Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-09-03

| none. But We want moro reverence for
God. more reverence for the sacraments,
more reverence for the Bible, more rever-
ence for the pure, more reverence for the
cool. Reverence a characteristic of all
great natures. You herr it in the roll Of
Raphaels and Titians and Ghiriandjos. You
stuiy it in the architecture Of the Aholiabs
aud Christopher Wrens. Do not be fiippant
about God Do not joke about death Do
not make fun of the Bible Do not deride
the Eternal. The brightest AMI mightiest
seraph cannot LOOK unabishei upon Hin.
Invountarily the wings coms up. with
twain he covered hi; face.n
Another seraphic posture in thstax5 The
seraph must not always stant still. be
must move an / it must be- without clumsi-
ness. There must be celebrity and beauty IN
the movement with twain he did fly -
Correction. exhilaratiop. Correction at our
sow gait, for we only crawl in the service
wien we ought to fly at the divlns bidding
Exhilaration in the fact that thu soul has
wings as the seraohs have wings. What is
wing? An instrument of loconotion. They
may not be libe seraph's wing, they may not
be like birds wing, but the soul has wings.
God says so. 'de shall mount up on wings
as eagles We are made in the divine i'm
age, an God has wings. The Bible says so.
Healing in His WINS" "Under the shadow
of His wings" 'Unier whose wings thou
has clme to trust" We have foide1 wing
now, wounded wing, broken wing, bleeding
wing, Gagged wing. Ayel | have it now,
Gagged within bars Of bone and under cur
tains of flesh, but one day to be free. hear
toe rustic of pnions in Seagraves poem,
which we often sing:
Rise, my sonl and stretch thy wings.
hear the rustic of pnions in Alexander
Pope's stanzl, which says.
r,on,4
o Death where Is thy victory?
A dying Christian not long ago cried out,
"Wings, wings, wiugsr' The air is full OF
them, coming aud going, coming and going
You have seen how the dull, sluggish chrysa-
lid becomes the bright butterfly; the dub,
and the stupid, and the lethargic .urned into
the alert and the beautiful Well, my friends.
in this world we are in the chrysalid state.
Death wi unfurl the wings. Oh, it we could
only realize what gran thing it will be to
get rid OF the old clod of a body and mount
the heavens. neither seagull nor LARK nor
albatross nor falcon nor con Tor pitching
from highest range o. Andes, so buoyant or
so ma sstic of stroke.
See that eagle in tho mountain nest. 1t
looks so scS, so ragged feathsred so worn
out and SO half asleep. Is that eagle dying?
No. The ornithoiogist will tell You it is
Noting season with that bird. Not dying,
but Noting. You sss that Christian sick
and weary and worn out and scanning about
to expire on what is called his deathbed
The world says he is dying. l say it is the
molting season for his sou,-.he body
dropping away, the celestial pinions com
ing on. Not Dying, but Noting. Noting
out of darkness and sin and struggle into
glory and into Col. Why do you not shout?
Why do you sit shivering at the thought of
death ami trying to hold back and wishing
you could stay here forever, aud speak OF
departure as though the subject were filed
with skeletons and the varnish of collins,
and as though you preferred lame foot to
swift wing?
O people of God, let US stop playing the
fool and pref are for rapturous fighf When
your soul stands on the verge of this Ii e. ami
there are vast precipices beneath and sap
phired domes above which way will you fly?
Will you swoop or will you soar! VIII you
fly downward or will you fly upward?
Everything on the wing this morning bid
ding us aspire. Holy Spirit on the wing
Angel of the new covenant on the wing.
Time on the wing, flying away from us.
Eternity on the wing, flying towar1 Us.
Wings, wings, wings!
Live so near to Christ that when you are
dead people standing by your lifeleSs body
will not soliloquize, saying: What a dis
appointment life was to him; how averse he
was to departure; what pity it was he had
to die; what an awful calamity" Rather
standing there may they sea a sign more
vivid on your still face than ths vsstiges OF
pam, something tnat will MITIGATE that it
was happy exit-the clearance from op-
pressive quarantine, the cast off chrysalid,
the molting of the faded and useless and the
ascent from malariai valleys to bright.
shining mountain tops, and be led to say as
they stand there contemplating your humil-
ity and your reverence in life and your hap
piness in death, with twain he covered
the feet, with twain he covered the face
with twain he did fly" Wngsl Wings!
Wingsl