Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1890-12-06

ernors and generals and merchant
princes. The difference between the
wine at the wedding in Cana and the
wine at the banquet in New York being
that the Lord made the one and the devil
made the other.
We got off our horses and examined
some OF these water jars at Cana. said to
be the very ones that held the plain
water that Christ turned into the purple
bloom of an especial vintage. i meas
ured them and found them eighteen
inches from edge to edge and nineteen
inches deep. and declined to accept their
identity. But we realized the immensely
OF supply of "a hundred and twenty-siN
gallons Of wine. What was that for!
Probably one gallon would have been
enough. for it was only an additional in
stallment of what had already been pro
vided, and it is probable that the house
keeper could nothave guessed more than
one gallon out of the way But hun
bred and twe1ty-siX gallons! What will
they do with the surplus? All, it was
just like our Lord. Those young people
were about to start in housekeeping,
and their means were limited. and that
big supply, whether kept in their pantry
or sold, will be d mighty help.
You see there was no strychnine or
logWood or nuN vomica in that beverage,
and as the Lord made it it would keep.
He makes mountains and seas that keep
thousands of years and certainly he could
make beverage that would keep four
or five years. Among the arts and in
yentons of the future | hope there may
be some one that can press the juices
from the grape and SO mingle them with
out one drop of damning alcohol that
it will keep for years. And the more of
it you take the clearer will be the brain
and the healthier the stomach And here
is a remarkable fact that in my recent
Journey Travelled through Italy and
Greece and Egypt and Palestine and
Syria and Turkey, and how many intoNi-
Gated people do you think | saw in all
these five great realms? Not one. We
must in our ChristianiZed lands have got
hold of some kind of beverage that Christ
did not make.
Oh, I am so glad that Jesus was pres
ent at that wedding, and last December,
standing at Cana, that wedding came
back! Night had fallen on the village
and it's surroundings. The bridegroom
had put on his head a bright turban and
a garland of flowers, and his garments
had been made fragrant with franklin
cenSe and camphOr. an OdOr which the
oriental especially likes. Accompanied
by grOomsmcn. and proceeded by band
of musicians with flutes and drums and
horns, and by torches in full blaze. he
starts for the brides home. This river OF
fire-the torches of the bride and brides
maids-fambeau answering f1ambeau.
The bride is in white roble, and her vail
not only covers her face but envelopes
her body. Her trousSeau is as elaborate
as the resources of her fathers house
permit. Her attendants are decked with
all the ornaments. they own or can bor-
row: but their own personal charms
make tame the jewels, for those oriental
woman eclipse in attractiveness all others
except those of our own land. The dam
son rose is in their cheek, and the
diamond in the luster of their eyes. and
the blackness OF the night in their locks,
and in their step is the gracefulness OF
the morning. At the first sight of the
torches of the bridegroom and his at
PENDANTS coming over the hill the cry
rings through the home of the bride:
''rhey are in sight! Get ready. Behold
the bridegroom cometh. Go We out to
meet him. AS the two professions ap-
proach each other the timbrels strike
and the songs commingle, and then the
two professions become one, and march
toward the bridegroom's house and meet
a third procession which is made up OF
the friends of both bride and bridegroom.
Then all enter the house and the dance
begins, and the door is shut.
And all this Christ uses to illustrate
the Joy with which the ransomed of earth
shall meet Him when He comes gar
10 ln1 cln n
morning and trumpeted by the thundcrs
of the last day. Look! There He
comes down off the hills of Heaven, the
bridegroom. And let us start out to
hail Him, for | hear the voices of the
judgment day sounding, ''Behold the
bridegroom cometh Go We out to meet
Him. And the disappointment of those
who have declined the invitation to the
gospel wedding is presented under the
figure of door heavily closed. You
hear it slam. Too late. The door is
shut!
But we must hasten on, for do not
mean to close my eyes tonight till | see
from mountain top Lake Galilee. on
whose banks next Sabbath we will Wor-
ship and on whose waters the following
day we will take sail. On and up we
90 in the severeSt climb of all Palestine,
the ascent of the Mount of Beatitudes,
on the top of which Christ preached that
famous sermon on the blessed-blessed
this and blessed that. Up to their knees
the horses plunge in molehills and sur
face that gives way at the first touch Of
the hoof, and again and again the tired
beasts halt, as much as to say to the
riders, ''lt is unjust for you to make us.
climb these sleeps" On and up over
CidnS W here in the La ter season