The Penn's Grove record., 1894-02-16

pired, and if Talva, hearing that the Romal
senate had decreed him an honor, expired
and il Dionysius and Sophocles, overcome
Of joy, expired, and IL q shipwrecked pur
ser, waiting on the coast OF Guinea In wan
and starvation at the sight OF a vesse
bringing relief, fell dead from shock OF de
light, is it any surprise to you that the joy
of pardon and heaven rolling over the sou
should sometimes be almost too much TO
the Christian to endure and live? An age
aunt said TO me ''De' Witt, three times
have tainted dead away under too great
Christian joy. 1t was In all three cases At
the holy communion"
An eminent Christian a whilein praye
said 'stop, Lord I cannot bear any NOR,
Of this gladness. 1t is too much for mortal
withhold withhold r We have heard o
poor workmen or workwomen getting a let
ter suddenly telling them that a fortune had
been left them, and how they were almost
beside themselves with glee, taking the frs
ship to claim the estate. But, oh, what it Ii
to wake up out of the stupor OF a sinful life
and through p~ardoniug grace find that al
our earthly existence will be divinely man
aged for our best welfare. and that then al
: heaven will roll in upon the soul!
Compared with that q spring morning Il
stupid, and al August sunset is iuane, ant
aurora has no pillared s%plendor, and "a dia
mond has no flash, and a pearl no light, AM
a berry no aquamarine, and a ruby no ruddi
ness. My gracious Lord My glorious
God! My precious Christ Roll over on u
a few pillows of that rapture. And now
I ask you, as fair minded men and women
accustomed to max comparisons, is no
such a joy as that worth more than anything
one can have in a jeweled casket? Was no
Solomon right when he said, ''Wisdom is bet,
ter than rubies?"
There Is also something In the deep car
mine OF the ruby that suggests the sacrifice
lon which Dur whole system Of religion de
ponds. While the emerald suggests the
meadows, and the sapphire the skies, ant
the opal the sea, the ruby suggests the blood
Of sacrifice. The most emphatic and start
ling OF all eolors has the ruby. Solomon, the
author of mytext, knew all about the sacri
Ace of lamb and dove on the affairs OF the
temple, and he knew the meaning of sacri
dcial blood, and what other precious stone
,ould he so well use to symbolic it as the
ruby? Red, intensely red, red as the blood
ofthe greatest martyr of all time-Jesus-oI
the centuriesl Drive the story of the cruel
axion out Of the Bible and the doctrine o.
he atonement out of our religion, and there
would be nothing of Christianity left for oul
| worship or our admiration.
Why should it be hard to adopt the Bibl,
theory that our redemption was purchased
1y blood? What great bridge ever sprung Its
arches, what temple ever reared its towers,
what Nation ever achieved its Independence,
what mighty good was ever done without
sacrifice OF life? The great wonder of the
world, the bridge that unites these two cities,
,ost the life of the first architect. Ask the
,hipyards OF Glasgow and New York how
many carpenters went down under accidents
before the steamer was launched; ask the
:hree great transcontinental railroads how
many in their construction were buried un-
Ter crumbling entertainments or crushed IN
Ter timhers or destroyed blythe powder blast.
Tabulate the statistics ofhow many mothers
nave been martyrs to the cradle Of sick chill
iren. Tell us how many men sacrificed nerve
md muscle and brain and life in the effort
% support their households. Tell us how
many men in England, in France, in Ger
many, in Italy, In the United States, nave
lied tor their country. Vicaricus suffering
| s as old as the world, but the most thrilling,
he most startling, the most s%tupendous
sacrifice Of all time and eternity was on a
bluff back Of Jerusalem when one Being took
Upon Himself the sins, the agonies, the per-
lition Of great multitude that no man can
number between 10 O'Clock of a darkened
loon and 8 o'clock in the afternoon, purchas.
ing the ransom Of a ruined world.
