Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-03-06

the heaven that it is. / will not say that
am glad that sin and sorrow did enter, bu
/ do say that am glad that after God ha
given all his reasons to an assembled uni
verse he will be more honored than If sir
and sorrow had never entered, and that th,
unfallen celestials will be outdone and vii
put down their trumpe to listen and i
will be in heaven when those who have
conquered sin and sorrow shall enter, as il
would ba in small singing school on esrtt
If Thalberg and Gnttschalk and Wagner
and Beethoven and Rheinberger and Schu
mann should all at once enter. The i'm
mortals that have been chanting ten thou
sand years before the throne will say, a,
they close their librettos: Cob, if we coult
only sing like thatv' But God will say tt
those who have never fallen and conse
queDtly have not been redeemed: "Yor
| must be silent now; you have not the quail
| itication for this anthem" SO they sit with
closed lips and folded hands, aud sinners
| saved by grace take up the harmony. fol
the Bible says mo mnn could learn that
song but the hundred and forty AID fOu'
Thousand which were redeemed from the
earth"
A great prima donna, who can now dc
anything with her voice, told me that when
she first started in music her teacher in Ber-
lin told her she could be good singer, but
certain note she could never reach. "And
then" she said, Il went to work and
studied and practiced for years until 1 did
reach il" But the song of the sinner re-
deemed, the Bible says, the exalted harmon
lists who have never sinned could not reach
and never will reach. Would you like to
hear me in a very poor way play snatch
of that tuner l can give you only one bar
of the music on this gospel harp: ''Unto
him that hath loved US and washed ms from
our sins in bis own blood and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and the
Lamb, to him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen" But before leav-
ing this interrogatory, Why God let sin
come into the world? let me say that great
battles seem to be nothing but suffering
and outrage at the time of theiI occurrence.
yet after they have been long while .past
we can see that it was better for them to
have been fought, namely, Salamis, lnker-
man, Toulouse, Arbena, Agincourt, Traf-
algar, Blenheim, Lexington, Sedan. So
now that the great battles against sin and
suffering are going on we can see mostly
that which is deplorable. But twenty
thousand years from now, standing in
glory, we shall appreciate that heaven is
better off than if the battle of this worlds
sin and suffering had never been projected.
But now come nearer home and put
dark saying on the gospel harp, style of
question that is asked million times every
year. Interrogation the fourth: Why do l
have it so hard while others have it so
easy? or, why do have SO much difficulty
iu getting a livelihood while others go
f,ll rfor, 90 or hu
must I wear these plain clothes while others
have to push hard to get their wardrobes
closed, so crowded are they with brilliant
attire2 or, why should have to work SO
hard while others have three hundred and
sixty five holidays every year? They are
all practically one question. answer
them by saying, it is because the Lord has
his favorites and he puts extra discipline
upon you, and extra trial, because he has
for you extra glory, extra enthronernens
and extra felioities. That is no guess of
mine but divine say so: "Whom the
Lord loveth He chasteneth." SWELL" says
some one, I would rather have little less
in heaven and g little more here. Discount
my heavenly robe 10 per cent and let me
now put it on, fur-lineG overcoat; put me-
in q less gorgeous room of the house of
many mansions and let me have a house
here 10 better neigbborhood." No, no;
God is not going to rob heaven, which is to
be your residence for nine hundred quad
rilion of years, to fix up your earthly
al ode, which you will occuoy at most for
less than a century. aud where you may
perhaps stay only ten years longer, or only
one year. or perhaps a month more. Now
you had better cheerfully let God have his
way, for, you see, he has been taking care
of folks for near seven thousand years, and
knows bow to do it, and can ses what is
best for you better than you can yourself
Don't think you are too insignificant to be
dvinelv cared for. l. was said that Diana,
the goddess, conld not bs present to keep
her temple at Ephasns fr,,m burning be
cause she was attending upon the birsh of
him wbo was to bs Alexander the Great.
But tell you that yoar God and my God
ia so great in small things as we'll az large
things that he could attend the cradle OF a
babe aud as the same time the burning Of a
world.
And God will make it all right With you,
and there is one song that you will sing
every hour of your first ten years in heaven,
and the refrain of thas song will be: 81 am
so glad Gid did not let me have it my own
way" Your case will be all fixed up in
of conditions that we can hardly find each
other for some time Some of us who have
lived in first-rata houses here and in first
rate neighborhoods will be found, because
of our luke warmuess of earthly services,
living on one Of the back streets of the
celestial CITY, and clear down at the end Of
it-at No. S0S OR 900, or 1865, while some
who had unattractive earthly abodes, and
a cramped one at that, will, in the heaven
ly city, be in house fronting the royal
plaza, right by the imperial fountain, or on
the heights overlooking the River of Life,
the chariots of salvation hating at your
door while those visit you who are more
than conquerors, and those who are kings
and queeus unto God forever. You, my
Brother, and you, my sister, who have it so
hard here will have it so fine and grand
there that you will hardly know yourself
and will feel disposed to dispute your own
identity. and the first time see you there
will cry out: "Didn't tell you so when
you sat down there in the Brooklyn Taber-
nace and looked increduious because you
thought it too good to be true?" And you
will answer: "Y0a we're right, the half was
not told mep' So this morning l open your
dark saying of dsspondency and complaint
on my Gospel harp and give you just one
bar of music, for do not pretend to be
much of q player. "rhe Lamb which is
in the midst ofthe throne shall lead them
to living fountains of water aud God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes," But
must confess AN a little psrplexed how
some of you good Christians are going to
get through the gate, because there will be
so many there TO greet you aud they will all
want to shake hands at once and will all
want the first kiss. They will have heard
that yon are coming, and they will all press
around to welcome you and will want you
to say why it is you know them after being
50 long parted.
Amid the tussle and romp of reunion
tell you whose hand of welcome you had
better first clasp. ard whose cheek is enti-
tied to the first kiss. It is the hand and
the cheek of him without whom you would
never have got there at all, the Lord Jesus.
the darling of the skies, as he cries out, 81
have loved thee with an everlasting love
and the fires could not burn it aud the
foods could not drown it." Theu you,
NV dear peODle HAVING no more use for nv