The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-01-04
sd they
ssfeatly Spleful,
I.ls and daughters to
ssoone thvS throw around
ear friends do you not know
dren will have trouble enough
own after awhile? Be glad

OWH dtVsT dWnlleI DO Rlau
-, - ot appreciate all yours. Keep
khak .the cup of bitterness from your
dapFhter's lips. When your read is
down in he grass of the tomb, poverty
may come to her, betrayal to her, be-
reavement to her. Keep back the sor-
rows rs long as you can. Do you not
know that son may, after awhile, have
his heart broken? Stand between him
and all harm. Teu may not fight his
battles long; fight them whilo you may.
Throw not the chill of your own de-
spondency over his soul; rather be like
Jesus, who came to the wedding hiding
His own grief and kindling the joys of
others. So have seen the sun, on a
dark day, struggling amidst clouds,
black, ragged and portentious, but after
awhile the sun, with golden pry,
hoaved back the ~blackness; and the sun
laughed to the lake, and the lake
laughed to the sun, and from horizon to
horizon, under the saffron sky, the water
was all turned into wine.
1 learn from this miracle that Christ
is not impatient with the Injuries Of
life. 1t was not necessary that they
should have this wine. Hundreds OF
people have been married without any
wine. We do not read that any of the
other provisions fell short. When God
made the wine it was not a necessity,
but a positive luxury. l do not believe
that He wants US to eat hard bread and
sleep on hard mattresses unless we like
them the best. / think, If circum-
stances will allow, we have a right to
the luxuries Of dress, the Injuries of
diet and the Injuries of residence.
There is no more religion in an old coat
than in q new M We can serve God
drawn by contemplated harness as GER
tainly as whom We go afoot. Jesus
Christ will dwell with us under a
matched roof; and when you can get
wine made out of water, bring as much
of 1t as you can.
What is the difference between q
Chinese mud howell and an American
home? What is the difference between
the rough bear skins Of the Russian
boor and the outfit of an American gen.
tleman? No difference, except that
which the Gospel of Christ, directly or
indirectly, has caused. When Christ
shall have vanquished all the world, l
suppose every house will be a mansion,
and every garment a robe, and every
horse an ~arch-necked courser, and every
carriage a glittering vehicle, and every
man q King, and every oma a Queen,
and the whole earth q paradise; the
glories of the natural world harmonic
ing with the glories Of the material
world, until the very bells of the horses
shall jingle the praises Of the Lord.
I learn further, from this miracle,
that Christ has no impotence with
festal Joy, otherwise He would not have
accepted the invitation to that wedding.
He certainly would not have lone that
which increased the hilarity. There
may have been many in that room who
were happy, but there was not one Of
them that did so much for the Joy of the
wedding party as Christ Himself. He
was the chief of the b~anqueters. When
the wine gave out, He supplied It; and
so, I take 1t, He will not deny us the
joys hat are positively festal.
think the children of God have more
right to laugh than any other people,
and to clap their hands as loudly.
There is not a single Joy denied them
that is given to any other people. Chris
tianity does not clip the wings of the
soul. Religion does not frost the flow
ers. What is Christianity? take il
to be simply a proclamation from the
Throne Of God Of emancipation for all
the enslaved; and II a man accepts the
terms Of that proclamation and becomes
free, has he not a right to be merry?
Suppose a father has an elegant man
sion and large grounds. To whom will
he give the first privilege of these
grounds? Will he say: 'My children,
you must not walk through these
PATHS. or sit down under these
tr,es. Or pluck this fruit. These
IS f)r ous 3ars. They may walk
In them" No father would say
any thing like that. He would say:
The first privileges in all the grounds,
and all Of my house, shall be for my own
children" And yet men try to make us
believe that Gods children are on the
limits, and the chief refreshments and
enjoyments OF life are for outsiders, and
not for His own children. 1t Is stark
atheism. There Is no innocent bever-
age too rich for Gods child to drink;
there Is no robe too costly for him to
wear; there is NJ hilarity too great for
him TO indulge in. and no house too
splendid for Him to live in. He has q
right to the joys OF earth; he shall have
a right to the Joys of Heaven. Though
tribulation, and trial, and hardship may
come unto him, let him rejoice. "Re-
joice in the Lord. ye righteous, and
again / say, rejoice"
/ remark again that Christ comes to
us in the hour OF our extremity. He
knew the wine was giving out before
there was any embarrassment or morti-
iication. Why did He not perform the
miracle sooner? Why wait until it was
all gone, and no help could come from
any source, and then come in and per-
form tho miracle? This Is Christ's way;
and when He did come in, at the hour OF
extremity, He made first-rate wine, SO
that they cried out; Thou hast kept
the good wine until now" Jesus in the
hour OF extremity! He seems TO prefer
that hour.
In a Christian home In Poland great
poverty had come, and on the week day
the man was obliged to move out of the
house with his whole family. That
night he knelt with his family and
prayed to God. While they were kneel-
ing In prayer there was a tap on the
window pane, They opened the win
dow, and there was q raven that the
family had fed and trained, and II had
in its bill a ring all set with precious
stones, which was found out to be q ring
belonging to the royal family. 1t was
taken up TO the Kings residence, and
for the honesty Of the man in bringing
Il back he had q house given to him and
a garden and q farm. Who was 1t that
sent the raven tapping on the Window
The same God that sent the raven to
feed Elijah by the brook Cherith. Christ
In the hour Of extremity!
Trouble came. You were almost torn
TO pieces by hat trouble. You braced
yourself up against it. You said: 81
will be a stole, and will not care;" but
before you had got through making the
resolution 1t broke down under you.
You felt that all your resources were
gone, and then Jesus came. ''In the
fourth watch Of the night" the Bible
says, 'Jesus came walking on the sea. "
Why did He not come IN the arst watch?