The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1894-02-16
purchased by bloodp What great brida.

reared Its towers, what nation eve
achieved it's independence, what might
good was ever done without sacrifice o
life3 The great wonder of the world, tn
bridge that unites these two cities, cos
the life of the first architect. Ask tn
shipyards Of Glasgow and New Yorl
how many carpenters went down unde
accidents before the steamer was launch
ed; ask the three great transcontinenta
railroads how many in their construc
ton were buried under crumbling EN-
bankments or crushed under t1mbers OF
destroyed by the powder blast.
Tabulate the statistics of how many
mothers have been martyrs to the cradle
of sick children. Tell us how many men
sacrificed nerve and muscle and brain
and life in the effort to support their
households. Tell me how many men in
England, in France, in Germany, In
Italy, in the United States, have died for
their country. Vicarious suffering is as
old as the world, but the most thrilling,
the most startling, the most stupendous
sacrifice of all time and eternity was on
bluff back of Jerusalem when one Be-
ing took upon himself the sins, the ago
MES, the perdition of great multitude
that no man can number between IL
o'clock of darkened noon and o'clock
in the afternoon, purchasing the ransom
of ruined world.
Dive in all the seas, explore all thI
mines, crowbar all the mountains, view
all the crowned jewels of all the emper-
ors, and find me any gem that can SO
overwhelmingly symbolic that martyr
dom as the ruby. Mark you, there are
many gems that are somewhat like the
ruby. So is the cornelian, SO is the gar
net, so is the spinel, so is the balas, so
the gems brought from among the gray
els of Ceylon and New South Wales, but
there is only one genuine ruby, and that
comes from the mine of Burmah. And
there is only one Christ, and he comes
from heaven. One Redeemer, one Ran
som, one Son of God, only lone name
given under heaven among men by which
we can be saved"
Ten thousand times 10000 beautiful
limitations of that ruby, but only one
ruby. Christ had no descendant. Christ
had no counterpart. In the lifted up
grandeur and glory and love and sympa
thy of his character he is the Incompar.
able, the Infinite Onel 1.-THE only wise
God, our Saviour" Let all hearts, all
homes, all times, all eternities, bow low
before him! Let his banner be lifted in
all our souls!
PRICE OF THE GOSPEL.
In olden times Scotland was disturbe> |
by freebooters and pirates. To rid the
seas and ports of these desperadoes, the
hero William Wallace fitted out a mer-
chant vessel, but filed it with armed
men and put out to sea. The pirates,
with their flag inscribed of deaths
head, thinking they would get an easy
prize, bore down upon the Scottish mer-
chairman, when the armed men Of Wal
ACE boarded the craft of the pirates and
put them in chains and then sailed for
port under the Scotch flag flying. And
10 our souls, assailed of sin and death and
lell, through Christ are rescued, and the
black flag of sin Is torn down, and the
triped flag Of the cross is hoisted. Bless
ed be God for any sign, for any signal.
or any precious stone, that brings to
mind the price paid for such a rescue!
l like the coral, for it seems the solidi-
led foam of breakers, and like the jas
yer, for it gathers II colors into its bosom,
md like the jet, for it congresses the
hadows of many midnights, and I like
he chrysoprase because its purple is
llumined with small heaven Of stars.
nd like the chrysolite for its waves Of
olor which seem on fire. But this morn
ng nothing so impresses me as the ruby,
or it depicts, ittypifies, it suggests 1.-THE
Hood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth from
IL SIM" Without the shedding of blood
here is no remission" Yea, Solomon
vas right when in my text he said, wis
ON is better than rubies."
To bring out contrast that will illus
rate my text. put before you two last
arthly scenes. The one is in a room with
ubies, but no religion, and the other in
room with religion, but norubies. You
inter- the first room, where an affiuent
nd worldly man is about to quit this
fe. There is ruby on the mantel, pos
bly, among the vases. There is a ruby 1
| the headdress of the queenly wife. I
On the finger of the dying man there
ruby. The presence of these rubies s
nplies ofpleDce of all kinds. The pic '
Tres on Inc walls are heirlooms or the i
oph;2s Of European travel The cur /
4ins are from foreign looms. The rugs
'e from Damascus or Cairo. The sofas
e stuffea with ease and quietude. The
'cking chairs roll backward and for
ard on lullabies. The pillows are ex-
lisitely embroidered. All the appoint
ents Of the room are a peroration to a
ccessful commercial or professional y
e. But the man has no religion, never d
is had and never professed to have. y
lere is not Bible or one religious book 7
the room.
The departing man feels that his earth II
career is ended, and nothing opens be- u
md. Where he will lauS stepping off -
0m this life is mystery, or whether . $,
will land at all, for it may be annihi 81
ion. He has no prayer to offer, and AZ
does not know how to pray. No hope 'e
meeting again in another state of ex-
i Al.