The Brookhaven leader., 1890-01-02
earth has enough to drink, and enoaIn


ore; little for that, and little for the
other, but enough for all-"WhosoeveI
will, let him come" Each man an
OCEAN full for himself. Promises for
thu young, promises for the old, prom.
Uses for the lowly, promises for the
blind, for the halt, for the outcast,
for the abandoned. Pardon for all,
comfort for all, mercy for all, Heaven
for all; not merely cupful of gospel sup
ply, but one hundred and thirty gallons.
Ay, the tears of godly repentance are all
gathered up into Gods bottle, and some
day, standing before the throne, we will
lift our cup of delight and ask that ii
be filled with the wine of Heaven; and
Jesus, from that bottle of tears, will be-
gin to pour in the cup, and we will cry:
stop, Jesus, we do not want to drink
our own tears" and Jesus will say:
''Know We not that the tears of earth
are the wine of Heaven?" Sorrow may
endure, but JOY cometh in the morning.
remark further, Jesus does not shad-
ow the joys of others with His own
griefs. He might have sat down in that
wedding and said: Il have so much
trouble, so much poverty, so much per-
secution, and the cross is coming;
shall not rejoice, and the gloom of my
face and of my sorrows shall be cast
over all this group" SO said not Jesus.
He said to Himself: Here are two per-
sons starting out in married life. Let
it be a joyful occasion. l will hide
my own griefs. | will kindle their
joy" There are many not so wise as
that. l know household where there
are many little children, where for two
years the musical instrument has been
kept shut because there has been
trouble in the house. Alas for the fol-
ly! Parents saying: 1--WE will have no
Christmas tree this coming holiday be-
cause there has been trouble in the
house. Hush that laughing upstairs!
How can there be joy when there has
been so much trouble?' And so they
make every thing consistently doleful,
and send their sons and daughters to
ruin with the gloom they throw around
them.
Oh, my dear friends, do you not know
those children will have trouble enough
of their own after awhile? BE glad
they can not appreciate all yours. Keep
back the cup OF bitterness from your
daughters lips. When your head is
down in the grass of the tomb, poverty
may come to her, betrayal to her, be-
reavement to her. Keep back the sor-
rows as long as you can. Do you not
know that son may, after awhile, have
his heart broken? Stand between him
and all harm. You may not fight his
battles long; fight them while 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 l have seen the sun, on
dark day, struggling amidst clouds,
black, ragged and portentious, but after
awhile the sun, with golden pry,
hcaved 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.
/ learn from this miracle that Christ
is not impatient with the luxuries 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 positive luxury. | 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 right to
the luxuries of dress, the luxurics of
diet and the luxuries of residence.
There is no more religion in an old coat
than in new one. We can serve God
drawn by golden-plated harness as GER
tainly as when 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 it as you can.
What is the difference between a
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 mansion,
and every garment robe, and every
horse an arch-necked courser, and every
carriage glittering vehicle, and every
man King, and every woman Queen,
and the whole earth 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.
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 done 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. lie
was the chief of the banqueters. When
the wine gave out, He supplied it; and
so, / take it, He will not deny rs the
joys that are positively festal.
think the children of God have NOR c
right to laugh than any other people,
and to clap their hands as loudly.
There is not 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? l take il
to be simply proclamation from the