Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-06-19

ally interested In the welfare OF SOL
diers. But what a patchwork quilt
she sentl On every blocl; of the quilt
wa passage of Scripture or a verse of
a hymn. The months and years of the
war went by, On that quilt many
wounded man had lain and suffered and
died. But one morning the hospital
nurse saw patient under that blanket
kissing the figure of leaf in the quilt
and the nurse supposed he was only
wandering in his mind. But no, he was
the son of the mother who had made
the quilt and he recognized that figure
of leaf as part of n gown his mother
used to wear, and it reminded him of
home. "Do you know where this quilt
came from?" he asked. The nurse ans
wered, ~ can find out, for there was
a card pinned fast to IL. and i win find
that" Sure enough, it confirmed what
he thought. Then the nurse pointed to
a passage of Scripture in the block of
the quilt, the passage which says:
"When he was yet a great way off his
father saw him and ran and fell on his
neck and kissed him" eyes" said the
daying soldier, IL was great way off,
but God has met me and had COM
passion or me-" "Shall / write to
your mother and tell her that the lost
one is found and the dead is alive
again?" lie answered, 81 wish you
would, if it would not be too much
trouble" Do you suppose that woman
who made that quilt and filed it with
Scripture passages had any trouble
about who Melchizede1 was or how the
doctrine of Gods sovereignty can be
harmonized with mans free agency,
or who wrote the Pentatcuch,
or the Inconsistencies of the
Nicene creed? No, no; go to
work for God and suffering humanity
and all your doubts and fears and mys-
teries and unbeliefs put together will
not be heavy enough TO stir the chem
lists scales, which is accustomed to
weighing one-fiftieth part of n grain of
chamomile flowers. Why stop a mo-
ment to understand the mysteries when
there are so many certitudes? Why
spend our time exploring the dark gar
rets and coal-holes of great palace
which has above ground one hundred
rooms flooded with sunshine?
Do you know that think that II all
ministers in all denominations would
stop this nonsense OF ecclesiastical
strife and take hold the word of God,
the only question with each of us be-
ing how many souls we can bring to
Christ and in how short a time, the
Lord would soon appear for the saliva
ton of all nations? When the young
Queen of England visited Scotland
many years ago, great preparations
were made for her reception. The
vessel in which she sailed was far out
at sea, but every hill in Scotland was
illumined with bonfires and torches.
The night was set on fire with
artificial illumination. The Queen
standing on ships deck, knew
from that that Scotland was
full of heartiest welcome, and the
great thunder of the great
guns at Glasgow and Edinburgh
castle woke up all the echoes. Boom!
they sounded out over the sea.
Boom! they sounded up among the
hills. Doyou know that think that our
King would land if we were only ready
to receive him? Why not call to him
from all our churches, from all our hos
pitfalls, from all our homes? Why not all
at once light all the torches of Gospel
invitation? Why not ring all the bells
of welcome? Why not light up the
long night of the worlds sin and suffer
ing with bonfres of victory? Why not
unlimber all the Gospel batteries, and
let them boom across the earth, and
boom into the parting heavens? The
King is ready to land if we are ready
to receive him.
But the skies do not part. hear no
rumbling of chariot wheels coming
down over the sapphire. There is no
swoop of wings. / see no flash of an
gelic appearances. All is still hear
nothing but the tramp of my own heart
as l pause between these utterances.
The King does not land because the
world is not ready, and the church is
not ready. To clear the way for the
Lords coming let us devote all our ener-
gies of body, mind and soul. A Russian
General riding over the battlefield, his
horse treading amid the dying and
dead, wounded soldier asked him for
water, but the officer did not under
stand his language and knew not what
the poor fellow wanted. Then the
soldier cried "Christos," and that word
meant sympathy and help, and the
Russian officer dismounted and put to
the lips of the sufferer a cooling
draught. Be that the charmed word
with which we go forth to do our
whole duty. In many languages it
has only little difference of termina-
ton. Christosl 1t stands for SYM
pathy. 1t stands for help. 1t stands
for pardon. 1t stands for hope. It
stands for heaven. Christos! In that
name we were baptised. In that name
we took our first sacrament. That will
be the battle-shout that will win the
whole world for God. Christosl Put
IL in our banners when we marchl Put
it on our lips when we diet Put 1t In
the funeral psalm at our obsequiesl
Put it on the plain slab over our gravel
Christos! Blessed be his glorious name
forever! Amenl
SiIvering Iron.