Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-05-25

there is a halo around their names;
but they had their faults They
said and did things they ought never
TO have said or done. They were
sometimes rebellious, sometimes cast
down. They were far from being per-
feet. So / suppose that when we have
gone. some things in us that are now
only tolerable may be almost res plend
emit But as they were like us in de-
ficiencies. we ought to be like them in
taking n supernal Christ to make up
for the deficits Had it not been for
Jesus, they would have all perished;
but Christ confronted them, and said,
II am the way" and they took it.
have also to say to you that the
path that these captives trod was n
troubled path, and that David and his
men had TO go over the same difficult
way. While these captives were being
taken off, they said, "Oh! we are SO
tired; we are so sick; we are SO hun
cry" But the men who had charge Of
them said, stop this crying Go on!"
David and his men also found it a
hard way. They had to travel it. Our
friends have gone into glory, and it is
through much tribulation that we are
to enter into the kingdom How our
loved ones used to have to strug-
gle! how their old hearts ached! how
sometimes they had tussle for bread
In our childhood we wondered why
there were so many wrinkles on their
faces. We did not know that what
faces, were the marks of the black
raven of trouble. Did you never hear
the old people, seated by the evening
stand, talk over their early trials, their
hardships, the accidents. the burials,
the disappointments, the empty flour
barrel when there were so many hun
cry ones to feed, the sickness almost
unto death, where the next dose of
morphine decided between CHASTITY be-
reavement and an unbroken home
circle? Oh, yes! it was trouble that
whitened their hair. 1t was trouble
that shook the cup in their hands. 1t
was trouble that washed the luster
from their eyes with the rain of
tears until they needed specta-
cane n necessity for their journey.
Do you never remember seeing your
old mother sitting, on some rainy day,
looking out of the window, her elbow
on the window sill, her hand to her
brow-loolSing out, not seeing the fall
ing shower at all (you well knew she
was looking into the distant past), un-
til the apron came up 30 her eyes, be-
cause the memory was too much for
! her?
OFT the big unbidden tear
Stealing down the furroughe3 cheeA,
Told in eioquence sincere,
Tales OF woe they could not speak.
But this scene Of weeping Ger,
Past this scene of toll and pain,
They shall feel distress no more,
Never, never weep again.
WHO are these under the altar?"
the question was asked, and the re-
Spouse came, "These are they which
came ont of great tribulation and have
washed their robes, and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb" Our
| friends went by path of tears into
/ glory. Re not surprised if we have to
travel the same pathway.
! remark, again, if we want to win
the society of our friends in heaven,
we will no. only have TO travel path
of faith and path of tribulation, but
we will also have to positively battle
for their companionship. David and
his men never wanted sharp swords
aud invulnerable shields and thick
breastplates SO much as they wanted
them on the day when they came
down upon the AmalelSites If they
had lost that battle, they never would
have got their families back i sup
pose that one glance of their loved
ones in captivity hurled them into
battle with tenfold courage and
energy. They said, I'VE must win it.
Let each one take man on point of
| spear or sword. We must win
it," And have to tell you
that between us and coming into
the ompanionship of our loved
ones who are departed, there is an
Austerlitz, there is a Gettysburg, there
is Waterloo. War with the world,
war with the flesh, war with the devil.
We have either to conquer our troubles,
or our troubles will conquer us David
will either Stay the Amalellites or the
Amalekites will Stay David. And yet
is not the fort TO be taken worth all
the pain, all the peril, all the besiege-
ment? Look! Who are they on the
bright hills of heaven yonder? There
they are, those who sat at your own
table, the chair now vacant. There
they are, those whom you rocked in
! infancy in the cradle, or hushed to
sleep in your arms. There they are,
those in whose life your life was
bound up There they are, their
brow more radiant than ever before
you saw it, their lips waiting for the
kiss of heavenly greeting, their
cheek roseate with the health of eter-
nal summer. their hands reckoning
you up the steep, the feet bounding
with the mirth of heaven. The pallor
of their last sickness gone out of their
face, never more to be sick, never more
to cough, never more to limp, never
more to be old, never more to weep.
They are watching from those heights
TO see if through Christ you can take