The Russellville Democrat., 1889-03-07

I thousand which were redeemed from the earth"
 | 4 great prima donna, who can now do any thing with her voice, told me that when she first started ill music her teach l CT in Berlin told her she could be good singer, but a certain note she could never reach. And then,n she said, "I went to ! work and studied and practiced for years until did reach it." But the song of the singer redeemed, the Bible says, the ex- alted harmonists who have never sinned could not reach and never will reach. Would you like to hear me in very poor way play a snatch of that tune? l 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" But before leaving this interrogatory, why God let sin come into the world, let me say that great bat ties seem to be nothing but suffering and outrage at the time of their occurrence, yet after they have been a long while past we can see that it was better for them to have been fought, namely, Salamis, Ink erman, Toulouse, Arbella, Agincourt, Trafalgar, Blenheim, Lexington, Sedan. So now that the great battles against sin and suffering are going on we see mostly that which is deplorable. But twenty thousand years from now, standing Ill glory, we shall appreciate that Heaven IS better off than if the battle of this worlds sin and suffering had never been project ed.
 But now I come nearer home and put dark saying or the gospel harp, style Of question that is asked a million times every year. Interrogation the fourth: Why do 1 have it so hard while others have it so easy? Or. why do have so much difficulty in getting livelihood while others go around with a full portemonnaie! Or why must l wear these plain clothes while others have to push hard to get their wardrobes closedt so crowded are they with brilliant attiret Or, why should I have to work so hard while others have three hundred and six ty-five holidays every year? They are alf practically one question. l 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 enthronement and extra felicities. That is no guess of mine, but 8 divine say-so: 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." "Well," says some one, 'I would rather have little less in Heaven and little more here. Discount my heavenly robe ten per cent, and let me now put it on, a fur lined overcoat; put me in less gorgeous room of the house of many mansions and let me have house here in a better neighborhood." No, no; God is not going to rob Heaven. which is to be your residence for nine hundred quadrillion of years, to fix II, Ia, oh rnt1 will occupy at most for less than a century, and where you may, perhaps, stay only ten years longer, or only year, or perhaps 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 how to do it. and can see what is best for you better than you can yourself. Don't think you are too significant to be divinely cared for. It was said that Diana, the goddess, could not be present to keep her temple at Ephesus from burning, be- cause she was attending upon the birth of him who was to be Alexander the Great. But tell you that your God and my God is so great in small things as well as large things that he could attend the cradle of babe and at the same time the burning of a world.
 
 and there is one song that you will sing every hour of your first ten years in Heav- en, and the refrain of that song will be- liam so glad God did not let me have my own way" Your case will be all fixed up in Heaven and there will be such re- versal in conditions that we can hardly find each other for some time. Some of us who have lived in frst-rate houses here and in first-rate neighborhoods will be found, because of our lukewarmness of earthly service, living on one of the back streets of the celestial city, and clear down at the eLd of it at No. sos, or 9o9, or 1505, while some who had uuattractive earthly abodes, and 8 cramped one at that, will, in the Heavenly 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 salva- ton halting at your door while those visit you who are more than conquerors, and those who are kings and queens unto God forever. You, my brother, and you, my sister, who have 1t 50 hard here will have it so fine and grand there that you will hardly know yourself and will feel disposed to dispute your own iden tity and the first time I see you there will cry out: "Didn't toll you so when you sat down there in the Brooklyn Tabernacle and looked incredulous because you thought it too good to be true?" And you will answer; "You were right, the half was not told mev' So this morning I open your dark saying of des spondency and complaint on my Gospel harp and give you just one bar of music, for l do not pretend to be much of a player. 'The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them to living fountains of water, aud God shall wipe away all tears from iheir eyes" But l must confess l am little terplexed how some of you good Christians are going to get through the gate, because there will be so many there to greet you, and they win all want to shake hands at once and will all want the first kiss They will have heard that you are coming, and they will all press around to welcome you and will want you to say whether you know them after being so long parted.
 But here I must slow up, lest in trying to solve mysteries I add to the mystery that we have already wondered at, name- ly: Why preachers should keep on after all the hearers are tiredy So I gather mp into one great armful all the why's, and bows. and wherefores of your life and mine. which we have not had time or the ability to answer, and write on them the words ''adjourned to eternity." I rejoice that we do not understand all things now, for if we did, what would we learn in Heaveng If we knew it all down here in the freshman and sophomore class, what would be the use of our going up to stand amid the juniors and the seniorsg If we could put down one leg of the compass and with the other sweep circle clear around all the inscrutables; if we could lift our little steel yards and weigh the throne of the Omnipotent; if we could with our seven day clock measure eternity, what would