Sharp County record., 1890-01-23

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we must attend them.
We sometimes hear very good people
cav. "If | had a month or year Vi
two 70 do nothing but attend to religious
things. l would be great deal DeVVel
than 7 am now" You are mistaken
Generally the best people are the BUSY
people. Elisha was plowing in the helo
when the prophetic mantle fell on hlm'
Matthew was attending to his custom
bouse duties when Christ commahoeu
him to follow. James and John were
mending their nets when Christ caIleo
them TO be fishers of men. Had they
been snoring in the sun Christ would noV
have called their Incidence into the
o,,ostIesbin, Gideon was at work with
the fail on the threShing- WheH n7
saw the angel. Saul was with great
fatioue hunting up the lost asses Wheh
he found the crown of Israel. Inc
nrodigal son would never have reformed
and wanted to have returned 10 MS la
theirs house if he had not hrst gone lhUo
business, though it was SWlne-leeulnS'
Not once ont of a hundred times Will
law man become a Christian IhoSe
who have nothing to do are in very un-
favorable circumstances for the recelV-
inc of divine manifestations. 1t IS not
when YOU are in idleness, but when you
are. like the Bethlehem shepherds
watching your nocks, that the glory de-
scends and there is joy among the angels
of God over your soul penitent and 1or-
igven.
Nv subject also strikes at the delu-
sion that the religion of Christ IS dolor-
Gus and grief infusing. The music
which broke through the midnight
heavens was not dirge, but an anthem
# shook iov over the hills. 1t not only
dropped upon the shepherds, butitsprang
upward among the thrones. The rope
of Saviour's righteousness is not DlacK.
The Christian life is not made up OF
weeping and cross-bearing and war
waging Through the revelation Oh
that Christmas night find that reEglon
is not a groan, but song. IN Worlu
of sin and sick bed and sepulchers, we
must have trouble; but in the darkest
night the heavens part with angellc
song. You may, like Paul, be ship
wrecked, but | exhort you to be OF good
cheer, for you shall all escape safe 10
the land. Religion does not show itself
in the elongation of the face and the cut
of the garb. The Pharisee who puts his
religion into his phylactery has none
left for his heart. FretfulneSs and com
planning do not belong to the family OF
Christian graces which move into the
heart when the devil moves out. Chris
tianity does not frOWn upon amuSementS
and recreations. 1t is not a cynlc, 1T IS
not shrew, it chokeS no laughter, 1t
quenches no light, it defaces no art.
Among the happy, it is the happiest. 1t
is Just as much at home on the play
ground as it is in the church 1t is just
as graceful in the charade as it is in the
psalm book 1t sings just as we'll IN
Surrey Gardens as it prays in st. PauIs.
Christ died that we might live. Christ
walked that we might ride. Christ
wept that we might laugh.
Again, my subject impresses me with
the fact that glorious endings sometimes
have very humble beginnings. The
straw pallet was the starting point, but
the shout in the midnight sky revealed
what would be the glorious consumma-
ton. Christ on Mary's lap. Christ on
the throne of universal dominion. What
an humble starting! What a glorious
ending. Grace begins on small scale
in the heart. You see only men as
trees walking. The grace of God in
the heart is a feeble spark, and Christ
has to keep both hands over it lest it be
blown out. What an humble beginning!
But look at the same man when he has
entered Heaven. No crown able to eX-
press his royalty. No palace able toex-
press his wealth. No scepter able to
express his power and his dominion.
Drinking from the fountain that drips
from the everlasting rock. Among the
harpers harping on their harps. On sea
of glass mingled with fire. Before the
throne of God, to 60 no more out forever.
The spark of grace that Christ had to
keep both hands over lest it come to ex-
tinction, having famed up into honor,
and glory, and immortality. What
humble starting! What glorious con-
summation.
My subject also impresSes me with the
effect of Christ's mission upward and
downward. Glory to God, peace to man.
When God sent His Son into the world,
angels discovered something new in
God, something they had never seen be-
fore. Not power, not wisdom, not love.
They knew all that before. But when
God sent His Son into this world then
the angels saw the spirit of self-denial
in God, the spirit of self-sacrifice in
God. 1t is easier to love an angel on
His throne than thief on the cross, q
seraph in his worship than an adulteresS
in her crime. When the angels saw
God-the God who would not allow the
most insignificant angel in Heaven to
be hurt-give up His Son, His Son, His
only, only Son, they saw something
that they had never thought of before,
and l do not wonder that when Christ
started out on that pilgrimage the an
gels in Heaven clapped their wings in