Dive in all the seas, explere all the mines,
,rowbar all tine mountains, view all the
crowned jewels of all the emparors. and find
ne any gem that can SO Overwhelmingly
iymbolize that martyrdom as the ruby.
Mark you, there are many gems that are
somewhat like the ruby. So is the comedian,
10 is the garnet, so is the spinsl, so is the
oalas, so the gems brought from among the
sravels OF Ceylon and New South Wales, but
here is only one genuine ruby, and that
zones from the mine of Burmah. Andthere
8 only one Christ, and He comes from
heaven. One Redeemer, one Ransom. one
l.. IS cd nnIo Enr1 H..
heaven among men by which we can be
saved"
Ten thousand times 10, 900 beautiful imita
lions of that ruby, but only one ruby. Christ
1ad no descendant. Christ had no counter
part. In the lifted up grandeur and glory
md love and sympathy of His character He
8 the Incompatible, the Infinite One ''The
only wise God. our Saviour Let all hearts,
Ill homes, all times, all eternities, bow low
before Him! Let His banner be lifted In all
our souls!
In olden times Scotland was disturbed b,
t~reebooters and pirates. To rid the seas
md ports Of these desperadoes the hero
William Wallace fitted out a merchant YES
sells, but filed it with armed men and put
out to sea. The pirates, with their flag in
scribed of a deaths head, thinking they
would get an easy prize, bore down upon
the Scottish merchantman, when the armed
men of Wallace boarded the craft OF the
pirates and put them In chains and then
sailed for port undarthe Scotch flag flying.
And to our souls, assailed of sin and death
and hell, through Christ are rescued, and
he black flag of sin is torn down, and the
flag of the cross is hoisted. Blessed
be- God for any sign, for any signal, for n
precious stone that brings to mind the price
paid for such a rescue.
like the coral, for II seems the solidif fed
loan of breakers, andI like the jasper, for
it gathers seventeen colors into its
bosom, and I like the jet, for 1t congresses
the shadows OF many midnights, and I like
The chrysoprase because its purple is illu.
mir ed with a small heaven OF stars, and l
ike the chrysolite for its waves OF color
which seem on fire. But this morning moth
ing so impresses me as the ruby, for it de-
pfcts. 1t typifies, 1t suggests ssThe blood OF
Jesus Christ that cleanseth from all sim
Without the shedding of blood there is no
remission" Yea, Solomon was right when
my text he said, wisdom is better than
rubies."
To bring ont a contrast that will Illustrate
my text, / put before you two last earthly
scenes. The one is In a Dom with rubies.
but no religion, and the other in a room
with religion, but no rubies. You enter the
first room, where an afiuent and worldly
manis about to quit this life. There is 4
ruby on the mantei, possibly among the
vases. There is a ruby in the ~headdress Of
the queenly vile.
On the finger Of the dying man there is a
ruby. The presence Of these rubies implies
opuIence OF all kinds. The pictures on the
walls are heirlooms or the trophies OF Eu-
ropean travel. The curtains are from foreign
looms. The rugs are from Damascus OF
Cairo. The sofas are stuffed with ease and
The rocking chairs roll back.
ward and forward on lullabies. The pillows
are exauisitely embroidered. All the ap.
pointments OF the room are a peroration to q
successful commercial or professional life.
But the man has no religion, never has har
and never protested to have. There is not
p Rinle or Que religious book in the room.
'lHe departing man feels that his earthly
career Is ended, and nothing opens beyond.
Where he will land stepping of from this life
is a mystery, or whether he will land at all,
for it may be annihilation. He has no
PRAYER to offer, and he does not know how to
pray. No hope of meeting again in another
state of existence. He is through with this
life and is sure OF no other. The ruby on
the mantel and the ruby on the wasted fin
ger Of the departing n say nothing of the
ransoming blood which they SO nightly
SO far as giving solaee or illuminl-
tion 10 a departing spirit, they are a Head
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