News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-08-08

give to scores OF people every day. What
is that? Confidence. If these people whom
you trust day by day are moro
worthy than Christ, if they are
more faithful than Christ, if they
have done more than Christ ever did, then
give them the preference; but if you really
think that Christ is as trustworthy as they
are then deal with Him as fairly. ooh, -
says some onein a light way: 81 believe that
Christ was born in Bethlehem, and l blliove
that He died on the cross" Do you believe
1t with your head or your heart? L VIII Illus
strate the difference. You are in your own
house. In the morning you open news
paper and YOU read how Capt. BravehCart
on the sea risked his life for the salvation of
his passengers. You say, what q grand
fellow he must have beeni His family de
serve very well OF the country" You fold
the newspaper andbsit down at the table, and
perhaps do not think of that incident again.
That is historical faith.
But now YOU are on the sea, and it is night,
and you are asleep, and you are awakened by
the Shrek of ''Firer' You rush out on th1
deck. You hear amid the wringing Of the
hands and the fainting, the cry: mo hope!
no hopei We are lostl we are lost~ The sail
puts out its wings of fire, the ropes mako Il
burning ladder in the night heavens, the
spirit of wrecks Kisses in the wave, and on the
hurricane deck shakes out its banner OF smoke
and darkness. "Down with the lifcboatsr'
cries the captain ''Down with tho lifcboatsp
People. rush into them. The boats are about
full. Room only for one more man. You are
standing on the deck beside the captain. Who
shall it be? You or the captain? The cap
tain? The captain says: ''Y ou." You Jump
and are saved. He stands there and dies.
Now, you believe that Captain Bravohcart
sacrificed himself for his passengers, but you
believe it with love- with tears, with hot
and long continued exclamationS with
grief at his loss, and joy at yorr
deliverance. That is saving faith. In other
-I,o+ hnls will oil 4IoI
and believe in regard to yourself. On this
hinge turns my sermon; aye, the salvation
of your immortal soul. You often go across
a bridge you Know nothing about You do
not know who built that bridge, you do not
know what material it is made of; but you
come to it and walk over it and ask no qles-
tions. And here is an arched bridge blasted
from the Crock of Age" And built by the
architect of the whole universe, spanning the
dark gulf between sin and Righteousness, and
all God asks you is to walk across it; and you
start, and you come to it, and you stop, and
you go little way on and you stop, and you
fall back, and you experiment. You say:
--tfow do know that bridge will hold me?o
instead of marching on With firm step, ask
ing no questions, but feeling that the
strength of the eternal God is under
you. Oh, was there ever prize proffored
so cheap as pardon and heaven are offered to
you? For how mnch? A million dollars?
1t is certainly worth ;lore than that. But
cheaper than that you can have it. Ten
thousand dollars? Lass than that Five
thousand dollars? Less than shat. One dol
lar? Less than that Ono farthing? Less
than that. Without money and with
out price" No money to pay.
No journey 10 take. No penance
to suffer o tb Only just gns d de five
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved"
Shall I try to tell you what it is to
be saved? | cannot tell you. No man, no
angel can tell you But l can hint at
it. For my text bring me up to this
point. ''Thou shalt DO saved" II means a
happy life here, and peaceful death and
to go to sleep at night and to get up in
the morning, and to do business all
day feeling that all is right between my heart
and God. No accident, no sickness, no per-
secutfon, no peril, no sword can do me any
permanent damage. am forgiven Child
of God and he is bound to see mo through.
The mountains may depart, the earth may
burn, the light OF the stars may be blow. out
by the blast of the Judgment hurricane; but
life and death, things present and things to
that-it means peaceful death. Mrs. He
mans, Mrs. Sigourney, DR.. Young, and al
most all the poets have said handsome things
about death. There is nothing beautiful
about it. When we stand by the white and
rigid features OF those whom we love, and
they give no answering pressure of the hand
and no returning kiss of the lip, we do not
want anybody poetizing around about us.
