Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-02-02

TO the archangel and clear past him to the
Lord God Almighty, your coadjutors.
THE BRIGHTNESS OF LIFE
This is not the advice of n misanthrope.
There is no man in the house to whom the
world is brighter than it is to me, 1t is not
the advice of a dyspeptic-my digestion is
perfect it is not the advice of u man who
cannot understand joke or who prefers a
funeral. it is not the advice of WORKOUT
man. hut the advice of n man who can see
this world in all its brightness, and, consid-
ering myself competent in Judging what is
good cheer, tell the multitudcs of young
men in this house this morning that there
is nothing in worldly association 30 grand
rnd so beautiful and so exhilarant as in
Christ ian society.
know there is a great deal of talk about
the self denials of the Christian. | have
to tell you that where the Christian has
nne self denial the man of the world has a
thousand self dcnals. The Christian is not
commanded to surrender anything that is
worth keeping. But what does a man deny
himself who denies himself the religion Of
Christ lie denies himself pardon for sin;
he denies himself peace Of conscience; he
denies himself the Joy of the Holy Ghost;
he denies himself a comfortable death pill
/ low; he denies himself the glories of heaven.
Do not talk to me about the self denials of
the Christian life Where there is one in
the Christian life there are n thousand in
the life of the world. "lier ways are ways
Of rleasantness,"
Again, | find n great deal of religious
sunshine in Christian and divine eXpana-
ton. To a great many people life is an in
applicable tanglc. Things turn out diff
ferentlv from what was supposed. There
is Il useless woman IN perfect health. There
is an industrious and Consecratcd woman
complete invalid Explain that There is
IA bad man with 100000 of income There
is II good man with $500 of income. Why
is that? There is a foe OF society who lives
ON, doing all the damage he can, to seventy
five years of age, and here is Christian
father, faithful in every department of life,
Mt thrty-fvc years of age taken away by
death, his family left helpless. Explain
that. Oh, there is no sentence that oftener
drops from your lips than this: Il cam OF
understand It. | cannot understand it"
IT Is BETTER THAN EARTHLY FRIENDSHIP.
/ Well, nov, religion comes in Just at that
point with its illumination and its eXplana-
ton. There il business man who has lost
his entire fortune. I he week before he lost
his fortune there were twenty carriages that
stopped at the door of his mansion; the
week after he lost hi, fortune all the car
riages YOU could count on one finger. The
week before financial trouble began people
all took off their hats to him rs he passed
down the street The week his financial
prospects We're under discussion people
Just touched their hats without anywise
bending the rim. The week that he was
pronounced insolvent people just ioltcd
their heads as they passed, not tipping
their hats at all, and the week the sheriff
sold him ont all his friends were looking
in the store windows as they went down
past him.
! Now while the world goes away from n
man when he is in financial distress the
religion of Christ comes to him and says:
You are sick, and your sickness is to he
moral publication. \ on are bercaved. God
wanted in some way to take your family to
heaven, and he must begin somewhere, and
so he took the one that was most beautiful
and was most ready to go.' | do not say
that religion explains everything III this
life, but do say it lays down certain prin-
ciples which are grandly consolatory.
1ou know business men often telegraph
in ciphers The merchant in San Fran
cisco telegraphs to the merchant in New
York certain information III ciphers which
no other man in that line Of business can
understand but the merchant in san Fran
cisco has the key to the cipher and the
merchant i'll New York has the key to the
cipher, and on that information transmit
ted there are enterprises involving hun
dreds of thousands Of dollars.
Now the prOvidenccs Of life sometimes
seem to be senseless rigmarole a mysteri-
Gus cipher, but God has a key to that ci-
,,l,a nd l,a hriS Jn+ ~;
pher, and though he may hardly be able to
spell out the meaning he gets enough OF
the meaning to understand that it is for
the best. Now is there not sunshine in
that? Il there not pleasure in that: Far
beyond laughter, it is nearer the fountain
of tears than boistCrous demonstration.
Have YOU never cried for JOY? There are
tears which are eternal rapture in distlla-
ton.
no REAL LIFE WITHOUT RELIGION.
There are hundreds of people in this
house who are walking day by day in the
sublime satisfaction that all is for he best
all things working together for good fOr
their soul. How a man can get along
through this life without the explanation
is to me Il mystery. What! is that child
gone forever Are you never to get it back
Is your property gone forever? Is your
soul to be bruised and to be tried forever:
Have You no explanation, no Christian eX-
PLANTATION, and yet not maniac? But when
you have the religion of Jesus Christ in
your soul it explains everything so far as it
is best for You to understand. You look
oil in life. and your soul is full of thanks
giving to God that you are so much better
of than you might be.
\ man passed down the street without
any shoes and said: Il have no shoes
Isn't it a hardship that l have no shoes;
Other people have shoes. No shoes, nc
shoes, until he saw Il man with no feet
Then he learned IA lesson. You ought tC
thank God for what he does, instead OF
grumbling for what he does not. God ar
ranges all the weather in this world-the
spiritual weather, the moral weather, a,
well as the natural weather what kind
of weather win it be today" said some one
TO a farmer. The farmer replied, 1T will
he such weather as like" What do you
mean by thatE' asked the other. well, -
said the farmer, 1T will be such weather a,
pleases the Lord, and what pleascs tn,
Lord pleases me"
Oh. the sunshine the Sunshine of Chris