Sharp County record., 1890-06-19

and / do not know but from that passage
in James, which to some OF us IS ye'
misty and dim, there may roll out a
new heaven and a new earth; "lhe
prayer of faith shall save the sick Inc
faith-ourists may, in this war against
disease, be only sltirmishing before
general engagement, in which all the
maladies of earth shall be routed
Surely allopathy and homeopathy
and hydropathy and eclecticism need
reinforcement from somewhere. Why not
from the faith and prayer of the conse-
Grated? The mightiest school OF medl-
cine may yet be the school OF Christ l
do not know but that diseases, now Dy
all schools pronounced incurable, may
give gay under Gospel bOmbardment'
l do not know but that the day may
come when faith and prayer shall raise
the dead. Stra lss, and Woolston, and
Spinoza, and Hume, and Schleiermacher
reiecbld the miracles of the far past.
do mol, propose to be like them, and re-
iect tie miracles of the far future. This
| know, the Christ of Ascension Day is
migbtier than any natural laws, for on
the day of which 1 speak He trampled
downlthe strongest of them all. Law IS
mighty but He who made it is mightier'
Drive out fanaticism from your theolo-
gy, and give grace the throne.
Standing to-day on the Ascension
Peak of Mount Olivet I am also glad
doned at the closing gesture, the last
gesture Christ ever made. lie llited
up His hands and blessed them" says
the inspired account of our Lords de-
parture. l am so glad He lifted up His
hands. Gestures are often more Signih-
cant than words, attitudes than argu-
ments. Christ had made a gesture OF
contempt vixen with His finger lie
wrote on the ground; gesture of repul-
sion when He said: Get thee behind
me, Satan, "Woe unto you, Pharisees
and bypocrites But His last gesture,
His Olivetic gesture, is gesture OF ben
ediction. He lifted up His hands and
blessed them. His arms are extended,
and the palms of His hands turned down
ward, and so He dropped benediction
upon Olivet, bencdiction upon Pales-
tine benediction upon all the earth.
Tho cruel world took Him in at the
start on a cradle Of straw, and at last
thrust Him out with the point Of the
spear; but benedicton Ascending un-
til beneath, He saw on one side the
Bethlehem, where they put Him among
the cattle, and Calvary on the other
side, where they put Him among the
thieves. As far as the excited and in
tensifcd vision of the group on Ollvet
could see Him, and after lie was so far
up they could no longer hear His words,
they saw the gesture of the outspread
hands, the benediction. And that is
His attitude to-day. His benediction
upon the worlds climates, and they are
changing, and will keep on changing
untn the atmosphere shall be COM
mingling of October and June. Bene-
diction upon the deserts till they whiten
with lily and blush with rose, and yel-
loE with, cowslip, and emerald with
grass. Benediction upon governments
till they become more just and
humane. Benediction upon nations
till they kneel in prayer Benedic-
ton upon the whole earth until every
mountain is an Olivet Of conservation
and every lake a Galilee on whose
mosaic Of crystal and opal, and sap
phire, divine splendors shall walk. Oh,
take the benediction OF His pardon, sin
ners young and sinners old, sinners
moderate, and sinners abandoned. Take
the benediction of His comfort, and ye
broken-hearted under bereavement and
privation and myraid woes. Take His
benediction all ye sick-beds, whether
under acute spasms of pain or in long
protracted invalidism. For orphanage
and Gnlldlessness and widowhood a
bcnediction. For cradles and trundle-
beds, and rocking-chairs Of octo-
gcnarians, a benediction, For life and
for DEATH for time and for eternity, for
earth and for Heaven, a benediction,
Sublimest gesture ever made, the last
gesture Of our ascending Lord. "And
lie lifted up His hands and blessed
them"
Is our attitude the same? rs 1t tho
clenched fist or the open palm? Is 1t
wrath or is it kindness? Is it diabolism
or Christism? God give us the grace OF
the open palm, open upward to get the
benediction, open downward to pro.
nounce n benediction, A lady was pass
ing along the street and suddenly ran
against ragged boy, and she said: 81
beg your pardon my boy did notmean
to run against you; am very sorry"
And the boy took Off the piece Of cap
he had upon his head and said "You
have my pording, lady, and you
may run agin mo and knock
mo clear down. ! won't care"
And turning to n comrado ho
said; "rhat nearly took mo of
my feet Nobody ever asked my par.
ding before" Kindnessl klndness
Fiji tho world with It, Thore has al
ways boon too much OF disregard to
others, Illustrated in 1880, in England,
when ninoty-Avo thousand acres of
marshes wero drained for health and
for crop-raising, and tho sportsmcn dc.
gtrovpd tho drniunUo worka hncnuao