Death Is loath soneness. and midnight. and
the wringing of the heart until the tendrilS
snap and curl in the torture, unless Christ
shall be with rs. 1 confess to you an
infinite fear, consuming horror of death,
unless Christ shall be with me. I would
rather go down into a cave of wild beasts or
a jungle of reptieS than into the grave, I'M
less Christ goes with me. Will you tell me
hat fC Na IL ont NV
home and put sway in the darkness? |
cannot bear darkness. At the first
coming of the evening l must have the
gas lighted and the further on in life get
the more L like to- have my friends round
about me.
And am 1 to be put off for thousands of
years in a dark place with no one to speak
to? When the holidays come and the gifts
are distributed, shall [ add no joy to the
MERRY Christmas," or the Happy New
YearT All, do not point down to the hole
in the ground, the grave, and call it a beauti-
full place. Unless there be some supernatural
illumination l shudder back from it. My
whole nature reYClts at it, But now this
glorious lamp is lifted above the grave and
all the darkness is gone, and the way is clear.
| look into it now without q single shudder.
Now my anxiety is not about tn; my anx-
iety is that maylive Alright, for know that
if my life is consistent when [ come to the
last hour, and this voice is silent,
with which beg for your eternal salvation
to-day, are folded over the still heart, that
then | shall only begin to live. What power
is there in anything to chill me in the last
hour if Christ wraps around me the skirt of
His own garment? What darkness can fall
upon my eyelids then amid the heavenly
daybreak? o Death, [ will not fear thee
then. Back to thy cavern of darkness, thou
robber of all the earth. Fly thou despoiler
of families. With this battle ak hew thee
in twain from helmet to sandal the voice of
Christ sounding all over the earth and
through the heavens: 80 Death, will be
thy plague. o Grave I win be thy destruc.
tion.n
To be saved is to wake up in the presence
of Christ. You know when Jesus was upon
earth how happy He made every house BE
went into, and when He brings us up to His
house in Heaven, how great shall be our glee.
His voice has more music in it than is to be
heard in all the oratories of eternity
Talk not about banks dashed with effores-
cence. Jesus is the chief bloom of heaven.
We shall see the very face that beamed sym
pathy in Bethany, and take the very hand
that dropped its blood from the short beam
of the cross. Oh, want to stand in eternity
with Him. Toward that harbor [ steer. To
ward that goal | run. l shall be satisfied
when | awake in His likeness.
Oh broken hearted men and women, how
sweet it will be in that good land to pour all
losses into the loving car of Christ, and then
have Him explain why it was best for you to
be SICK and why it was best for you to be
and why it was best for you to be
prosecuted, and why it was best for you to be
tried, anG have Him point to an elevation pro-
portionate to your disquietude here, saying
You suffered with me on earth, come
up now and be glorifed with Me in
heaven" Some one went into q house
where there had been good deal Of
trouble, and said to the woman there
"You seem to be lonely" YES she
said, Il am lonely" "How many in
the family?" only myself" 'Have you
had had any Shdr9n9 had ca seven shiI
gone" "Ali." All d eadr, All" Then
she breatbed long sigh into the loneliness,
and said: "Oh, sir, have been a good mother
to the grave" Aud so there are hearts |
here that are utterly broken down by the
bereavements of life l point you to-day to
the eternal balm of heaven. Are there any
here that | am missing this morning? Oh,
you poor waiting maid your hearts sorrow
poured in no human ear, lonely and sad!
How glad you will be when Christ shall dis |
band all your sorrows and crown you |
queen unto God and the Lamb forever!
Aged mon and women, fed by His love
and warmed by His grace for three-score
years and ten! will not your dccrepitude |
change for the leap of a hart when You como |
TO look face to face upon Him whom having |
not seen you love? That wilt be the Good |
not out in tho night and |
to keep off the wolves,
but with the lamp reclining on tho
sunlit hill. That will be the captain
of our salvation, not amid the roar and crash
and boom of battle, but amid His disbanded |
troops keeping victorious festivity. That |
will be the Bridegroom of the Church coming
from afar, tho br de leaning upon His arm, |