The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-01-02


OF the Russian boor and the outfit of an Ameri-
can gentlemanS No difference, except that
which the Gospel of Christ directly or indi-
rectly has caused When Christ shall have
yanQuished all the world l suppose every
house will be mansion, and every garment a
robe, and every horse an arch-necked courser,
and every carriage a glittering vehicle, and
every man King, and every woman Queen,
and the whole earth a paradise; the glories OF
siorles OF the material worla, until the very
bells of the horses shall jingle the praises OF
the Lord.
/ learn, further, from this miracle, that
Christ has no impatlence 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 tho wedding party as Christ Himself He
was the chief Of the banqneters. When the
wine gave out He supplied it; and so, take
it Hewill not deny us the joys that are posi-
lively festal,
think tho children of God have more
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 Christianity does not clip the
wings of the soul, Religion does not frost
the flowers. What is Christianity
nation from tho throne of God of
emancipation for all the enslavei; and
if u man accepts the terms Of that proclama-
ton, and becomes free, has he not right to
be merryS Suppose father has an elegant
mansion and large grounds. To whom will
he give the first privilege of these grounds?
Win he say; my children, you must not
walk through these paths, or sit down under
these trees, or pluck this fruit, These are
for outsiders They may walk in
them" No father would say anything 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
enioyments OF life are for outsiders and not
for His own children. 1t is stark atheism. Their
is no innocent beverage too rich for Gods
child to drink; there is no robe too costly for
him to wear; there is no hilarity too great
for him to indulge in, and no house too
TO Che 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. "Rejoice in the Lord, We
righteous, and again | say, rejoice"
/ remark ngain that Christ comes TO us in
the hour of our extremity. He knew the
wine was giving out before there was any eni.
barrassment or modification. Why did He
not perform the miracle sooner? Why wait
until 1t was all gone, and no help could come
from any source, and then come in and per.
form the miracle? This is Christ's way and
when He did come in, at the hour Of extrem-
ity, 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
kneeling in prayer there was tap on the
window pane. They opened the window, and
there was q raven that the family had
fed and trained and 1t had in it's bill a ring
all set with precious stones, which was
found out to be a ring belonging to the
royal family. 1t was taken up to the
Kings residence. and for the hon
esty Of the man in bringing it back he had a
house given to him, and garden and a farm.
Who was it 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!
You mourned over your sins. You could
not find the way out. You sat down and
said: "God will not be merciful. He has
cast me off," but in that, the darkest hour
of your history, light broke from the throne
and Jesus said. 20 wanderer, come home,
have seen all thy sorrows. In this, the
hour of thy extremity, l offer thee pardon
and everlasting lifew
Trouble came You were almost torn to
pieces by that trouble. You braced your.
self up against it. You said: II will be a
stole, and will not care" but before you had
got through making the resolution it broke
down under you. You felt that all your re-
sources were gone, and then Jesus came.
i'In the fourth watch of the night" tho
Bible says "Jesus came walking on the sea"
Why did He not come in the first watch or
in the second watch or in the third watch
do not know. He came in the fonrth, and
gave delverance to His disciples, Jesus in
the last extremity!
| wonder if it will be SO in our very last
extremity. We shall fall suddenly sick, and
doctors will come, but in vain. We will try
the anodynes and the stimulants and the
bathings, but all in vain. Something will
say: 'You must 60" No one to hold us
back, but the hands of eternity stretched out
to pull us on. What then? Jesus will come
to us, and as we say: Lord Jesus, ! am
afraid of that water; cannot wade through
| to the other side," He will say: Take
hold of My arm" and we will tax,
hold of His arm, and then He will put His foo
in the surf of the wave taking us down
deeper, deeper, deeper, and our soul will cry
"All Thy waves and pillows have gone ovel
me-" They cover the feet, come to TIN
knee, pass the girdle and come to the head
and our soul cries out: Lord Jesus, | can
not hold Thine arm any longer" Then Jesu
will turn around. throw both His arms abou
us and set us on the beach, far beyond tb
tossing of the pillows. Jesus in the last ez
tremity.
H. s. 7tdlng scene IS gone now. Th
wedding ring has been lost, the tankard
have been broken, the house ia down; bu
Jesus invites us to a,grander wedding. Yo'
know the Bible says that the church is tn
Lambs wife, and the Lord will after awhil
come to fetch her home. There will b
cleaning of torches in the sky, and tn
trumpets of God will ravish the air wit
their music: and Jesus will stretch out H1
hand and the church, ROBBED in white
will Put aside her VEIL and loo
up into the face of her Lord the King
and the bridegroom will say to the bride
Thou hast been faithful through all thes
Gears! The mansion is ready Come homt
Thou art fair. My love p and then II
shall put upon her brow the crown of domiI
ion, and the table will be spread, and it wi
reach across the skies, and the might
ones of heaven will come in, garlande
with beauty and striking their Gym
balls; and the bridegroom and brio
will stard at the head of the table, an
the banqueters, looking up, will wonder an
admire, and say: THAT is Jesus the brid
groom? But the scar on His brow is coyere
with The coronet and the stab in His side
covered with robef' and that is the brid
The WEAKNESS of her earthly woe lost in tt
flush OF this wedding TRIUMPH
There will be wine enough at that we,
ding; not coming up from the poisoned va
Of earth but the vineyards of God will pre-
their ripest clusters, and the cups and tt
tankards will blush to the brim with IL
heavenly vintage, and then all the bal
aueters will drink standing. Estht
having come up from the pacchan
liam revelry of Ahasuerus, where
thousand Lords Toasted, will be there. Ar
the Queen of Sheba, from the banquet
Solomon, will be there. And the mother
Jesus, from the wedding in Cana, will
there And they all will agree that Il
earthly feasting was poor compared vii
that. Then, lifting their chalices in that no
ight, they shall cry to the Lord of the feas
Thou hast kept the good wine until now"
THE LABOR WORLD.