The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1892-08-12

portals the poor come and get the sym
pathy OF once pillowless Christ, tn,
bereaved COME and see the bottle il
which God saves all our tears, and tn,
captives come, and ON the sharp corner.
Of her affairs dash off their chains, an6
the thirsty come and put their cup under
the Crock of Ages" which pours forth
from its smitten side living water, spark
ling water, crystalline water from under
the throne of God and the Lamb
Blessed the bell that calls her worship
ers to prayer. Blessed the water IL
which her members are baptized, Bless
ed the wine that glows in her sacra.
mental cups, Blessed the songs on which
her devotions travel up and the angels
of God travel down.
As the moon goes through the midst
of the roaring storm clouds unfinished
and unframed, and comes out calm and
beautiful on the other side, so the
church of God has gone through all
the storms of this worlds persecution
and come out uninjured, no worse fol-
the fact that Robespierre cursed it,
and Voltaire caricatured it, and Tom
Paine sneered at 1t, and all the forces
of darkness have bombarded it. Not
like some baleful comet shooting across
the sky, scattering terror and dismay
among the nations, but above the long
bowling night Of the worlds wretched-
ness the Christian church has made her
mild way, Fair as the moon."
take a step further in my subject
"Clear as the sum-" After season of
storm or fog, how you are thrilled when
the sun comes out at MONDAY! The
mists travel up hill above hill, mountain
above mountain, until they are sky lost.
The forests are full of chirp and buzz
and song; honey makers on the log,
birds beak pounding the bark, the chat
ter of the squirrel on the rail, the call of
a hawk out of clear sky makes you
thankful for the sunshine which makes
all the world so busy and SO glad. The
same sun which in the morning kindled
CONGREGATIONS among the castles of
cloud scoops down to paint the lily
white and the butterchp yellow and the
forgetmenot blue.
WHAT CAN RESIST THE SUN?
What can resist the sun? Light for
voyager on the deep, light for shepherds
guarding the fiocks afield, light for the
poor who have no lamps to burn, light
for the downcast and the weary, light
for aching eyes and burning brain and
consuming captive, light for the smooth
brow of childhood and the dim vision of
the octogenarian, light for queens
coronet and sewing GIFTS needle. "Let
there be light"
Now, says my text, "Who is she that
looketh forth clear as the sum- Our an
swer is; the church. You have been 60
ing along a road before daybreak, and
on one side you thought you saw lion,
and on the other side you thought you
saw goblin of the darkness, but when
the sun came out you found these were
harmless apparitions. And it is the
great mission of the church of Jesus
Christ to come forth "clear as the sun"
to illumine all early darkness, to ex-
plain, as far as possible, all mystery, and
to make the world radiant in its bright
ness; and that which you thought was
an aroused lion is found out to be a
slumbering lamb; and the sepulchral
gates of your dead turn out to be the
opening gates Of heaven; and that which
you supposed was flaming sword to
keep you out of paradise is an angel of
light to beckon you in.
The lamps on her affairs will cast their
glow on your darkest pathway and cheer
you until, far beyond the need of Ian
tern or lighthouse, you are safely an.
chored within the veil. Oh, sun of the
church, shine on until there is no sor-
row to soothe, no tears to wipe away,
no shackles to break, no more souls to
be redeemed! Ten thousand hands of
sin have attempted to extinguish the
lamps on her affairs, but they are quench-
less, and to silence her pulpits, but the
thunder would leap and the lightning
would flame.
The church of God will yet come to
full meridian, and in that day all the
mountains of the world will be sacred
mountains, touched with the glory of
Calvary, and all streams will flow by
the mount of God like cool Sloan, and
all lakes be radiant with Gospel memories
like Gennesaret, and all islands of the
sea be crowned with apocalyptic vision
like Patmos, and all cities be sacred as
Jerusalem, and all gardens luxuriant as
paradise, with God walking in the cool
of the day. Then the chorals of grace
will drown out all the anthems of earth.
Then the throne of Christ will overtop
all earthly Authority. Then the crown
of Jesus will outfame all other coronets.
Sin destroyed. Death dead. He'll de-
feated. The church triumphant. All
the darknesses of sin, all the d,rknesses
OF trouble, all the darknesses of earthly
mystery hieing themselves to their
dens. Clear as the sum- Clear as the
sum-"
Further Terrible as an army with
banners" take one more step in this
subject and say that if you were placed
for the defense of feeble town, and
gteat army were seen coming over the
hills with flying ensigns, then you would
be able to get some idea of the terror
that will strike the hearts of the enemies
Of God when the church at last marches
on like 'an army with banners"
You know there is nothing that ex-
cites a soldiers enthusiasm so much as
an old flag. Many man almost dead,
catching q glimpse of the national ell
sign, has sprnng to his feet and started
Yrain into the battle. Now, my friends,
! don't want you to think of the church
Of Jesus Christ as a defeated institu-
ton, as the victim of infdel sarcasm
olneihiug to be kicked and cuffed and
trsmpled on through all the ages of the
world. 1t is ''an army with banners.
1t has an inscription and colors such as
never stirred the hearts of an earthly
scldiery.
We have our banner of recruit, and
on it is inscribed. "Who is on the Lords
side?" Oar banner of defiance, and on
it is inscribed, 1.-The gates of hell shall
not prevail against u.s." Our banner of
triumph, aud on it is inscribed, "Vic-
tory through our Lord Jesus Christi"
and we mean to plant that banner on
every hilton and wave it at the gate of