The Odessa herald. (Odessa, Del.) 1888-1892, 1889-03-02

'sCalvln's Institutes of Religion" than
which more wonderful book was never
written by human hand, was begun by the
author at twenty-five years Of age, because
Of the persecution by Francis, King Of
France. Faraday toiled for all time on
salary OF 50 pounds year and candles. As
every brick Of the wall Of Babylon was
bnclladnezzar, 80 every part of the temple
OF Christian achievement is stamped with
the letter I, standing for trouble.
When in olden time man was to be hon
ored with knighthood, he was struck with
the flat OF the sword. But those who have
come TO the honor OF knighthood in the
kingdom Of God were first struck not with
the fiat Of the sword but with the keen
edge Of the criineter To build his tnagni-
ficence OF character, Paul could not
have spared one lash, one prison, one stoning,
one anatherna, one poisonous viper from
the hand, one shipwreck. What is true OF
lndiyieuals is true Of nations Thehorrors Of
the American revolution gave this country
This side OF the Mississippi River to indie
peiidence. and the conflict between Eng
lard and France gave the most Of this
country west of the Mississippi to the United
States France owned it, but Napoleon,
fearing that England would take il, prac-
tically made present to the United States--
for he received only $4,000, ,Q00-of Louis
braska, Iowa, Minnesota. Colorado, Dakota,
Montana, Wyoming and the Indian Terri
tory. Out o. the fire of the American revolu-
tion came this country east of the Mississippi,
out OF the European war came that west
Of the Mississippi River. The British Em-
pire rose to its present overtowering gran
denr, through gunpowder plot, and Guy
Fawkes's conspiracy, and Northampton in
strTection, and Walter Raliegh's beheadipg,
and Bacon's bribery, and Cromwell's disso-
luton of parliament, and the battles Of Edge
Hill, and Granthant, and, Newberry, and
Marstpn Moor, and Naseby, and Dunbar,
and Sedgemoor, and execution of Charles
London fire, and LondoA insur
rection, and Ryehouse plot, and the vicissi-
tudes of centuries So the earth itself, be-
fore it could become appropriate and beauti-
fn residence for the human family had,
according to geology, to be washed by uni
versal deluxe, and scorohed and made in
candescent by universal fires, and pounded
by siedge hammer of icebergs, and wrenched
-bT earthquakes that split continents, and
shaken by volcanoes that tossed mountains,
and passed through the catastrophes of
thousands Of years before Paradise became
possible and the groves could shake out their
green banners and the first garden pour
its carnage of color between the Gihon
and the Hiddekel, Trouble a good
thing for the rocks a good thing for
nations, as well as q good thing for in
ditiduals. So when yeu push against me
with sharp Interrogation point, Why do
the good sufferl | open the dark saying on
a harp and. though | can neither plav an
srgan, or eorneu or hautboy, or bugIe, or
clarionet, ! have taken some lessons on the
gospel harp, and il you would like to hear
me ] will play you these: "All things work
together for good to those who love Cod -
Now no Christening for the present seemeth to
IA r1nt ff,a1A ,ff
ward it yieldeth all possible fruits of
righteousness unto them which are exer-
.ssised thereby.n "Weepjng may en-
dase for night but joy eometh in
the &2rning.n What sweet thing Is a
harp, ,Sl1Nd wonder not that in Wales, the
countR, ,pf my ancestors, the harp has be-
come " national instrument, and that they
have festivals where great prizes are offered
in the competition between harp and i&irp;
or that weird Sebastian Erard was
,mosf Of his time bent over this choTded
ID I'd ssi'l;s tssg trslasss a1aA not
passof six octaves from 3 to 3 with all the
semi i-iones or that when King Saul was de.
nlented the son OF Jesse came before him
and putting his fingers among the charmed
strings ~ the harp played the devil out OF
the era edmonarch, or that in heaven there
shall be harpers harping with their harps.
Sc you will not blame me for opening the
dark saying on the gospel harp.
Your herps, ye trembling saints
Down from the willows take;
Loud 10 the praise OF love divine
Bid every string awake
Interrogation third: Why did good God
let sin and trouble come into the world when
He might have kept them outl My reply is,
He had good reason. He had reasons that
He has never given us. He had reasons which
he could no more make us understand
in our finite state than the faith II
nI1f I
elaborate enterprise could make the two
year-old child in its armed chair compre-
hend it. One was to demonstrate what
grandeur of character may be achieved on
earth by conquering evil. Had there been
no evil to conquer and no trouble to console,
then this universe would never have
known an Abraham or a Moses or Joshua
or an Ezekiel or Paul or a Christ or a
Washington or John Milton or a John
Howard, and a million victories which have
bern gained by the consecrated spirits of all
ages would never have been gained. Had
there been no battle there would have
been no victory, Nine-tenths of the anthems
Of heaven would never have been sung.
Heaven could never have been a thousandth
part of the heaven that it is. will not say
that am glad that sin and sorrow did
enter, but do say that am glad that
after God has given all His reasons to an
assembled universe He will be more
honored than if sin and sorrow had never
entered, and that the unfallen celestials will
be outdone and will put down their trumpets
to listen and it will be in heaven when those
who have conquered sin and sorrow shall
enter as 1t would be in small sing
ing school on earth il Thalberg and
Gottschalk and Wagner and Beethoven and
Rhelnberger and Schumann should all at
once enter. The immorGas that have been
chanting ten thousand years before the
throne will say, as they close their iibrettos
Ia NNFF. R.aNI fsf
But God will say to those who have never
fallen and consequently have not been re +
deemed: You must he silent now; YOU
have not the qualification for this anthem, ?
30 they sit with closed lips anil folded hands
and sinners saved by grace take up the
learn that song but the hundred and forty and
four thousand which were redeemed from
the earth
A great prima donna, who can now do
anything with her voice, told me that when
she first started in music her teacher in
Berlin told her she could be a good singer,
but certain note she could never reach.
"And then," she said, 81 went to work and
studied and practiced for years until did
reach it.n But the song Of the
sinner redeemed, the Bible says,
the exalted harmonists 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 tunel | can
give you only one bar of the music on this
gospel harp: "Unto Him that hath loved us
and washed us from our sins in His own
blood and hath made us kings and
priests unto God and the Lamb, to
Him be glory and dominion forever
and ever, Amen.n But before leaving this
interrogatory, Why God let sin come into
the world2 let me say that great battles seem
to be nothing but suffering and outrage at
the time of their occurrence, yet after they
have been long while past we can see that
it was better for them to have been fought,
namely, Salamis, Iukerman, Toulouse, Ar
bella, Agincorrt, Trafalgar, Blen-
helm, Lexington, Sedan. So now
that the great battles against sin and suf-
ering 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 a
dark saying on the gospel harp, style of
question that is asked a million times year.
Interrogation the fourth: Why do have
it so hard while others have it so easys or,
why do have so much difficulty in getting
a livelihood while others go around
with a full portemonnaiel or, why
must / wear these plain clothes while
others have to push hard to get their ward
u 1 A