The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1892-03-04

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Queen of Sheba hears it, it must be a
tremendous story And yet this
queen declares in regard to it, al,
! though she had heard so much and
] had her anticipations raised so high,
the half-the half was not told her.
, RELIGION A WONDERFUL SURPRISE.
So religion is always Il surprise to
any one that gets it, The story of
grace-an old story. Apostles
preached it with rattle of chain
martyrs declared it with arm of fire;
deathbeds have affirmed it with Wis
ions of glory, and ministers of re-
hgion have sounded it through the
lanes, and the highways, and the
chapels, and the cathedrals, 1t has
been cut into stone with chisel and
spread on the canvas with pencil, and
it has been recited in the doyology of
great congregations, And yet when
a man first comes to look on the
palace of Gods mercy, and to see the
royalty of Christ, and the wealth of
this banquet, and the luXuriance of
his attendants, and the loneliness of
his face, and the joy of his service,
he exclaims with prayers, with tears,
with sighs, with tIiumphs, THE half
the half was not told mep
Iappeal to those in this house who
are Christians. Compare the idea
you had of the joy of the Christian
life before you became a Christian
with the appreciation of that JOY
you have now, since you have be-
come a Christian, and you are will
ing to attest before angels and men
that you never in the days of your
spiritual bondage had any apprecia-
ton of what was to come. You are
ready today to answer, and if l gave
you an opportunity in the midst of
this assemblage, you would speak
out and say in regard to the discov,
cries you have made of the mercy,
and the grace, and the goodness of
God, THE half-the half was not
told mew.
Well, we hear great deal about
the good time that is coming to this
world when it is to be girded with
salvation. Holiness on the bells of
the horses. The lions name patted
by the hand of babe. Ships of Tar
shish bringing cargoes for Jesus, and
the hard, dry, barren, winter
bleached, storm SCARED, thunder
split rock breaking into floods of
bright water. Deserts into which
dromedaries thrust their nostrils, be-
cause they were afraid of the simeon
deserts blooming into carnation
roses and silver tipped lilies.
1t is the old story. Everybody tells
it, Isaiah told it, John told it, Paul
told it, Ezekiel told it, Luther told
it, Calvin told it, John Milton told it
everybody tells it; and yet-and
yet when the midnight shall fly the
hills, and Christ shall marshal his
great army, and China, dashing her
idols into the dust, shall hear the
voice of God and wheel into line;
and India, destroying her Jugger-
naut and snatching up her little
children from the Gauges, shall hear
the voice of God and wheel into
line; and vine covered Italy and all
the nations of the earth shall hear
the voice of God and fall into line;
then the church which has been toll
ing and struggling through the cen
turies, robed and garlanded like a
bride adorned for her husband, and I
shall put aside her veil and look up
into the face of her Lord and King,
and say, THE half-the half was not
told mew
Well, there is coming a greater
surprise to every Christian-a greater
surprise than anything l have de-
picsd. Heaven is an old story.
Everybody talks about it. There is
hardly a hymn in the hymn book
that does not refer to it. Children
read about it in their Sabbath school
book. Aged men put on their spec
tacles to study it. We say it is
harbor from the storm. We call it
our home. We say it is tire house of
many mansions. We weave together
all sweet beautiful, delicate, exhila-
rant words; we weave them into let
ters, and then we spell it out in rose
and lily and amaranth. And yet
that place is going to be a surprise to
the most intelligent Christian.
Like the Queen Of Sheba, the re-
port has come to us from the far
country and many of Us have start
ed. 1t is a desert march, but we
urge on the camels. What though
our feet be blistered with the way?
We are fastening to the palace. We
take all our loves and hopes and
Christian ambitions as frankincense
and myrrh and cassia to the great
King. We must not rest. We must
not halt. The night is coming on.
and it is not safe out here in the des-
ert. Urge on the camels. l see the
aomes against the sky, and the houses
Of Lebanon, and the temples, and the
gardens. See the fountains dance in
the sun, and the gates flash as they
open to let in the poor pilgrims.
Send the word up to the palace
that we are coming, and that we are
weary of the march of the desert.
The King will come out and say:
Welcome to the palace; battle in
these waters, recline on these banks.
Take this cinnamon and frankincense
and myrrh and put it upon censor
md swing it before the altar" And
yet, my friends, when heaven bursts 6
lpon us it will be a greater surprise
han that-Jesus on the throne, and
we made like him All our Christian
friends surrounding us in glory! All {
)ur sorrows and tears and sins gone ,
by forever! The thousands of thou {
'ands, the one hundred and forty ,
md four thousand, the great multi $
,udes that no man can number, will !
Try, world without end. 1.-THE half
the half was not told usl'