The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-07-20

prepare YOU IOI eLeIudl tIedSuIeS' Anu
why sickness came; it being the pTecur-
sOr of immortal juvenescence. And now
you understand why they lied about you
and tried to drive you hither and thither.
1t was to put you in the glorious COM
pany of such men as Ignatius, who,
when he went out to be destroyed by
the lions, said: 81 am the wheat, and
the teeth of wild beasts must first grind
me before l can become pure bread for
Jesus Christi" or the company of such
men as POlycaTp, who, when standing
| in the midst of the amphitheater wait
ing for the lions to come out of their
cave and destroy him, and the people in
the galleries jeering and shouting "The
| lions for POlycarpW replied, Let them
come Onw and then STOPPING down be-
| fore the cave where the wild beasts were
roaring to get out: "Let them come on %
All, yes, it is persecution to put you in
glorious company, and while there are
| many things that you will lhave to post
pOne to the future world for explana-
| tiOn, tell you that it is the whole tend
| ency of your religion to unraVel and eX
| plain and interpret and illumine and ir-
| radiate. Job was right. 1t is glorious
transparency. "The crystal cannot equal
| it,"
remark again that religion surpasses
the crystal in it's beauty. That lump of
glass of the cTystallOgrapher and he sees
in it undesirable beauty-SnOw-drift
and splinters of hoar-frOst, and cOTals,
and wreaths, and stars, and crowns, and
castellatiOns of conspicuous beauty. The
fact is that crystal is so beautiful that
can think of but one thing in all the
universe that is so beautiful, and that is
the religion of the Bible. No wonder
this Bible represents that religion as the
daybreak, as the apple blossoms, as the
glitter of Kings banquet. 1t is the
joy of the whole earth. People talk too
much about their cross and not enough
about their crown. Do you know the
Bible mentions cross but twenty-seyen
times, while it mentions a crown eighty
timesp Ask that old man what he thinks
of religion. He has been close observer.
He has been culturing an aesthetic taste.
He has seen the sun-rises of half CEN
tury. He has been an early riser. He
had been an admirer of canoes and cor
ais and all kinds of beautiful things.
Ask him what he thinks of religion and
he will tell you at is the most beautiful
thing ever saw "The crystal cannot
equal it," Beautiful in its symmetry.
When it presents Gods character it does
not present Him as having love like
great prOtuberance on one side of His
nature, but makes that love in harmony
all those who come to Him, and justice
that will by no means clear the guilty.
Beautiful religion in the sentiment 1t
implantsl Beautiful religion is the fact
that it proposes to garland and enthrOne
and emparadise an immortal spirit.
Solomon says it is lily. Paul says it
is crown. The Apocalypse says it is
fountain kissed of the sun. Ezekiel
says it is fOliaged cedar. Christ says
it is bridegroom come to fetch home
bride. While Job in the text takes up
whole vase of precious stOnes-the topaz
and the sapphire and the chrysOphrasus
and he takes out of this beautiful vase
just one crystal, and holds it up until it
cleans in the warm light of the eastern
Sky, and he exclaims: 1.-THE crystal can
not equal itp' Oh, it is not a stale re-
ligiOn; it is nOta tOOthless hag, as some
seem to have represented it; it is not
Meg Merrites, with shriveled arm, come
to scare the world. 1t is the fairest
wealth; her cheek the mOrniug sky; her
voice the music of the south wind; her
step the dance of the sun. Come and
WOO her. The spirit and the bride ssay
come, and whOsOeVer will, let him come
Do you agree with Solomon, aud say it
| is lily? ThOn pluck it and wear it
| over your heart. Do you agree with
Paul, and say it is crown? Then let
| this hour be your coronation. Do you
agree with the Apocalypse, and say it is
| a springing fountain? Then come and
slake the thirst of your soul. Do you
believe with Ezekiel, and say it is foil
aged cedar? Then come under its
| shadow. Do you believe with Christ,
and say it is bridegroom come to fetch
| home bride? Then strike hands with
| your Lord, the King, while pronounce
you eveTlastingly one. Or if you think
| with Job that it is jewel, then put it
| on your hand like ring, on your neck
| like a bead, on yOuI forehead like star,
| while looking into the mirror of Gods
| Word you acknowledge "the crystal can
not equal it,"
Again, religion is superior to the crys-
tai in its transformations. The diamond
| is only capitalization of coal. Car
Donate of lime rises till it becomes cal
| cite or aragmite. Red oxide of copper
| crystalliZeS into cubes and Octahedrons.
Those crystals which adOrn our persons,
and our homes, and our museums, have
only been resurrected from forms that
| were far from lustrOus. Scientists for
ages have been examining these wonder
full transformations. But, tell you, in
the Gospel of the Son of God there is a
more wonderful transformation. Over
souls by reason of sin black as coal and
l uCllu 40 AlOLp NOuB Wy LILO OOLlLOA bAh >
grace, stOOps and says: "They shall be
Mine in the day when 1 make up My
jewels" what" say you, will God
| wear jeWels?" If He wanted to He could
4 make the stars of heaven His belt, and
have the evening cloud for the sandals
of His feet; but He does not want that
adornment. He will not have that jew
elry. When God wants jewellery He
comes down and digs it out of the
depths and darkness of sin. These souls
are all crystallizations of mercy. He
puts them on, and He wears them ia the
presence of the whole universe. He
wears them on the hand that was nailed,
over the heart that was pierced, on the
temples that were stung. "They shall
be mine," saith the Lord, "in the day
when 1 make up my jewels" Wonder
full tran nsformatiOn! The carbon be-
come a solitairel "The crystal can not
equal it," There she is, waif of the
street; but she shall be a sister of chari-
ty. There he is, sOt in the ditch; but
he shall preach the Gospel. There, be-
hind the bars of prison, but he shall
reign with Christ forever. Where sin
abOunded grace shall much more
abound. The carbon. the SOlitaiTel 1.-The