The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-05-01

stone alter ne had rolled II away from the
mouth OF the Savior's mausoleum. The
book says he rolled away the stone from
the door and sat upon it. All OF US minis
tiers have preached a sermon about the
angels rolling away the stone, but we did
not remark upon the sublime fact that he
sat upon il. Why? Certainly not because
he was tired. The angels are fatigueless
race, and that one could have shouldered
every rock around that tomb and carried
1t away and not been besweated- He sat
upon 1t, think, to show you and to show
me that we may make every earthly OBJ
stacle a throne of triumph. The young
men who get their education easy seldom
amount to much. Those who had to struggle
for 1t come out atop. There is no end of
the story of studying by pine-knot lights
and reading while the mules of the tow
path We're resting and of going hungry
and patched and barefooted and submit
ting to all kinds of privation to get schol-
astic advantages. But the day of gradua-
ton came and they took the diplomas
with hand nervous from night-study and
pale from lack of food and put their
academic degrees in the pocket of thread
bare coat. Then starting for another ca
reer OF hardship they entered profession
or business where they found plenty of
disheartment and no help. Yet saying. 81
will succeed; God help me, for no one
else will, they went on and up until the
world was compelled to acknowledge and
! admire them.
The fact was that the obstacle between
! their discOuraging start and their COM
| plete success was a rock of fifty tons, but
/ by resolution, neryed and muscularized
and REINFORCED by Almighty God, they
/ threw their arms around the obstacle, and,
| with the strength of a supernatural wres-
/ tier, rolled back the stone, and, having be-
| come more than cOnquerers, they sat upon
| 1t. Men and women are good and great
and useful just in proportion as they had
! TO overcome obstacles. You can count
upon the fingers of your one hand all the
great singers, great orators, great poets,
great patriots, and great Christians
who never had a struggle That angel
that made a throne of the bowlder at
Christ's tomb went back to Heaven, and
warrant that, having been born in
heaven and always had an easy time, he
now speaks of that wrestle with the rock
as the most interesting chapter in all his
angelic lifetime. Oh, men and women
with obstacles in the way, / tell you that
those obstacles are only thrones that you
NAV after awhile sit on. Is the obstacle
in your way sickness? Conquer it by &C
complishing more for God during your
invalidism than many accomplish that
have never known an ailment. Are YOU
prosecuted? By your uprightness and
courage compel the world to acknowledge
your moral heroism. Is it poverty?
Conquer it by being happy in the
companionship of your Lord and
Master, who in all his life owned but 62
cents, and that he got from a fishs mouth
and Immediately paid it all out in taxes
to the Roman assessor, and who would
have been buried in a potter's field had
not Joseph of Arimathea contributed
place; for he who had nowhere to Law his
head during his life had a borrowed pill
low for the last slumber. There is no
throne that you are sure to keep except
that which you make out of vanquished
obstacles. An ungrateful republic at the
ballot-box denied Horace Greeley the
highest place at the national capital, but
could not keep him from rising from
the steps of New York printing
office on which he sat one chilly morning
waiting for the boss printer to come that
he might get job until he mounted the
highest throne of American journalism.
He rolled back the stone and sat upon it.
A poor orphan boy, picking up chips at
Richmond, Va, accosted by passing sea
vessel, drops the chips and starts right
away and is tossed from port to port. and
homeless and friendless, wanders one day
along Tremont-st., Boston, and sees
Park-st. church open, and, speaking of il
afterward on a great occasion and using
sailors vernacular, as was usual with him,
he says: 81 put in, up helm, unfurled
sail, and made for the gallery and scud
under bare poles 10 the corner pew. Then
hove to and came to anchor.
THE old man, DR.. Griffin, was Just
naming his text. Pretty soon he unfurled
the mainsail, raised the tOpsail, ran the
remnants 10 free breeze and tell you the
gospel ship never sailed more prosper
ously. The salt spray flew in every direc-
ton, but more especially did it run down
my cheeks. Satan had to strike sail, his
guns were dismounted or spiked, his vari-
GUS crafts by which he led sinners captive
were all beached, and the captain of the
Lords host rode forth conQuering
and to conquer" Before that
sailor boy was poverty, and he
conquered it; and orphanage, but
he conquered 1t; and ignorance, but ne
conquered it; and the scof of the world,
but he conquered it; and he rose till every
sailors bethel in the world blessed him,
and great anniversary platforms invited
him and Daniel Webster and Charles
Dickens and Frederika Bremen and poets
and orators and senators sat electrified at
his feet, and his gospelzing influence will
90 on until the last Jack tar is converted
and the sea shall give up its dead. All
the obstacles of his life seemed gathered
into one great bowlder, but Edward T.
Taylor, the world renowned sailors
preacher, rolled back the stone and sat
upon it.
Yet do not make the mistake that many
do OF sitting on it before it is rolled away.
1t is bound to go if you only tug away at
it. If not before, then / think about u
o'clock noon of resurrection day you will
see something worth seeing. The general
impression is that the resurrection will
take place in the morning. The ascent to
the skies will hardly occur Immediately.
IL will take some hours to form the pro-
cession skyward, and we will all want to
take look at this world before we leave
it forever and see the surroundings
of the couch where our bodies have
long been sleeping. On that Eas-
ter morning the marble, whether il
lay flat upon your grave or stood up in
monument, will have to be iostled and
shaken and rolled aside by the angel of
resurrection, and while waiting for your
kindred TO gather and the procession to
form your resurrected body may sit in
holy triumph upon that chiseled stone
which marked the place of your protracted
6lumber. On that dav what froo,;la