The Hazel Green herald., 1892-02-26

do. That is the meaning Of all that
scripture which says that Christ will
on that day address the soul, saying;
II was naked and We clothed me, was
sick and in prison and We visited me-"
All the footsteps in that prison corri-
dor as the Christian reformer walks TO
the wicket of the incarcerated. yea, all
the whispers OF coincidence in the ear
of that poor soul dying in that garret;
yea, all the kindncsses are being caught
up and rolled on until they dash against
the Judgment Throne and then they
will be struck back into the ears of
these sons and daughters of mercy.
! Louder than the crash of Mt Washing.
ton falling on its face in the world
wide catastrophe, and the boiling of
the sea over the furnaces of universal
conhagration will be the echo and re-
echo of the good deeds done and the
sympathetic words uttered and the
mighty benefactions wrought On that
day all the charities, all the selfsacri-
fees, all the philantbropies, all the
beneficent last wills and testaments,
all the Christian work of all the ages,
will be piled up into mountains, and
those who have served God and served
the suffering human race will hear
what my text styles ''the sounding of
the mountains" &
My subject advances to tell you that
eternity itself is only an echo of time.
Mind you, the analogy warrants my
saying this. The echo is not always
exactly in kind like the sound original
ly projected Lord Raleigh says that a
woman's voice sounding from grove
was returned an octave higher. A
scientist playing n flute in Fairfax
county, Virginia, found that the notes
were returned, although some of them
came in a raised pitch. A trumpet
sounded ten times, near Glasgow, Scot
land, and the ten notes were all re-
peated, but a third lower, And the
spiritual law corresponds with the
natural world. What we do good or
bad may not come back to us in just
the proportion we expect it, but
| come back it will; it may be from
a higher gladness than we thought
or from deeper woe, from a mightier
conqueror or from a worse captive,
| from higher throne or deeper dun
geon. Our prayer or our blaSphemy,
our kindness or our cruelty, our faith
or our unbelief, our holy life or our dis
solute behavior, will come back some
! how. Suppose the boss of factory or
| the head of a commercial firm some day
comes out among his clerks or en-
| ployes, and putting his thumbs in the
armholcs of his vest, says with an air
J of swagger and jocosity: We'll, |
don't believe in the Bible or the church.
The one is an imposition and the
other is full of hypocrites. | declare
| would not trust one of those very
pious people further than | could see
him" That is all he says, but he has
said enough. The young men go back
to their counters or their shuttles and
say within themselves: "Well, he is a
successful man, and has probably
studied up the whole subject and Is
probably right" That one lying utter
ance against Bibles and churches has
put five young men on the wrong track,
and though the influential man had
spoken only in half jest the echo shall
come back to him in five ruined life
times and five destroyed cternities.
| You see, the echoes are an octave lower
than he anticipated.
On the other hand, some rainy day,
when there are hardly any customers,
the Christian merchant comes ont from
his counting room and stands among
the young men, who have nothing to
do. and says; well, boys, this is dull
day, but il will clear off after awhile.
There are a good many ups and downs
| in business but there is an overruling
Providence. Years ago made up my
mind to trust God, and He has always
seen me through. remember when
was your age had just come to town.
and the temptations of city life gather
ed around me-. but i resisted. The fact
is, there were two old folks out on
the old farm praying for me, and /
knew il, and somehow could not do as
some of the clerks did or go where some
of the clerks went tell you, boys, 1t
is best always to do right, and there Is
nothing to keep one right like the old
fashioned religion of Jesus Christ
John. where did You go TO church last
Sunday Henry how Is the Young
Mems Christian association prosper
ing?" About noon the rain ceases and
the sun comes out and the clerks go to
their places, and they say within them
selves: "Well, he is successful mer-
chant, and guess he knows what he
is talking about, and the Christian re-
ligfon must be agood thing. God knows
want some help in this battle with
temptation and sim"
The successful merchant who uttered
the kind words did not know how much
good he was doing but the echo will
come back in five lifctimes OF virtue