The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1894-04-27
FAIREST OF THE FAIR.
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Continued from page 81
Kind ministers Of the gospel had come
and talked beautifully and prayed with
US and did all they could to console.
But John Murphy, one Of the best friends
1 ever had, a big souled, glorious Irish
man, came in and looked into my face,
put out his broad, strong hand and said
not word, but sat down and cried with
Us. I am not enough Of a philosopher to
say how it was or why it was, but some
how from door to door and from floor
to ceiling the room was filed with an
all pervading comfort. ''Jesus wept.
/ think that is what makes Christ
such a popular Christ. There are so
many who want sympathy. Miss Fiske,
the famous HISTORIAN missionary, was
in the chapel one day talking to the
heather, and she was in very poor health
and SO weak she sat upon a mat while
she talked and felt the need Of some
thing to lean against, when she felt
woman's form at her back and heard
woman's voice saying, Lean on me. -
She leaned q little, but did not want to
be too cumbersome, when the woman's
voice said, Lean hard; if you love me,
lean hard.
And that makes Christ so lovely. He
wants all the sick and troubled and
weary to lean against him, and he says,
Lean hard if you love me, lean hard. y
Aye, he is close by with his sympathet-
ic help. Hedley Wears, the famous sol
dier and Christian Of the Crimean war,
died because when he was wounded his
regiment was too far off from the tent
of supplies. Hewas not mOrtally wound
ed, and if the surgeons could only have
got at the bandages and the medicines
he would have recovered. So much of
human sympathy and hopefulness comes
too late. But Christ is always close by
if we want him, and has all the medi
cines ready, and has eternal life for all
whuask for it. Sympathy!
A Sublime Self Sacrifice.
Aye, he was lovely in his doctrines.
Self sacrifice or the relief of the suffer
ing of others by our own suffering. He
was the only physician that ever pro-
posed to cure his patients by taking their
disorders. Self sacrifice! And what did
he not give up for others? The best eli
mate in the universe, the air of heaven,
for the wintry weather of Palestine, a
scepter Of unlimited dominion for a
prisoners box in an earthly courtroom,
a flashing tiara for crown of singing
brambles, palace for a cattle pen, a
throne for q cross. Self sacrificed What
is more lovely? Mothers dying for their
children down with scarlet fever, rail
road engineers going down through
the open drawbridge to save the train,
fremen scorched to death trying to help
some one down the ladder from the
fourth story of the consuming house.
All these put together only faint and
insufficient similes by which to Illustrate
the grander, mightier, farther reaching
self sacrifice Of the altogether lovely"
Do you wonder that the story of his
self sacrifice has led hundreds Of thou
sands to die for him? Ii one series Of
prosecutions over 200, Geo were put to
death for Christ's sake. For Linn Blan
dina was tied to a post and wild beasts
were let out upon her, and when life
continued after the attack Of tooth and
paw she was put III net, and that net
containing her was thrown to Il wild
bull that tossed her with its horns till
life was extinct. All for Christ! Hugue-
nots dying for Christ! Albigenses dying
for Christ! The VaudOi5 dying for
Christi Smithfeld fires endured for
Christ! The bones Of martyrs, il distrib-
uted, would make path Of mOldcring
life all around the earth. The loveliness
of the Saviour's sacrifice has inspired
all the Heroisms and all the martyr
doms of subsequent centuries. Christ
has had more men and women die for
him than all the other inhabitants Of all
the ages have had Gle for them.
Furthermore, lie was lovely III his
sermons. He knew when to begin, when
to stop and just what to say. The long
est sermon he ever preached, so far as
the Bible reports him-namely, the ser
mon on the mount was about 6 min
utes in deliyery--at the ordinary rate Of
speech. Ills longest prayer reported.