The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-02-22

u WIN "hiStNAs UNIV
and the forerunner.
The royal robe of Demetrius was so
costly, so beautiful, that after he had
put 1t off no one ever dared put it on;
but this robe of Christ, richer than that,
the poorest and the wannest and the
worst may wear. Where sin abounded
grace may much more abound"
80, my sins, my SINS" said Martin
Luther to Staupitz, my sins, my sins!'
The fact is that the brawny German stu
dent had found q Latin Bible that made
him quake; and when he found how,
through Christ he was %pardoned and
saved, he wrote to Il friend, saying:
Come over and join us great and awful
sinners saved by the grace OF God.
You seem to be only q slender sinner,
and you don't much extol the
mercy of God; but we that have
been such awful sinners praise Hisgrace
the more now that we have been re-
deemed" Can 1t be that you are so des-
perately egotistical that you feel yourself
In frst-rate spiritual trim, and that from
the root Of the hair to the tip Of the toe
you are s~carless and immaculate? What
you need is a looking glass and here it
Is in the Bible. Poor and wretched and
miserable and blind and naked from the
crown OF the head to the sole of the foot,
full Of wounds and putrefying sores. No
health in us. And then take the fact
that Christ gathered up all the notes
against us and paid them, and then Of
fered US the receipt.
And how much we need him in our
sorrows! We are independent of cir
cumstances IL we have His grace. Why,
He made Paul sing in the dungeon, and
under that grace st. John from desolate
Patmos heard the blast of the ~apocalyp-
tic trumpets. After all other candles
have been snuffed out, this Is the light
that gets brighter and brighter unto the
perfect day; and after, under the hard
hoofs of calamity, all the pools of world
~ enjoyments have been trampled into
deep mire, at the foot of the eternal
rock the Christian, from cups OF granite,
lily trimmed and vine covered, puts out
the thirst of his soul.
Again / remark that Christ is above
all in dying alleviations. l have not
any sympathy with the morbidity abroad
about our demise. The Emperor Of
Constantinople arranged that on the
day Of his coronation the stonemason
should come and consult him about the
tombstone that after a while he would
need. And there are men who are
monomaniacal on the subject of depart
ure from this life by death, and the
more they think Of 1t the less they are
| prepared to go. This is an unmanliness
not worthy Of you, not worthy Of me.
Saladin, the greatest conqueror of his
day, while dying, ordered that the tunic
he had on him be carried after his death
on his spear at the head of his army,
and that then the soldier, ever and anon,
| should stop and say: Behold, all that
Is left Of Salad n, the Emperor and con-
querer! OF all the states he conquered,
Of all the wealth he accumulated, moth
| ing did he retain but this shroud." |
have no sympathy with such behavior,
or such absurd demonstration, or with
much that we hear uttered in regard to
departure from this life to the next.
A thousand feet underground, by light
of torch toiling in a miners shaft, q
ledge of rock may fall upon us, and we
may die O miners death. Far put al
sea, falling from the slippery ratlines
and broken on the halyards, W. may die
a sailors death. On mission Of mercy
in hospital, amid broken bones and
reeking ~leprosies and raging ~fevers, We
may die a philanthropist's death. Or
the field of battle. serving God and oul
country, slugs through the heart, the
gun carriage may roll over us, and We
may die a patriots death. But, after
all, there are only two styles of depart
ure-the death Of the righteous and the
death of the wicked, and we. all ant t.
die the former.
God grant that when that hour comes
you may be home. You want the han(
of your kindred in your hand. You
want your children to surround you
You want the light on your pillow from
eyes that have long reflected your love
You want the room still. You do no
want any curious strangers standing
around watching you. You want you
kindred from afar TO hear your las
prayer. / think that is the wish OF al
Of us.
But Is that all? Can earthly friend
hold us up : hen the pillows Of dealt
come up to the girdle? Can human
yoice-charm open Heavens gate? Cal
human hand pilot US through the mar
rows of death into Heavens harbor
Can any earthly friendship shield u
from the arrows Of death, and in tn
hour when Satan shall practice upon Il
bis internal archery? No, no, no, nc
Alasi poor soul, II that is all. Bette
die IN the wilderness, far from tire
shadow and from fountain, alone, WI
lures circling through the air waitin
for the body. unknown to men, and tc
have no burial, IL only Christ could say
through the solitudes: 81 will never
leave thee, l will never forsake thee
From that pillow of stone q ladder would
soar heavenward, angels coming ane
going; and across the solitude and thu
barrenness would come the sweet note
o., heavenly minstrelsy.
Gordon Hall, far from home, dying II
the door OF q heather temple, said
"Glory to Thee. o Godr" What di'
dying Wilberforce say to his wife? Com
and sit beside me and let MS talk o
Heaven. l never knew what happiness
was until I found Christ" What di
L uyluk Iltuliuu ulOEO ody ~ 6S '
Heaven, think what 1t il! To go I
Christ, who died that might live! {
glorious gravel o. what a glorious thin
1t Is to die. o, the love of Christ, til
love OF Christi What did Mr.. Toplad'
the great hymnmaker. say in his ia'
hour? Nyho can measure the depth {
the third heaven? o. the sunshine thu
fills my soul. | shall Don be gone, II
surely no one can live in this worl
after such glories rs God has manifesto
to my SOUL
What did the dying Janeway say? ;
can as easily die as close my eyes
turn my head in sleep. Before q fe
hours have passed | shall stand c
Mount Zion with the one hundred al
forty and four thousand and with II
lust men made perfect, and we sha
ascribe riches, and honor, II glor
and majesty. and dominion unto G'
and the Lamb" DIR. Taylor, condemn'
|, TO burn at the stake. on his way thith
!. broke away from the guardsmen al
went bounding and leaping and jumpii
/ toward the fire, glad to go to Jesus al
> to die for Hin.
Sir Charles Hare, in his last momer
had such ~rapturous vision that no erie
q Upward, upward, upward" And
l. great was the peace of n OF Chris
n disciples that he put his fingers up
q the pulse in his wrist and counted it q
observed II; and so great was his plact
ity that after awhile he sai
n "Stopped?" and his life had ended he
a to begin In Heaven. But grander tn
20 that was the testimony OF the worn G
:. missionary whom. In tho Mamartl