Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-10-24

TIC ANNt "a AAc fEa ~ -B4itN-
Onward TRE " kTCHwORn.
Bat notice th4t tbls finger of God a.
most always and Ia almost e. ery-hlug
points forward and not backward. Al
TIE way through the Bible The ianlb and
pigeon GA TIE al-zr the pillar cf hre
p0ised above the wilderness. peace ODER
ing sin Offering, trespass caerlag. m
gers II 5oseph and Isaac and Joshna and
David and Isaiah and Micah and Ezekiel,
al Together made the one finger Ct God
pointing 20 the human. the divine. TIE
gracious, the glorious, the omnipotent,
The seatle, the pardOnIng ana suffering
and atonng Christ Aud now the same
finger Of God Is pointing the world mp
ward 10 the s. NE RedeeIner and for
ward TO the tine Of his universal tomi-
nation. Ny hearers, get ont Of the habit
OF looking back and looking down, and
look up and look forward Ii L. useful
once IN awhile 10 look back. but you had
better for the most part of your time
stop Renaissance and begin anticipa-
ton. We have none of Us hardly be-
gun yet II we love the Lord and trust
him-and you may all love him and trust
him from this moment on-we no more
understand the good things ahead of us
than a child NJ school studying his \ b
{ can understand what that has TO do
with his reading John Ruskin's Seven
Lamps Of Architecture" or Dante's "Di-
yina Commedia." The satisfactions and
joys we have as vet had are like the
music boy makes with his first lesson
on the violin compared with what was
evoked from his great orchestra by my
dear and illustrious and transcendent
but now departed friend. Patrick Gil
more, when he lifted his baton and all
the strings vibrsted, and all the trum-
pets pealed forth. and all the flutes car
oiled, and all the drums rolled, and all
the hoofs of the cavalry charge which
he initiated were in full beat Look
ahead! The finger of God points for
ward.
'Oh. but" says some one, Il am get
ting old, and l have touch of rheuma-
tism in that foot, and believe something
is the matter with my heart, and | ca.
not stand as much as l used to-" Well, i
congratulate you, for that shows you
are getting nearer TO the time when you
are going to enter immortal youth and
be strong enough 10 hurl of the battle
ments of heaven any bandit who by uu-
heard Of burglary might break into the
Golden City. But" says some one, Il
feel so lonely. The most of my friends
are gone. and the bereavements Of life
have multiplied until this world that
was once so bright TO me has lost its
charm" / congratulate You, for when
you go there will be fewer here TO hold
you back and more there to pull you in.
Look aheadl The finger of God is point
ing forward. We sit here in church.
and by hymn and prayer and sermon
and Christian association we try to get
into a frame of mind that will be accept
able to God and pleasant TO ourselves.
But what stupid thing it all is COM
pared with what II Will be when we have
gone beyond psalmbook and sermon and
Bible, and we stand, our last imperfec-
ton gone, In the presence of that charm
of the uniyerse-the blessed Christ-and
have him look in our face and say: Il
have been watching you and sympathiz-
ing with you and helping you ali these
years, and now YOU are here. Go where
you please and never know a sorrow and
never shed q tear. There is your mother
pow-she IS coming to greet you-and
there is your father, and there are your
children. Sit down under this tree Of
life, and on the banks OF this river talk
it all over" | tell you there will be
more JOY III one minute Of that than in
fifty years of earthly exultaticn. Look
ahead LOok at the finest house on earth
and know that you viii have q finer one
in heaven. Look up the healthiest pel-
son you can find aud know you will yet
he healthier LOOK up the one who has
the best eyesight Of any one you have ever
heard of, and know you will have better
vision. Listen to the sweetest prima
donna that ever trod the platform, and
know that in heaven Won will lift more
onraptufing song than ever enchanted
earthly auditorium.
h VISION oF sPIENDoR.
Ny friends, do not knC y how we are
I goins 10 stand it mean the full thrush
OF that splendor. Last summer / saw
| Moscow, In some respects the most
/ splendid city under the sun. The en-
/ peror af5egward asked me if had seen
/ IL, for Moscow is the pride Of Russia
| | told him yes. and that | had seen Mos
/ cow burn. | Will tell YOU what meant.
| After examining nine hundred brass
| cannons which were picked out Of the
snow after Napoleon retreated from
Moscow, each cannon deep cut with the
! letter M assembled the tower Of some
two hundred aud fifty feet, just before
| sunset. and on each platform there were
hells, large ana small. aud climbed up
among the bells. and then as | reached
/ the top all the bells underneath me
began 70 ring. and they were joined by
+ the bells Of fourteen hundred towers
and dofnes and turrets Some Of the
bells sent ont faint tinkle Of sound. q
sweet naturalization that seemed 70
/ bubble in the air. and others Numbered
forth boom after boom. hoom after
/ boom until 1t seemed 10 shake the earth
/ and fill the heavens sounds So weird,
so sweet, so awful. so grand. SO charm
ing. so tremendous 50 soft, 50 ripping
50 reverberating and they seemed -
wreathe and wa.rl and rise and sink aud
( burst and roll and mount and die.
When Napoleon saw Moscow burn it
I could not have been more brilliant than
( when / saw Al the fourteen hundrsd
turvets sfane with the sunset. roofs o.
gold aui walls ~ mslachite. and sTchi
1 lecture n al oolors mingling the brown