Milford chronicle., 1893-02-03
Christian society.

the self denials of the Christian. / have
to tell You that where the Christian has
one self denial the man Of the world has a
1 thousand self denials. 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. He denies himself pardon for sin;
he denies himself peace Of conscience; he
denies himself the Joy Of the Holy Ghost;
he denies himself comfortable death pill
low; hedenies himself the glories Of heaven.
Do not talk to me about the self denials of
the Christian lifel Where there is one in
the Christian life there are a thousand in
the life Of the world. Her ways are ways
of pleasantness."
Again, 1 find great deal of religious
sunshine in Christian and divine explana-
tion. To great many people life is an in
explicable tangle. Things turn out diff
ferently from what was supposed. There
is a useless woman in perfect health. There
is an industrious and consecrated woman n
complete invalid. Explain that There is
bad man with $4,000 of income There
is good man with $500 of income. Why
is that9 There is foe of society who lives
on, doing all the damage he can, to seventy
five years of age, and here is a Christian
father, faithful in every department Of life,
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death. his family left helpess. Explain
that. Oh, there is no sentence that oftener
drops from your lips than this; Il cannot
understand it. l cannot understand it."
IT Is BETTER THAN EARTHLY FRIENDSHIP.
Well, now, religion comes in just at that
point with its illumination and its explana-
ton There is a business man who has lost
his entire fortune. The week before he lost
his fortune there were twenty carriages that
stopped at the door of his mansion; the
week after he lost his 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 as he passed
down the street. The week his financial
prospects were under discussion people
Just touched their hats without anywise
bending the rim. The week that he was
pronounced insolvent people just jolted
their heads as they passed, not tipping
their hats at all, and the week the sheriff
sold him out all his friends were looking
in the store windows as they went down
past him.
Now while the world goes away from
man when he is in financial distress the
religion of Christ comes to him and says;
you are sick, and your sickness Is to be
moral publication. You are bereaved. God
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heaven, and lie must begin somewhere, and
so he took the one that was most beautiful
and was most ready to 60" do not say
that religion explains everything in this
life, but l do say it lays down certain prin-
ciples which are grandly cOnsolatOry.
You know business men often telegraph
in ciphcrs. The merchant in San Fran
cisco telegraphs to the merchant in New
York certain information in 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 in 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 proyidences of life sometimes
seem to be n senseless rigmarole, a mysteri-
GUS cipher, but God has a key to that ci-
pher, and the Christian a key to that CT
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? Is there not pleasure in that? Far
beyond laughter, it is nearer the fountain
Of tears than boisterous demonstration.
Have you never cried for joy? There are
tears which are eternal rapture in distilla-
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 the 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 a mystery What is that child
gone forever? Are you neverto get it back?
Is your property gone forever? Is your
soul to be bruised and to be tried forever?
Have you no explanation, 10 Christian eX-
PLANTATION, and yet not Gmaniac? But when
YOU have the religion of Jesus Christ in
your soul It explains everything 50 far rs It
is best for you to understand You look
off in life, and your soul is full Of thanks
giving to God that you are so much better
off than you might be.
A man passed down the street without
any shoes and said; Il have no shoes.
Isn't it hardship that I have no shoes2
Other people have shoes No shoes, no
Shoes" until he saw man with no feet.
Then he learned lesson You ought to
thank God for what he docs, instead Of
grumbling for what lie does not. God ar
ranges all the weather in this world-the
spiritual weather, the moral weather, as
well as the natural weather, "Nhat kind
of weather will it be today" said some one
to a farmer Tho farmer replied, "l5 will
be such weather rs like" what do you
mean by thatg" asked the other. well"
said the farmer, sit viii be such weather as
pIeases the Lord, and what pleases the
Lord pleases me-"
Oh, the sunshine, the sunshine of Chris
tian explanation Here is some one bend
ing over the grave Of the dead. What is
going to be the consolation? The flowers
you strew upon the tomb2 Oh, no. The
lervices read at the grave? Oh, no. The
chief consolation on that grave is what
falls from the throne of Gcd. Sunshine
glorious sunshine. Resurrection sunshine.
OUR JOY HERE But FoBETAsrE.
Again, find a great deal of the sunshine
Of this Bible and Of our religion in the eli
macteric joys that are to come. = man who
cets up and goes out from concert right
| after the opcning voluntary has been played
| and before the prima donna sings, or before
the orchestra begins, has q better idea Of
1 that concert than The man has who sup
poses that the chief joys Of religion arc in
! this world We hero have only the first
note of the eternal orchestra. We shall in
that world have the joy OF discovery. We
will in five minutes catch up with the as
| tronomers, the geologists, the scientists, the
philosophers of all ages who 50 far surpassed
rs in this world, We can afford to adjourn
astronomy and geology and many Of the
sciences to the next world, because we shall
there have better apparatus and better op
| portunlty.
I must study these sciences so far as to
help me in my work, but beyond that
must give, myself to saving my own soul
and saving the souls Of Others, knowing
that in one fash Of eternity we viii catch 1t
\ study astronomy heaven will be, not by
power Of telescope but by supernatural
vision, and if,there be something doubtful
10000, 600 mills away by one stroke Of the
wind you are there, by another stroke Of
the wing you are back again, and in less
| time than tell you catching it all in one
flash of eternity.
And geologyl What place thet will be
to study geology, whel the world is being