The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-09-11

onward, and to secure that step. We
know, at least, this much, that in this,
our brief transit across the stage of
time, we are passing from eternity to
eternity, and from God to God. Amid
all mysteries, and all apparently blind
forces and passionless, memorable laws,
there is not one of us who may not feel
the full conviction that 1.-THE eternal
God is our refuge, and underneath are
the everlasting arms"
And the many special crises of life in
which this conviction becomes our sole
support. Life has not only its general
disappointments and its continuous,
uDbroken mysteries it has, also, its
hours of acute pain, of heavy loss, of
bitter bereavement. In one fatal hour
we may be reduced at blow from COM
petence to ruin in one moment an ac-
cident may cripple or may disfigure us
for life; at any time a disease may fill
our lives with agony, blight our useful
ness, extiDguish our hopes. And how
inevitably, sooner or later, does death
thrust itself into the circle of our be-
loved The mother dies, and the sweet
est bond of unity in the family is dis
severed; the father dies, and all the
circumstances of life are changed and
darkened we mast leave the old home,
we must face new difficulties and hum
bier conditions-the struggle of life can
only be continued on harder terms.
Which of us has not felt how vain at
such moments, how unavailing, is the
voice Of human sympathy2 1t is well
meant, we are truly grateful for it, but,
oh, it seems SO easy for those whose
pulse is throbbing with the full tide of
healthy life to preach endurance to those
whose every moment is wesriness and
whose every movement is an agony
so easy for those whose nearest and
dearest are blooming all around them
in health and peace to urge resignation
upon those from whom God has taken,
perhaps at stroke, the desire of their
eyes All my friends, at such mo-
ments of sorrowful visitation from the
living God we may show that fortitude
with which human nature often breasts
the storms of calamity but there can
be no holy submission, no perfect resig-
nation, no absolute peace amid sorrow,
except to those of US to whom the voice
of faith can whisper: 1.-THE eternal
God is thy refuge, and underneath are
the everlasting arms"
But most of all do we need refuge
from sin, from our evil selves, from the
guilt of the past, from the weakness of
the present, from the dread of the fu-
ture. BLESSED is the man, and he only
is blessed, whose unrighteousness is
forgiven and whose sin is covered"
Blessed is the man unto whom the
Lord will not impute SIM" To which
of Us all is not sin the most crushing of
burdens ? Well, my brethren, was it
not to undo this very burden that the
Son of God took our nature upon him?
For each true penitent the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us was
torn asunder and nailed to Christ's
cross, and there will be granted to US,
not only pardon for the past, but also
strength and grace to help in time of
need. Christ died for the very purpose
that sin might have no dominion over
us. BY voluntary yielding to sin we
have given fatal advantage to the
powers of all evil; but even in this, the
worst of all perils, if we fly to Christ
for succOr, we shall find the truth of the
promise that 1.-THE eternal God will be
our refuge, and underneath will be the
everlasting arms"
And when, at last, each Of us is laid
on the bed of death, and the moment
has come when we must enter into the
presence of God and see our souls,
with every mask of hypocrisy, conscious
or unconscious, torn away-see our
souls as they are and as God sees them;
when we are sinking naked and posses
sionless into the grave when we feel
the mist in our eyes, the fog in our
Threats. and the voices Of our friends
no longer reach us, or if they do, we
have no afranOth pvaO IN siuh hack an
answer or to return the pressure of the
hand-whst can help US then? Alone
we must enter that dark valley-no
troops of friends can accompany us
there; alone must our souls seem to
sink downward as through unfathOma-
BILE seas of gloom. Which of us can
tell how soon that awful hour may be
awaiting us2 And when it comes,
how will every one of the things which
we have desired on earth seem to shrink
into utter insignifcance in comparison
to 1.-THE one thing needful'' which, haply,
we may have altogether neglected.
When the solid earth itself seems to be
crumbliDg under our feet, when we lie
helpless in the grasp of that memorable
force, there is one thing which gives to
the Christian not only hope, but ''peace
which passeth understanding it is
when we feel that for US death can have
no sting and the grave no victory, be-
oauoa s.tha atarpaI Cod il our rofuUo