Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-07-21

| look. The formal talk that begins with
sigh, and ends with a canting shuttle. is moi
what is wanted. but the heartthrob OF mar
in dead earnest. There IL not soul
on earth that YOU may not brine
TO God if you rightly go at it. They said
Gibraltar could not be taken It Is rock
sixteen hundred feet high and three miles
long. But the English and Dutch did take
| it Artillery, and saprers and miners. and
| fleets pouring out volleys of death, and thou
sands OF men. reckless Of danger. can do any
thing The stoutest heart of sin, though il
he rock. and surrunded by an ocean OF
/ transgression. under Christian hombardment
may be made TO hoist tho flag of redemption.
But is all this admoniton and PRAYER, and
Christian work for nothing! NV text
promises to all the faithful eternal luster.
''They that turn many to Righteousness shall
shine as the stars forever
AS stars. theredeemed have a borrowed
light What makes Mars and Venus and
Jupiter so luminous' When tho sun throws
down his torch in the heavens the stars pick
up the scattered brands and hold them in
procession as the queen of the night adj
vances: so all Christian workers.. standing
around the throne, viii shine in the light Dor
rowed from the Sun OF RighteonSness--J esus
in their faces. jesus in their songs, J esus IN
their triumph. Christ left heaven once for
tour OF REDEMPTION on rarth. vet the
glorified ones knew he would coma back
and 90 away to stay forever tho music
woull stsp the congregation dispense; the
temples OF God I've darilen Al: the rivers of
light stagnata. and every chariot would he
come a hearse and every bell would toll. and
there would not b, room on the hill sides to
bury the dead of the great metropolis. for
there would he pestlance in heaven. But
Jesus lives, and so all the redeemed live
with Him. He shall recognize them as His
comrades in earthly toll and remember what
they did for the honor of His name and for
the spread OF His kingdom. All their pray
ers and tears and work will rise before Him
as He locks into their faces, and He will
divide His kingdom with them His peace
their peace: His holiness-their holiness: His
iov-the;r inv. The glory of the central
throne reflected from he surrounding
thrones the last spot of sin struck from the
Christian orb and the entire nature a trem
bic and a-lash with light. they shall shine as
the stars forever and ever.
Again: Christian workers shall he like the
stars i'll the fact that they have light indie
pendent Of each other. Look up at the night,
and see each world shows its distinct CORY
1t is not like the conllagration. in which you
cannot tell where one fame stops and another
begins, Neptune, Herschel and Mercury are
as distinct ms f each one OF them were the
only star; so our individuaiisn will not lie
lost in heaven. A great multtude--yet
each one ms observable as distinctly recog-
nized. as greatly celebrated, as if in all the
space from gate to gate and from
hill TO hill he was the only inhahtant: no
mivinr un--no mob-no indiscriminate rush:
each Christian worker standing out illus
trions-all the story of earthly achieve
ments adhering to each one: his self denils.
and pains, and services. aud victories
published. Before men went out to the
last war. the orators told them that they
would all he remembered by their country.
and their names be commemoratcd in poetry
and in song: but go to the graveyard in Rich
, moni and you VIII find thu six thousand
graves, over u Ich one of which is the inscrip-
ton, "UnkDown'' The world does not re.
member its heroes: but there will be no I'M
recognized Christian worker in heaven.
, Each one known by all: grandly known:
known by reclamation; all the past story of
work for God cleaning in cheek and brow.
and foot. and palm. They shall sh ne with
distinct light as the stars. forever and ever.
Again, CHRISTIAN workers shall shine liks
the stars in clusters. In looking up. you find
the worlds in family circles. Brothers and
sistersthey take hold of each others hands
and dance in groups. Orion in a group.
The Plei8les in group. The solar system
is ouiy company of children. with bright
faces, gathered around one great fireplace.
The words do not straggle off. They go in
sQuadrons and fleets, sailing through inn
mensiiy.
So Christian workers in heaven will dwell
in nelghborhoods and clusters | am sure
that some people will Ike in heaven great
deal better than others londer is a con
stellation of stately Christians They lived
on earth by rigid rule. They never laughed
They w0lked every hour, anxious lest they
should lose Their dignity. But they loved
God, and yonder they shine in brilliant con-
stellation. Yet ! shall not long to get into
that particular group. Yonder is a coDstel
lation OF small hearted Christians asteroids
in the eternal astronomy. While some souls
go up from Christian battle and blaze like
Mars, these asteroids dart q feeble ray like
Nestl. onder is a constellation of martyrs
of apostles OF patriarch>. Our souls, as they
go up to heaven, will seek out the most con
genial so iety. Yonder is constellation
almost merry with The play of light. On earth
they were full of svmpathies aad songs and
tears and raptures and congratulations.
When they prayed their words took ire
when they sang the tune could not hold
them; when they wept over a worlds woes
they soobed as If heart broken when they
worked for Christ. they famed with enthu
siasm. Wonder they re-circie of light
Const.l alton of joy Galaxy of fire. Oh
that you and /. by that grace which can
transform the worst into the best, might at
last sail in the wake of that fleet and wi eel
in that glorious group. as the stars, forever
and ever.
Again: Christian workers will shine like
do not stop to SHINE. There are no fixed
stars save as to relative position. The star
most thoroughly fixed flies thousands of miles
minute. The astronomer, using his tele-
scope for an Alpine stock. leaps from world
crag to world crag, and finds no star stand.
ing still. The chamois hunter has to fiy TO
catch his prey, but not so swift is his gamg
as that which tie scientist tries to shoot
through the tower of observatory. Like
petrels mid Atlantic. that seem to come
from NJ shore. and be bound &c
no landing place-Aying, fying-sd
these great hocks OF worlds rest not as they
90, wing and wing, age after age forever
and ever. The eagle hastes 70 its prey,
but we shall in speed beat the eagles You
have noticed the We getty of the swift hors.,
under whose feet the miles slip like a
smooth ribbon, and as he pass the four
hoofs strike the eartn in such quick bsat
your pulses take the same vibration. But all
these things are not swift in comparison
with the motion Of which / speak. The moon
movfs fifty-four thousand miles in day:
Ycnder, Neptune flashes on eleven thousand
miles in en- our Yonder Mercury gees one
hundred and nine thousand Iuiles in an honr
So Ike the stars, the Christian worker shall
shine in swiftness of motion You hear
now OF father or mother or child sick
one THOUSAND miles away, and 1t takes
you two DAYS 10 get 20 them. You hear
~ some fasa of suffering that demands