Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-04-30

derstand why they lied about you and
tried TO drive you hither and thither. II
/ was to put you in the glorious company of
| such men as lgnatius, who, when he went
out TO be destroyed by the lions, said:
II am the wheat. and the teeth of the
wild beasts must first grind me before
1 can become pure bread for Jesus
| Christi" or the company Of such men as
Polycarp, who, when standing in the midst
OF the amphitheater waiting for the lions
to come out Of their cave and destroy him,
and the people in the galleries jeering and
shouting, "The lions for Polycarp," re-
| piled, "Let them come on" and then stoop-
ing down toward the cave where the wild
beasts were roaring to get out, "Let them
come on" All, yes, it is persecution to put
you in glorious company; and while there
are many things that you will have to
postpone to the future world for explana-
tion, l tell you that it is the whole tendency
of your religion to upravel and explain
and interpret and illumine and irradiate.
Job was right. 1t is glorious transpar-
ency. "The crystal cannot equal it."
l remark again that religion surpasses
the crystal in its beauty. That lump of
crystal is put under the magnifying glass
i Va OhO VI anu NC Occ5 III IL III
describable beauty-snowdrift and splint-
ers of hoar frost and corals and wreaths
and stars and crowns and oscillations of
conspicuous beauty. The fact is that
crystal is so beautiful that can think OF
but one thing in all the universe that is so
beautiful, and that is the religion of the
Bible. No wonder this Bible represents
that religion as the daybreak, as the apple
blossoms, as the glitter of kings ban
quet. 1t is the Joy OF Che whole earth.
| TOO MUCH TALK OF THE CROSS.
People talk too much about their cross
| and not enough about their crown Do
| you know the Bible mentions a cross but
twenty-seven times, while it mentions a
crown eighty timesS Ask that old man
what he thinks of religion. He has been a
| close observer. He has been culturing an
aesthetic taste. He has seen the sunrises of
a half century. He has been an early riser.
| He has been an admirer of canoes and
| corals and all kinds of beautiful things.
| Ask him what he thinks of religion, and he
| will tell you, at is the most beautiful
thing l ever saw" "The crystal cannot
! equal it."
Beautiful in its symmetry. When it
| presents Gods character it does not pre-
sent him as having love like great pro-
| tuberance ON one side of his nature, but
makes that love in harmony with his
| justice "a love that will accept all
those who come to him, and a justice that
will by no means clear the guilty. Beauti-
| full religion in the sentiment it implants!
| Beautiful religion in the hope it kindles!
Beautiful religion in the fact that it pro-
poses to garland and enthrone and empar-
adise an immortal spirit Solomon says
it is a lily. Paul says it is a crown. The
Apocalypse says it is a fountain kissed of
the sun. Ezekiel says it is foliaged cedar.
Christ says it is bridegroom come to fetch
home bride. While Job in the text takes
| up whole vase of precious stones-the
topaz, and the sapphire, and the chryso-
prasus-and he takes out of this beautiful
vase just one crystal, and holds it up until
it CLEANS in the warm light of the eastern
sky, and he exclaims, "The crystal cannot
equal it,"
Oh, it is not stale religion, it is not
stupid religion, it is not toothless hag,
as some seem to have represented it; it is
not Meg Merriles with shriveled arm
ceme to scare the world 1t is the fairest
daughter of God, heiress of all his wealth.
Her cheek the morning sky; her voice the
music of the south wind; her step the
dance of the sea. Come and WOO her. The
Spirit and the bride say come, and whose
ever will, let him come Do you agree with
Solomon and say it is lily? Then pluck
it and wear it over your heart. Do you
agree with Paul and say it is crowne
Then let this hour be your coronation. Do
you agree with the Apocalypse and say
it is springing fountain2 Then come
and slake the thirst of your soul. Do you
believe with Ezekiel and say it is a foli-
aged cedar? Then come under its shadow.
Do you believe with Christ and say it is
bridegroom come to fetch home bridef
Then strike hands with your Lord the
King while pronounce you eyerlastingly
one. Or if you think with Job that it is a
jewel, then put it on your hand like ring,
on your neck like a bead, on your forehead
like star, while looking into the mirror
of Gods Word you acknowledge ''the
crystal cannot equal it.''
THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF RELIGION.
Again, religion is superior to the crystal
in its transformations. The diamond is
only crystallization of coal. Carbonate
of lime rises till it becomes calcite or ar
agonite. Red oxide of copper crystallizes
| into cubes and octohedrons. Those crys-
| tails which adorn our persons and our
homes and our museums have only been
resurrected from forms that were far from
lustrous. Scientists for ages have been ex-
anining these wonderful transformations.
But I tell you in the gospel of the Son of
God there is more wonderful transforma-
| tion. Over souls by reason of sin black as
coal and hard as iron God by his comfort
| ing grace stoops and says, "They shall be
mine in the day when I make up my
Jewels"
"What," say you, Twill God wear jewell
ryw If he wanted it he could make the
stars of heaven his belt and have the even
| ing cloud for the sandals of his feet, but
he does not want that adornment. He
will not have that jewelry. When God
wants jewelry he comes down and digs it
out of the depths and darkness of sin.
These souls are all crystallizations of
mercy. He puts them on, and he wears
them in the presence of the whole universe
He wears them on the hand that was
nailed, over the heart that was pierced, on
the temples that were stung. "They shall
be mine," saith the Lord, Sin the day when
I make up my jewels" Wonderful trans
formationl "The crystal cannot equal it. "
There she is, a waif of the street, but she
shall be sister of charity. There he is, a
sot in the ditch, but he shall preach the
gospel. There, behind the bars of prison,
but he shall reign with Christ forever.
Where sin abounded grace shall much
more abound. The carbon becomes the
solitaire. "The crystal cannot equal it."