St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-02-24
ReHsious Rsadins.
Drawing-ROOIn Bible Talks.
DRESS.

cannot mean dress for the body, for
that has been attended to. You are
well dressed, beautifully dressed, and
God only knows the time, the talent,
and the money it has cost. But the
Apostle says: There is natural body
and there is spiritual body" and it
is to dress for the spiritual body that |
wish to call attention. All through
the Old and New Testaments we find
our attention directed to this subject
of clothing. 1t may be because i'll the
earlier ages of the world garments in
Dictated the wealth of the pOssessor.
TO certain degree they do now, but
not to the same extent. So the in
spired writers use garments" cloth
ing" "raiment,' "rObes,' etc, to indi
cate character and draw our attention
from the outward to the inward, from
the physical to the spiritual.
In the 'Autocrat of the Breakfast
Table" there was certain John who
soliloquized with himself after this
sort Now, there are three Johns {:
my John what know of myself,) and
other peoples John (wlIat other people
think of mel, and the real John Gods
john" And he wanted to get at the
real John. Now, if you will turn to
Rev. iii, II, you will see a striking con
trast drawn between the apparent and
the real. Here the honest confession
is made. for once Il am rich and in
creased with goods, and have need of
nothing :" A perfect picture of salts
faction. That was the outward. Christs
piercing eye looked through into the
real. and said Thou knOwcst not
that thou art wrctchcd and miserable
and poor and blind and naked" Think
of the physical in this condition,
and you would call it complete destitu-
ton. Yet alas under the most beau
tiful outward garments there may be
the most shabbily dressed spirits, naked
souls am glad Christ did not stop
with this enumeration of wrctchedness.
but told us where we can buy what we
need. He counsels lis tour wise, loving
counselor y ''Buy of me" Don't go
anywhere else. You can only get the
materials You need ut this one place.
''Gold tried in the fire, and white raj
ment that thou mayest be clothed, that
the shame of thy nakedness do not APP
pear"
look at these beautiful garments, we
would he inclined to buy. One of the
loveliest of these spiritual dresses is
described by Isaiah (chapter Xxi, y as
''the garments Of praise" | know how
becoming this dress is. My mother
wore it. never saw her without it.
1t is the only dress that makes the
wearer always look young. My mother
died at Scventy-tive, young. Think
what would he given for dress for
the natural body that would always
keep it youthful looking. AS age
comes on, we say more dress is re-
quired but it seems to me it only
makes the contrast greater. | have
seen old wriukled hands loaded with
diamonds but the sight to me is al
ways pitiable, for my attention is sure
to be drawn to the wrinkled hands.
was half amused at reading in fashion
paper, some time ago, of il ''restful
dress" And. rs | thought of the rest
less women of fashion whose attention
was sought by this caption, said ::
'Ah the color may be reStful one :;
but it will take another dress to rest
the weary heart underneath. If the
many, many women who wear the
spirit of heaviness could only see that
He came to give the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness,' they would
exchange the dark dress of the latter
for the bright, beautiful robes of the
former"
Now let us look ut another garment
"A cloak. BE clothed with humility"
1t seems to cover all. To wear this,
we must from our hearts say
Take away the robe of pride
And the worthless rags twould hide
The lOveliest cloak that can be worn is
the cloak of humility. Alas that it
should be So rare.
One cold, raw day last February,
was crossing the Fulton Ferry, when a
young girl took IL seat beside me, so
thinly dressed that my sealskin cloak
became oppressive to me. She had
over her face thick veil. Only once
she raised it for moment, and | saw
such a sweet face And, as we passed
out into the cold, thought of that
latter awhile" when
All masks shall fall away,
All social silks and broadcloth intervening
Shall moulder with our bodies in the clay
And | said to myself MAY be she is
far more warmly clad than | in that
part of nature which is imperishable."
But there are other dresses to he
looked at. "She shall be brought unto
the king in raiment of needlework."
The most beautiful lacrs worn by our
women of wealth and fashion are made
in the underground places, where sun
light comes not and the lives of the
makers of the favorite pOint-lace are
the price of its beauty. We shall know
by and by the meaning of all the sad
ness and suffering of earth when we
see the beautiful spiritual raiment that
has been made in sick rooms and un-
der the most trying circumstances
The costly raiment of needlework"
will then Toe explained
And now we come in sight of dress
of gold. The kings daughter is all
glorious within, her clothing is of
wrought gold
Now the question for you and me is
simply this Shall we put on these
beautiful garments p or. in other
words, Shall we put on the Lord Jesus
Christ All these garments he wore !;
or, To drop the figure, all these quail
ties were his and they must be ours.
Many years ago, in one of the beau
tiful churches of England, | listened to
a clergyman of the establishment, and
never shall | forget his voice as he
leaned over the desk, and, looking at
his wealthy congregation, said: ''Ah
You look most respectable to men; but
| am afraid that in the sight of the
angels you are not tit to be seem
Now, ! appeal to you as women to
do by your spiritual body as You do for
your natural body. You say | need
such and such clothes. and must hare
them. And, a. far as your means allow
u do not saw YOU go beyond your