times of sorrow and of joy,
Great God, are in Thy hand;
My choicest comforts come from Thee
And go at Thy command."

"The steps of the good man are ordered by the Lord," and have ever been afflictive and mysterious; they are under His guidance and work together for good.

It is to us short-sighted beings strange that Spurgeon at the summit of his power and usefulness, should be called to lay down the weapons of his warfare and enter into rest while the sun was still upon the mountains. It seemed strange that Graves in the still vigor of his autumn life, with the rich fruits of fifty years of ministerial labors and in the full spirit of health and fervor of zeal, should have written on all his plans, all his activities, a sudden defeature, and that night should prematurely close in upon his seemingly cloudless day.

But his steps in this "were ordered." He had done enough of conflict. He had toiled long enough in the burning heat of controversy. He had through grace proved himself a man of unwavering valor and "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." And now came the command to change from, to stand forth as one death-stricken and on the crumbling verge of life and hearing the roll of eternal ocean -- to stand as on the brink, and in the gaze of men, with palsied form and shattered voice, but with bounding heart and flashing eyes and undimmed faith and anchoring hope, testify to thousands the eternal truth of sovereign grace and dying love and spiritual guidance -- to stand forth as a monumental witness of the abounding grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

To fit him for this special work, to endow him in every way needed for the fresh field of toil, a seeming blight, a prostrating blow, a lightning stroke as it might be termed, had to be administered in the providential wisdom of Him who directs the stars in their courses, who tempers the winds to the shorn lamb, and who leadeth His loved ones in a way that they know not.

The occurrence was recorded in the Memphis Monday Morning Appeal, which is transferred to this paper:

DR. J. R. GRAVES STRICKEN WITH PARALYSIS IN THE MIDST OF ONE OF
THE MOST ELOQUENT SERMONS OF HIS LIFE.

"While filling the pulpit of the First Baptist Church yesterday (August 9th, 1884), Dr. J. R. Graves was stricken with paralysis and was taken home in a condition which excited the gravest fears. The announcement that Dr. Graves would preach at the First Baptist church drew out a much larger congregation than is usually assembled during the warm weather. The minister had been in excellent spirits all morning, and never had he given promise of a finer sermon than when he gradually unfolded his argument, the necessity of all men and all nations for a God and a religion. He was hardly launched forth into the body of his discourse when it was noticed that he occasionally hesitated and seemed lost for a word -- a very unusual thing for him. These symptoms gradually grew worse. He had an inclination to lean over toward one side of the pulpit. He made a desperate effort to go on with his sermon, and a number of the congregation, who had been watching him closely, grew very alarmed. Almost at the same instant Mr. R. G. Craig, Capt. R. B. Pegram and Mr. Hatchett left their seats and hurried to his assistance. They reached him not a moment too soon. Mr. Craig caught him in his arms as he was in the act of falling. Dr. Graves gave no sign of pain, though he was at first unable to speak. The congregation began to crowd around, but were soon made to understand what had happened and dispersed. The sufferer, in a clam voice, requested that a final hymn be sung and congregation dismissed. He named, "On Christ, the Solid Rock I Stand." While the hymn was being sung he explained to those about him that his right side, arm and leg were useless, but his head did not seem to be in the least affected. He was conveyed to a carriage and to his residence on Union avenue, where he arrived without growing any worse. His wife and daughter and other members of his family displayed the most heroic fortitude and did not give way until they reached home. Drs. Frayser and Rogers were summoned, and the latter has been attending him very closely ever since. About sundown he was apparently growing worse. His speech was slow and difficult yesterday morning and at noon his tongue was stiff. At supper time he was no better, and Dr. Rogers thought the crisis would be reached some time during the night. Dr. Graves has attained his sixty-fifth year, and though vigorous for a man of his age the gravest doubts of his recovery are entertained."

The foregoing gives the facts of that memorable event; the scene in all its tenderness has never been described.

The sermon was characterized by the reporter as one of the most eloquent of his life. The theme was the world's need of a Savior, the text, "He is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe."¹

He opened with a description of the world's sin and deserved doom. He then dwelt upon the loving pity of the eternal Son for ruined man, and then described with moving effects the Covenant of Grace by which the loving Son of God undertook to ransom lost man by the incarnation and the sacrifice of Himself as a substitute for the lost, and the cry that rang through the universe, "Deliver him from going down into the pit, for I have found a ransom."

He began to hesitate, to falter. He staggered and was caught as he was about to fall, by the brethren named.

He was calm. His powerful mind and great self-possession did not for a moment desert him. He forgot himself and this seeming death-stroke. He whispered so that all near him could hear, "Sing --

		"On Christ the solid rock I stand."

The audience -- excited, in tears, astonished, joined at once in the song.

It was a triumph of soul over sense and pain. It was a triumph of faith over superstition, of trust in Christ, unshaken and undimmed under a shadow which many would have considered a mark of divine disapproval or vengeance.

Dr. Graves had then passed his 64th year. Forty years of unremitting labors of the most exhausting kind had been his. Had those labors closed? Will he now retire to rest and enjoyment? No! It is said of an Arabian general of ancient times, that after constant watchfulness and unremitting labors on the battle field he was urged to take repose. Pointing his sword to the earth he replied, "This is the place of labor," and pointing it upwards, "that, that is the place of rest."

A higher, nobler mainspring moved the soul of Graves. Shattered in body, burdened with years, he could say, "I rest only in the grave, and with the Lord; my body safely there, my spirit in glory."

CHANGES IN HIS LIFE LABORS.

Confined to his room for months, unable to dress himself or take exercise, he dictated to his faithful daughter many of his best thoughts, and revised his many manuscripts. He kept up with the movements, assisted in the editing of his paper and planned a spiritual campaign, whose blessed fruits seen and felt here will only be known in their wide and lasting results in eternity. He arranged what he termed "chair talks" colloquial addresses on the plan of salvation -- the doctrines of grace, such as conviction by the Holy Spirit through the truth, the conversion of the soul in its reception of a new nature and union with the Lord Jesus -- justification through faith only, adoption, the evidences of a new life and the preservation of the soul through almighty grace. To these he added the coming of the Lord Jesus, the rapture of His people, and His reign on a new earth.

From the Ohio to the Gulf, from upper Missouri to southern Texas, in green village and busy city, in log houses and steepled temples, to the high and cultured, to the lowly and unlearned, to great crowds drawn together by his fame and to some extent by mere curiosity to hear "chair talk" from a paralyzed, aged minister - he would speak sometimes for hours to satisfy interested and tearful audiences. "Well, I heard one of Graves' series of chair-talks," said Rev. James P. Boyce, to the writer. "It was really a feast. He is doing more real good now than at any time of his life."

And such was the general verdict. A mellowed tenderness, a heartfelt faith, a clear vision, a loving zeal, an apostolic unction, a Christ-like pathos filled his being and thrilled his hearers, and this continued year after year during nine years, during which he traveled through nearly all the Southwestern States -- with little relaxation or pause - "one foot in the grave, the other on the mountain," and, ah, how truly was this promise fulfilled in him. -- At eventide it shall be light.
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Note

^1. This text is given from our recollection of the announcment -- it is not given in the Memphis paper.

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[From Ford's Christian Repository and Home Circle, September, 1900, pages 556-559. Ford says at the end of this essay: To be continued, but apparently this was all he published. Jim Duvall.]

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