, 1886-02-21

OF the forest He never asked him whether
be would be born at all; never a,ked him
What his choice would be as to n well regu-
lated world or sphere, or a disordered one
just like this one. Man had no choice about
1T
l don't ask my seeds whether taey want to
bo planted or don't want TO be planted- I'm
going to have n garden, and / take my own
seeds and put them whsre ! please. ! have
a purpose that Is quite independent of any
v%olition, II you might suppose there was
one. in seeds And now, he says. tho crea-
ture was made subject to this mutable. evan
escent changing, vain world not willingly
then whyi "By reason OF Him that hath sub
jected the same In hope BY reason Of
the viii OF God. that hath made this thing
for the sake Of that wonderful disclosure
that shall come by and by. In the oonsum-
nation Of this great scene OF human expert
ence. because the creature itself also shall
be delivered from the bondage Of corruption
into the glorious liberty OF the children
Of God" They shall DO delivered You
scarcely believe II. do youi Nothing that
shows likelihood OF IL No. nothing in the
condition OF mankind all over the world
that looks like dellverance into glorious lib
erty, life. blessed and noble liberty. It shall
be, but there is no sign OF 1t yet
For this world is like the tuning room In
the orchestra As men come In. what do
they hear but thrum, thrum, thrum, the
sdueal OF the violin, the rough coughing OF
the bass vioi. tho shrek OF tho flutes, and
every instrument talking by itself, and
going on In n mixture that is any
thing but agreeable to any ear eX-
cept that Of a savage. Yet out OF
all that confusion and noise, and screwing
and unscrewing. by and by come the aifiuent
melodies OF Mozart or the grand march OF
Beethoven himself. This world Is a tuning
world; not yet symphonic by n great why's
''Ihs creature itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage OF corruption into the
glorious liberty OF tho children OF God; for
we know that the whole c~reation groaneth
and ~trnvaileth in pain together until now.
Labor pain, That Is to say. there is n great
birth TO take place. This whole vast
system Is 10 issue In a glorious de
velopment And all tho sorrows. mis-
takes. sins. sufferings-all this whole
visible creation; all these sorrows and pains
are labor pains; and there Is 10 be n glorious
issue beyond. somewhere.
Not only they. but ourselves alsor'
Not only is this world created in
its imperfect. apparent condition, so that
nothing is regular and systematic, but
everything changing, developing, and going
onward; not only Is that so, and not only Is
there TO be a wonderful development of this
system Of creation, this epoch or period OF
IL, in the grand future, but we have also
got In ourselves all tho symptoms OF it.
Not only they, but ourselves which
nave the first fruits Of the spirit,
even wo ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for tho adoption-to wilt, tho re-
demption-of our body. We ara hut up in
these nppetites. that are largely the occasion
nf mortal afua anI vat Wa bava Ia nnraa1waq
the symptoms Of release, OF rosurrection out
Of them, and of n glorious disclosure.
We are saved. no. by anything that we
actually experience or sec. We are saved
by hopes. But hope that is seen Is not hope.
For what n man seeth. why doth he yet
hope fort But II we hope for that which
we soc not then do we with patience wait for
IT.
THE spirit itself maketh interccssion for
us, with g~roanings that cannot be uttered;
and He that searcheth the heart knoweth
what is the m ind Of the spirit. because He
maketh interce ssion with the saints accord
ing to the will OF God"
SO, then, all those aspirations that make
life wither behind us and seem worthless;
all those yearnings for we know not what: all
that sense OF grossness, valuelessness, folly
Of life aud the uselessness OF living, which
afiict men. which aflict mo, and in hours
make mo wish it were over-what do all those
things meant They mean that Gods spirit
Is working in us; and these yearnings are
not poetry-they are translation they mean
gloriication; they mean that the eaglet Is
restless in his ogg. and though he does not
know how TO fly, nor even how 10 get out,
he Is an eaglct still And to one that I'M.
derstands these quiverlngs OF life in him,
they are preparatory 10 his release and to
his upward flying,
And so those vagrant desires that the
soul often has; those intense condemnations
OF life that spring from the Judgment
seat OF our moral consciousness; those
aspirations, and the despairs that come
with aspirations; all these elements,
saith the apostle. do not mean that
your coffee was strong and that you are
upper nervous. or that IL was weak and you
have lost your vital spirits-though such In
strumentalities may onter into the con-
dition at times It means that when
men long for a higher life, or nohler
consciousness that Is the Spirit OF God sigh
ing in them, as It were-breathing through
them-and foretokening hat which is to
come And here the declaration OF tho text
comes in; 'tAll things work together for
good to them that love Cod
What docs II meant IL has nothing 10 do
WIN IA NAAWhAu IAt ~ NuAh hnul-liAt Oh
which the apostle has been speaking. He
asks how we arc TO get rid Of our enlarged
passions ndappetiteS Jesus Is tho new life;
His inspiration gives tho development
Of that which Is spiritual, rational noble in
you; and that which you find pickering in
you Is merely n hint OF that which Is be
yond. Your life Is not completed here. It
lies vet outside Of horizons, beyond the
closed heaven Of faith itself; but
you have the symptoms in this life.
Your very yearnings and unsRtisned long
ings are pointing one way, and saying, "be-
yond. beyond your life is there, the night
bore"
Tho recognition Of this mortal struggle,
and tho conditions OF It as thus set forth,
ought to bring comfort They do to me.
Tho mystery Of sin, folly. mistake, suffer
ing. isfinsoluhle from any lower point OF
view than this When l read this chapter
lt reminds mo Of what ] have heard in the
,oncert room in der F~reischutz." or in some
II Wagner's symphonies. or in tho great mas
tor OF masters, Beethoven, where some
'empted soul Is represented ms bong thrown
inder the influence OF passions and weird
spirits, aud the music shrieks and thunders,
and Il would seem as though upon
he mountain Of temptation everything
Sas wrapped in darkness or had but lnrid
ight, and tho whole Is wall upon wall, hide
nus c%arophony, until by AMI by, MS it were,
tfar on, ono hears some Christian choir, that
wells into an anthem, and as the shricks
md the walls seem TO lose power It advances
n fullncss Of tone and spreads abroad until
At last, ash amid the tears Of those that
isten, the whole scene Is conquered by the
advancing melody and tho glorious hAr-
nony. 20 whom | look upou life. and
lear the shrek OF war and the troubles of
men, | hear too, from Afar, those deep
ounds Of n coming glory. And with the
lges they shall grow doopcr aud spread
WIDER, aui at last TIN whole universe itself,
IA triumphal procession, thall Join, and the
! ,inru .laII A.. Ia Him that .ttf.th ....oa a..