Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-03-15

heavenly SIoilcS, ana, at It's setting
wrapped in the celestial mantle of ar
eternal joy.
Down amid the fields Illuminated BY
that day the Master stood, stretching
out his hands to the wayworn, the toll
ing, the sinful and the sad, and in ten
der accents saying: Come unto me all
ye that labor and are heavy laden. and !
will give you rest" And the prophet
sees thousands who were bowed beneath
their burdens, and weary unto death
rising, and the light of a new hope kind.
| ling into joy in their faces, and exclaim-
ing: "Lo! this is our God, we have wait
ed for Him."
1t was vision to the prophet it is a
reality to us.
Yes, even to-day, though bewildered
by our loss and bowed beneath this
great sorrow, we may still say "We
have waited for Him, and he will save
us; we will be glad and rejoice in his
salvation"
o! / think if she, who rests forever
from all earthly care, whose dear face
we may never greet on earth again. if
she could speak to this sad company to-
day, she would say: "Be glad and rejoice
in His salvation!"
And if in this hour we can find no
help in His salvation, where shall we 90
to find IT.; to whom shall we apply for
solace and comfort; who shall help us
hear this too heavy burden?
1t is Christians blessed privilege to
recognize Divine helper in Christ.
The coming of Christ brings Deity very
near Jesus is allied to us by all the
sympathles and common experiences of
life.
A child, a youth, a man; toiling for
the comforts of life, buffeting with it's
storms; now adored and followed. now
despised and rejected tempted by pop
ular tlattery and tried by popular perse-
cution; rejoicing in the homes that well
coined him to hospitality and good cheer
and weeping DER the grave of his friend
touched with the feeling of our infrmi-
ties, tempted in all points, yet without
sin. n brother in all the companions
ship OF earthly gladness and sorrow,
trial and hope, how His heart goes out
to us all. And our hearts 60 out to
Him as to some great nature full of
sweet human sympathy and warm with
ardent love and tender compassion for
us.
While thus he draws us and binds us
to himself, the Father comes forth and
arrays Him in royal robes and sets the
dladem OF the universe on His brow;
then it is that we arise, and with rever-
ent joy eXclaim: 10! this is our God;
we have waited for Him.
., what rock, what refuge, what a
friend we have in Jesus There is no
burden that we may not bring to Him;
and there is no burden that he cannot
bear.
There is no sin that we may not con-
Tess to Him; and no sin that He cannot
forgive. There is no sorrow that we
may not freely tell Him. and no sorrow
that He cannot heal.
There is no temptation that we may
not acknowledge to Him, and no tempt
er that He cannot overthrow.
| How changed are all his words! Once
they had no charm. How they WOO us
and we follow; for there palpitates
through them the warm blood of human
sympathy, and there moves beneath
them the mi ght of the eternal God.
My sheep hear my voice, and | know
them and they follow me-" His com
mands are not the words Of worldly wis
dom, but voice Of fatherly and crea-
tive authority.
| His injunctions are not the dictates
OF worldly prudence circumscribed by
the purposes that live and die in time;
but the enactments of law the sweep
OF whose jurisdiction embraces the
boundless circle of eternity. His prom
ises are not the speculations of dream
ers or the visions of enthusiasts, but the
sure word of prophecy" When he
speaks OF forgiveness, reconciliation,
peace, rest, joy, eternal life, He deals
not in uncertainties, but in the realities
that spring from the substance of His
own eternal being. 1t is when we grasp
fully, and appropriate to ourselves the
great fact of His Divine nature, His in
finite grace and limitless power, that we
come to settle down into the conviction
that He wW sare u.s. Only when we see
that infinite strength is coordinate with
His tender passion and yearning love,
do we feel that the everlasting arms are
beneath us, and with triumphant faith
we then may sing: Rock of ages, cleft
for me, let me hide myself in thee
1t has been observed, with truth, that
there is no religion without God. Chris
tianity vanishes when we touch the del
ty of Christ The soul hungers for
something more than system of ethics;
something more than spiritual philos-
Ophy. lnstinctively we feel our need of
Supreme help, and ''our heart and our
flesh crieth out for the living God"
We therefore assent to the teachings of
Christ, as beautiful and true; but we
trust in Christ himself. We admire the
life Of Christ as surprisingly lovely and
glorious, but we pass by his example to
rest our faith in Him. We read in all
His acts and words the law of our own
living, but in Him we discover life it.
self. Life and immortality are brought
to light in the gospel; not in abstract
statements, not in cunnlngly wrought
theories, but in the personal omnipo-
tence of triumphant Lord
The dark shadow that has hung above
the death chamber as pail, and made
the grave the gateway to the abode of
buried hopes and perished joys, is
changed to brightness and made the
gate of day by the pledges of joyous
reunion and sudden blessedness in hea-
ven, secured in the person and power of
Christ.
This is the victory that overcometh
the world-even our faith"
LET not your hearts be troubled"
Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. who, according
to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us
again unto a living hope by the resur-
rcction of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance incorruptable and un-
defled, and that fadeth not away"
Draw nigh, 0 generations of men that
have waited for Him! Behold your
God; adore your Saviour! You have
sought, through all the beautiful
places of this world, some object
that should fill the measure of your
desire and thought, and quell that
vague unrest; you have waited for it.
Lo, here it is! Like shipwrecked mar
liner, you have hoped to see some friend
ly sail draw near, some rescue, some de-
liverance. And the long days have come
and the dreary nights have gone, and
you have sought sail by day and the
light of the friendly ship by night. to!
here is help; deliverance is near; the
kingdom Of heaven is at hand; this is
| orr nod ond He will save ua