Democratic messenger., 1893-11-18

library. compared with tho imperishable
record; You have made in the illuInined
memories Of those TO whom You did such
kindncsses? Forget them? They cannot
forget them.
Notwithstanding all their might and
splen,lor. there are some things the glori-
fed of heaven cannot do, and this is one
of them. They cannot forget an earthly
kindness done. They have no cutlass to
part that cable. They have no strength
to hurl into oblivion that benefaction.
Has Paul forgotten tho inhabitants of
Malta. who extended the island hospital
ity when he and others with him had
felt. added to a shipwreck. the drenching
rain and the sharpc..l? Has the victim
of the highwayman -. the road to Jeri-
cho forgotten the Good Samaritan with
n me,licamcnt of oil AMI wine and free
eide To the hostclry: Have the English
soldiers who went up Ia God from the
Crimcan battlefields forgotten Florence
Nightingale?
Through all eternity will tho north
ern and southern soldiers forget the
ministerel to the dying boys in blue and
gray after the awful fights in Tennessee
and Pennsylvania and Virginia and
Georgia. which turned every house and
barn and shed into hospital and incar-
nadine,l the cSusquehanna, and the James,
and the Chattahaochec, and the Savannah
with brave blood? The kindnesses you
do to others will stand rs long in the ap-
probation of others as the gates of heav-
en- will stand, as the House of Many
Mansions" will stand. as long as the
throne of God will stand.
CHARACTER IS ETERNAL.
Another defeat of oblivion will be
found in the character of those whom we
rescue. uplift or save. Character is eter-
nal. Suppose by a right influence we
aid i'm transforming a bad man into q
good man. dolorous man into happy
man. a ,lish;2rtened man into cour-
ageous man ~every stroke Of that work
done will bc immortalized. There may
never he So much as one line In news
paper regarding it. or no mortal tongue
may ever whisper it into human ear, but
wherever that soul shall go your work
upon it shall go. wherever that soul rises
your work ON it will rise. and SO long as
that soul will last your work ON it will
last.
Do you suppose there will ever come
such an idiotic lapse in the history Of
that soul in heaven that it shall forget
that you invited him to Christ; that you
by prayer or gospel word turned him
round from the wrong way to the right
way? No such insanity will ever smite o
heavenly citizen. II is not half as well
known ON earth that Christopher Wren
planned and built st. Paul's as it will be
known in all heaven that you were the
instrumentality Of building temple for
the sky.
We teach a Sabbath class. or put a
Christian tract in the hand Of passerby,
or testify for Christ in "a prayer meeting,
or preach sermon and go home dis
couragcl. as though nothing had been ac-
complishe,l. when we had been character
building with material that no frost or
earthquake or rolling of the centuries can
damage or bring down.
There is no sublimer art ON earth than
architecture. With pencil and rule and
compass. the architect sits down alone
and in silence. and evolves from his own
brain cathedral, or national capitol, or
massive home before he leaves that ta-
ble. and then he goes out and unrolls his
plans. and calls carpenters and masons
and artisans of all sorts to execute his
design. and when it is finished he walks
around the vast structure, and sees tho
completion Of the work with high salts
faction. and on "a stone at some corner
of the building the architects name may
he chiseled.
time. that takes down everything. will
yet take down that structure, until there
shall not be one stone left upon another
But there il soul in heaven. Through
your instrumentality it was put there.
Under Gods grace you are the architect
OF its eternal happiness. Your name is
written. not on one corner of its nature,
but inwrought into its every fiber and
energy. Will the storms of winter wash
out the story of what you have wrought
upon that spiritual structure? No. There
are no storms in that land. and there is no
winter. Will time wear ont the inscrip-
ton which shows your fidelity? No. Time
is past. and it is an everlasting now. Built
into the foundation of that imperishable
structure. built into its pillars, built into
its capstone. is your name-either the
name you have on earth or the name by
which celestials shall call you.
know the Bible says in one place that
God is q jealous God. but that refers to
the work Of those who worship some 9TH
er god. A true father is not jealous of
his child. With what glee you show tho
picture your child penciled. or toy ship
your child hewed out. or recite the noble
deed your child accomplished. And God
never was jealous of Joshua, never
was jealous of q Paul, never was jeal-
ous of Frances Havergal. never was
jealous If man or woman who tried
to heal wounds and wipe away tears
and lift burdens and save souls;
and while all is of grace, and
your self abnegating utterance will be,
Not unto us. not unto us. but unto thy
name. . Lord. give glory" you shall
always feel heavenly satisfaction in
every good thing You did on earth, and
if iconoclasm. borne from beneath,
should break through the gates Of heaven
and cfface one record of your earthly
fidelity. methinks Christ would take one
of the nails of his own cross and write
on the crystal. or the anne
thyst. or the jacinth. or the chrysoprasus,
your name and just under it the inscrip-
ton of my text. The righteous shall be
held in everlasting remembrance"
Oh, this character building! You and
I are every moment busy in that tre-
men,lous occupation. You are making
me better or worse, and i am making
you better or worse. and we shall
through all eternity bear the mark of
this bcnediction OF blasting. Let others
have the thrones of heayen-those who
have more nightly wrought for God
nnd the trnth-but it will be- heaven