Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-07-04

CHuICu Will pray Win ltS lace GOWdru I'll
west, and all the prairies and inlan
cities will surrender to God; and will fac
toward the sea, and all the islands and ship
will become Christian. Parents who hav
wayward sons will get down on their knee
and say: "Lord, send my boy home," an
the boy in Canton shall get right up fror
the gaming table, and go down to th
wharf to find out which ship starts first fo
America.
Not one of us yet knows how to pray
All we have done as yet has only been pot
tering, and guessing, and experimenting
A boy gets hold of his fathers saw an,
hammer, and tries to make something, bu
it is poor affair that he makes. TIL
father comes and takes the same saw an,
hammer, and builds the house or the ship
In the childhood of our Christian faith, W
make but poor work with these weapons O
prayer, but when we come to the stature O
men in Christ Jesus, then, under these i'm
plements, the temple of God will rise, ant
the worlds redemption will be launched
God cares not for the length of our prayers
or the number Of our prayers, or the beaut,
of our prayers, or the place of our prayers
but it is the faith in them that tells. Be
lieving prayer scars higher than the larl
ever sang /; plunges deeper than diving bel
ever sank darts quicker than lightning
ever flashed. Though we have used onl!
the back of this weapon instead of the edge
what marvels have been wrought Ii savet
we are all the captives of some earnes
prayer. Would God that in desire for th'
rescue of souls, we might in prayer la.
hold of the resources of the Lord OmnipO
tent.
We may turn many to righteousness BY
Christian admonition. Do not wait unit
you can make formal speech. Address the
one next to you. You will not go home
alone to-day. Between this and your plact
of stopping you may decide the eterna
destiny Of an immortal spirit Just ONE
sentence may do the work. just one ques
tion. Just one look. The formal talk thai
begins with a sigh and ends with cantine
shuttle is not what is wanted, but the
heartthrob of a man in dead earnest. There
is not soul on earth that you may moi
bring to God if you rightly go at it. They
said Gibraltar could not be taken. 1t is q
rock sixteen hundred feet high and three
miles long. But the English and Dutch
did take it. Artillery, and sappers, and
miners, and fleets pouring out volleys oi
death, and thousands of men, reckless oi
danger, can do anything. The stoutest
heart of sin, though it BIZ rock and sur.
rounded by an ocean of transgression,
under Christian bombardment may be made
to hoist the flag of redemption.
But is all this admonition, and prayer,
and Christian work for nothing? My text
promises to all the faithful eternal lustre
"They that turn many to righteousness
shall shine as the stars forever"
AS stars, the redeemed have borrowed
light. What makes Mars, and Venus, and
Jupiter so luminous? When the 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 ad-
So all Christian workers, standing
around the throne, will shine in the light
borrowed from the Sun of Righteousness
Jesus in their faces, Jesus in their songs,
Jesus in their triumph. Christ left heaven
once for tour of redemption on earth, yet
the glorified ones knew he would come back
again. But let Him abdicate His throne,
and go away to stay forever, the music
the temples of God be darkened the rivers
Of light stagnate and every chariot would
become hearse, and every bell would toll,
anu tuGTo WOulu uOG NO AOOu Ou bao I'LL
sides to bury the dead of the great metropo-
lis, for there would be pestilence 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 prayers, and tears. and work will rise
before Him as He looks into their faces,
and He will divide his kingdom with them;
His peacs-their peace His holiness
their holiness His joy-their joy. The
glory of the central throne reflected from
the surrounding thrones, the last spot of
sin struck from the Christian orb, and the
entire nature a-tremble and a-fash with
light, they shall shine as the stars forever
and ever.
Again Christian workers shall be like
the stars in the fact that they have light
of each other. Look up at
the night, and see each world show its dis
tant glory. 1t is not like the confiagration,
in which you cannot tell where one flame
stops and another begins. Neptune, Her
schel and Mercury are as distinct as if each
one of them were the only star so our in
will not be lost in heaven. A
great multitude-yet each one as observa-
Bile, as distinctly recognized, as greatly
celebrated, as if in all the space, from gate
to gate, and from hill to hill, he were the
only inhabitant no mixing up-no mob
no indiscriminate rush each Christian
worker standing out illustrious-all the
story of earthly achievement adhering to
each one his selfdenials, and pains, and
and victories published. Before
men went out to the last war the orators
told them that they would all be remem-
bered by their country, and their names be
commemorated in poetry and in song but
go to the graveyard in Richmond and you
will find there six thousand graves, ovel
each one OF which is the inscription, Gun
known" The world does not remember
its heroes but there will be no unrecog
nized Christian worker in heaven. Eacl
one known by all grandly known knowr
by acclamation all the past story Of worl
for God cleaning in cheek, and brow, ant
foot, and palm. They shall shine will
distinct light as the stars, forever and ever
Again Christian workers shall shin,
like the stars in clusters. In looking up
you find the worlds in family Circles
Brothers and sisters-they take hold O
each others hands and dance in groups.-
Orion in group. The Pleiades in a group
The solar system is only company o
children, with bright faces, gathered
around one great fireplace. The worlds d.
not straggle off. They 60 in squadronl
and fleets, sailing through immensity.
SO Christian workers in heaven viii
dwell in neighborhoods and clusters. I an
sure that some people will like in HEAVIER
a great deal better than others. Yonder il
a constellation of stately Christians. The,
lived on Garth by rigid rule. They neve
laughed. They walked every hour anxious
lest they should lose their dignity. Bu
they loved God ; and yonder they shine ii
brilliant constellation. Yet I shall not lon.
to get into that particular group. Yonde;
is constellation Of small hearted Chris
tians-asteroids in the eternal astronomy
While some souls 20 up from Christian
battle and blaze like Mars, these asteroids
dart feeble ray like Vesta. Yonder is
constellation of martyrs, of apostles, of pa
triarehs. Our souls, as they go up t.
heaven, will seek out the most congenia
society," Yondpr ia q constellation oIp,oc