Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-09-12

Inc WOrKmeu WOulQ nave SAID, I'VE wan
to make axes out of you, keen, sharp axe
axes with which to hew down the forest
and build the ship, and erect houses, ant
carry on a thousand enterprises of civiliza
tion. That's the reason we pound you."-
Now, God puts soul into the furnace o
trial, and then it is brought out and ruI
through the crushing-machine, and then j
comes down on the anvil, and upon it blow
after blow, blow after blow, and the sou
cries out, 80 Lord, what does all this
mean?" God says, 81 want to make some
thing very useful out Of you. You shall bt
something to hew with and something tt
build with. 1t is a practical process
through which I am putting you." Yes
my Christian friends, we want more tooll
in the Church of God. Not more wedge.
to split with, we have enough of these
Not more bores with which to drill, We
have too many bores. What we really
want is keen, sharp, well-tempered axes
and if there be any other way of making
them than in the hot furnace, and on the
hard anvil, and under the heavy hammer,
I do not know what it is.
Remember that If God brings any kind ol
chastisement upon you it is only to make
you useful. Do not sit down discouraged
aaQ bnys AdtO AO uOAC k0d5Ou luz llflDgs
l wish 1 were dead" Oh, there never was
so much reason for your living as nowl By
this ordeal you have been consecrated a
do your whole work for the Master.
Again, there is comfort in the thought
that all our troubles are revelation. Have
you ever thought of it in that connection!
The man who has never been through
bac cf;caunopt 10 ieporopf obof,f tboroo n Il
things in his soul he ought to know. For
instance, here is man who prides himself
on his cheerfulness of character. He has no
patience with anybody who is depressed in
spirits. Oh, it is easy for him to be cheer
ful, with his fine house, his filled wardrobe,
and well-strung instruments of music, and
tapestried parlor, and plenty of money in
the bank waiting for some permanent in
vestment. 1t is easy for him to be cheerful.
But suppose his fortune goes to pieces, and
his house goes down under the sheriff 8
hammer, and the banks will not have any
thing to do with his paper. Suppose those
people who were once elegantly entertained
at his table get so short sighted that they
cannot recognize him upon the street.
How then? Is it so easy to be cheerful? 1t
is easy to be cheerful in the home, after
the days work is done and the gas is turn
ed on, and the house is full of romping lit
tie ones. But suppose the piano is shut be-
cause the fingers that played on it will
no more touchthe keys, and the childish
voice that asked so many questions will ask
no more. Then is it so easy 2 When man
wakes up and finds that his resources are
all gone, he begins to rebel, and he says
"God is hard; God is outrageous. He had
no business to do this to me-" My friends,
those of us who have been through trouble
know what sinful and rebellous heart we
have, snd how much God has to put up
with, and how much we need pardon. 1t
is only in the light of flaming furnace
that we can learn our own weakness and
our own lack of moral resource.
There is also a great deal of comfort in
the fact that there will be family recon-
struction in better place. From Scot
land, or England, or Ireland, child emil
CRATES to this country. 1t is very hard
parting, but he comes, after awhile writing
home as to what good land it is. Another
brother comes, sister comes, and another,
and after while the mother comes, and
after a while the father comes; and now
they are all here, and they have a time of
great congratulation and very pleasant re-
union. Well, it is just SO with our families;
they are emigrating to better land. Now
one goes out. Oh, how hard it is to part
with him! Another goes. Oh, how hard it
is to part with her! And another, and an
other, and we ourselves will after awhile 90
over; and then we will be together. Oh,
what reunionl Do you believe thatp
eyes," you say. You do not! You do
not believe it as you believe other things
If you did, and with the same emphasis,
why, it would take nine-tenths of your
trouble off your heart. The fact is, heaven
to many of us is a great fog. 1t is away off
somewhere, filled with an uncertain and in
definite population. That is the kind of
heaven that many of us dream about; but
it is the most tremendous fact in all the
universe-this heaven of the Gospel. Our
departed friends are not afloat. The resi-
dence in which you live is not so real as the
residence in which they stay. You are
afoat; you do not know in the morning
what will happen before night. They are
housed and safe forever. Do not, there
fore, pity your departed friends who have
died in Christ. They do not need any of
your pity. You might as we'll send letter
of coincidence to Queen Victoria on her OBJ
scurity, or to the Rothchilds on their power
ty, as to pity those who have won the palm.
Do not say of those who are departed,
"Poor childl" s'Poor father!" "Poor
motherr' They are not poor. You are
poor-you whose homes have been shatter-
ed-not they. You do not dwell much with
your families in this world. All day long
you are off to business. Will it not be pleas
ant wheu you can be together all the while?
If you have had four children and one is
gone, and anybody asks how many children
you have, do not be so infdel as to say
three. Say four-one in heaven. Do not
think that the grave is unfriendly. You go
into your room and dress for some grand
entertainment, and you come forth beauti-
fully appareled; aud the grave is only the
place where we go to dress for the glorious
resurrection, and we will come out radiant,
radiant, mortality having become immor-
tality. Oh, how much coincidence there is
in this thought: I expect to see my kin
dred in heaven; l expect to see them as GER
tainly as expect to go home to day. Ay,
shall more certainly see them. Eight or
ten will come up from the graveyard back
of Somerville; and one will come up from
the mountains back of Annoy, China and
another will come up from the sea off Cape
Hatteras; and thirty will come up from
Greenwood; and 1 shall know them better
than l ever knew them here. And your
friends-they may be across the sea, but
the trumpet that sounds here will sonnd
there. You will come up on just the same
day. Some morning you have oversight
yourself, and You open your eyes and see
that the sun is high ir the heavens, and
you say, 81 have oversight, and must be
up and off," So you will open your eyes on
the morning of the resurrection, in the fnll
blaze of Gods light, and you will say, 81
must be up and away" Oh yes, you will
come up, and there will be reunion, re-
construction of your family. like what
Halburton-I think it was good old Mr..
Halburton-said in his last moments, 81
thank God that ever lived, and that /
have father in heaven, and mother in
heaven, and brothers in heaven, and sisters
in heaven, and 1 am now going up to see
them.'
remark once more: Our troubles in this
world are preparative to glory. What a
transition it was for Paul-from the slippery
deck of a foundering ship to the calm pres
ence of Jesus! What transition it was
for Latimer-from the stake to a throne!
What transition it was for Robert Hall
from insanity to glory! What transition
II moo for Richard Ravtar-froYo tho dropcu