Democratic messenger., 1893-11-18

"Ycu helped me once. You encouraged
mo when | Was in earthly struggle. L
do not know that ! would have reached
this shining lacc had it not been for
YOU" And wc will lIu;;h with heavenly
glee and say: 'lla! hal Do you really
remember that tall? DO you remember
that warning? Do you remember that
Christian invitation. What IL memory
you have! Why, that must have been
down there in Brooklyn and New Or
leans at least ten thous:,.l million years
sgo." And the answer Vii be, YES, it
was as long as that. but | remember it
as well as though it were yesterday"
Oh, this character buildingi Thestruc-
ture lasting independent of passing CEN
turies, independent of crumbling mauso-
leums. independent of the whole plane
tary system. Aye, If the material uni
verse, which seems all bound together
like one piece of machinery, should some
day meet with an accident that should
| send worlds crashing into each other like
telescoped railway trains, and all the
wheels of consultations and galaxies
should stop. and down into the chasm of
immensity all the suns and moons and
stars should tumble like the midnightex ex-
press mt Ashtabula. that would not touch
us and would not hurt God, for God is u
spirit, and character and memory are inn
mortal. and over that grave of wrecked
material universe might truthfully be
| written, The righteous shall be held in
everlasting remembrance"
| a Time wa Iafxy fha..f n Heath ,,...
stamp theo in the dust of thine own
sepulchers! . Eternity, roll ON till the
last star has stopped rotating, and the
last sun is extinguished on the sapphire
| pathway, and the last moon has IL
lumined the last night, and as many
years have passed as all the scribes that
ever took pen could describe by as many
figures as they could write i'll all the CEN
turies of all time. but thou shalt haveno
power to efface from any soul in glory
the memory of anything wo have done
to bring it to God and heavenl
A FRowN FOLLOWED BY KISS.
There is another and more complete
defeat for oblivion, and that is in tho
heart of God himself. You have seen a
sailor roll uphis sleeve and show you his
arm tattooed with the figure Of a favor
ite ship-perhaps the first one in which
he ever sailed. You have seen a soldier
roll mp his sleeve and show you his arm
tattooed with the picture of fortress
where he was garrisoned, or the face of
great general under whom he fought.
You have seen many u hand tattooed
with the face Of loved one before or
after marriage.
This tattooing is almost rs old as the
world. It is some colored liquid pune
tured into the flesh SO indelibly that
nothing can wash it out. 1t may have
been there 80 years, but when the man
goes into his coffin that puncture will go
with him on hand or arm. Now, God
says that he has tattoocd us upon his
hands. There can be no other meaning
in the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah.
where God says, Behold. have craven
thee On the palms of my hands!"
1t was as much as To say: Il cannot
open my hand 10 help, but l think of
you. cannot spread abroad my hands
to bless, but think of you. Wherever
! go up and down the heavens take
tUtct lMO va yOu WIFI UtN
are so inwrought into my being that /
cannot lose them. AS long as my hands
last the memory of you will last. Not
on the backs of my hands, as though to
announce you to others, but on tho
palms of my hands for myself to look
ut and study and love. Not ON the
palm of one hand alone, but ON the
palms of both hands. for while /
am looking upon one hand and thinking
of You. must have the other free to pro-
tect you. free to strike back your enemy,
free to lift if you fall. Palms of my hands
indelibly tattooed. And though hold
the winds i'll my fist NO cyclone shall up
root tho inscription of your name and
your face, and though | hold the ocean
in the hollow of my hand its billowing
shall not wash out the record of my re-
membrance. Behold, | have craven thee
on the palms of my hands,"
What joy, what honor can there be
comparable to that of being grememhered
by the mightiest and kindcst and love-
liest and tenderest and most affectionate
being in the universe. Think of ito
hold an everlasting place in the heart of
God. The heart of God! The most beau
tiful palace in the universe Let the
archangel build some palace rs grand as
that if he can. Let him crumble up all
the stars of yesternight and tomorrow
night and put them together as mosaics
for such palace floor. Let him take all
the sunrises and sunsets of all the days
and the auroras of all the nights and
hang them rs upholstery at its windows.
Let him take all the rivers. and all the
lakes, and all the oceans. and toss them
into the fountains of this palace court.
Let him take all the gold of all the hills
and hang it in its chandeliers, and all
the pearls of all the seas and all the dia-
monds of all the fields. and with them
arch the doorways of that palace, and
then invite into it all the glories that
Esther ever saw at Persian banquet,
or Daniel ever walked among in Baby
lonian castles. or Joseph ever witnessed
in Pharaohs throneroom, and then your
self enter this castle of archangelic con-
struction and see how poor u palace it is
compared with the greater palace that
some of you have already found in the
heart Of n loving and pardoning God,
and into which all the music and all the
prayers, and all the sermonic considera-
tions of this day are trying to introduce
you through the blood of the slain Lamb.
Oh, where is Oblivion now? From the
dark and Overshadowing word that it
seemed when / began, it has become
something which no man or woman or
child who loves the Lord need ever fear.
Oblivion defeated. Oblivion dead. OBJ
livion sepulcherel. But must not be SO
hard on that devouring monster, for into
its grave go all our sins when the Lord
for Christ's sake has forgiven them. Just
blow resurrection trumpet over them
when once oblivion has snapped them
down. Not one of them rises. Blow
again. Not stir amid all the pardoned
iniquities of lifetime. Blow again! Not