Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-09-24

cept We become as little children, We
cannot enter the kingdom of God. God
has chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the mighty. Zaccheus,
eonio down, come DOWN.
What Zaccheus Did.
l notice that this taxgatherer accom-
panied his surrender to Christ with the
restoration of property that did not be-
long to him. He says, eff have taken
anything by false accusation, | restore
fourfold' '-t:lat is, if [ have taxed any
man for SO, 600 when he had only S., :
600 worth Of property and put in my
own pocket the tax for the last So, 900,
[ will restore to him fourfold IF I took
from him SO, will give him $40. If
I took from him $40, I will give him
S1GO.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have
been sent to Washington during the past
few years as conscience money"
suppose that money was sent by men
who wanted to be Christians, but found
they could not until they made restitu-
ton. There is no need of our trying to
come to Christ as long as we keep fraud
ulently a collar or farthing in our
possession that belongs to another. Sup
pose you have not money enough to pay
your debts and for the sake Of defraud-
ing your creditors you put your proper
ty in your wife's name. You might cry
until the day of Judgment for pardon,
but you would not get it without first
making restitution. In times Of pros
perity it is right, against a rainy day,
to assign property to your wife, but if,
in time of perplexity and for the sake
of defrauding your creditors, you make
such assignment you become q culprit
before God, and you may as we'll stop
praying until you have made restitu-
ton. Or suppose one man loans another
money on bond Or mortgage, with the
understanding that the mortgage can
lie quiet for several years, but as soon
as the mortgage is given commences
foreclosure-the sheriff mounts the auc-
ton block, and the property is struck
down at half price, and the mortgagee
buys 1t in. The mortgage started to get
the property at half price and is thief
and robber. Until he makes restitu-
ton there is no mercy for him.
There Must Be Restitution.
You say: 81 cannot make restitution
The parties whom [ swindled are gone. -
Then L say, ''Tal1e the money up to the
American Bible society and consecrate
it to God" Zaccheus was wise when he
disgorged his unrighteous gains, and it
was his first step in the right directioa.
The way being clear, Christ walked
into the house of Zaccheus. He becomes
different man; his wife a different
no oh
it makes a great change in any house
when Christ comes into it! How many
beautiful homes are represented among
you! There are pictures on the wall,
there is music in the drawing room, and
Injuries in the wardrobe, and a full
supply in the pantry. Even if you were
half asleep, there is one word with
which I could wake you and thrill
you through and through, and that
word is ''homer There are also
houses Of suffering represented in which
there are neither pictures nor ward
robe nor adornment-only one room,
and q plain cot, or a bunk in corner.
Yet it is the place where your loved
ones dwell, and your whole nature
tingles with satisfaction when you
the world may scott at us and pursue
us, and all the day we be tossed about,
at eventide we sail into the harbor of
home. Though there be no rest for us
in the busy world, and we go trudging
about, bearing burdens that we'll nigh
crush US, there is refuge, and it hath
an easy chair in which we may sit, and
a lounge where we may lie, and q seren-
ity of peace in which we may repose,
and that refuge is home. The English
sitting on the walls around
Sevastopol, one night heard a company
of musicians playing "Home, Sweet
Home, " a and it is said that the whole
army broke out in sobs and wailing, SO
great was their Inconsistencies God pity
the poor, miserable wretch who has no
home!
If Christ Came to Your House.
Now, suppose Christ should come
into your house. First the wife and the
mother would feel his presence Re-
ligion almost always begins there It is
easier for women to become Christians
than for us men. They do not fight so
against God. If woman tempted man
away from holiness, now she
tempts him back She may not make
any fuss about it, but somehow every
body in the house knows that there is
change in the wife and mother. She
chides the children more gently. Her
face sometimes lights up with an I'M
earthly glow. She goes into some unoc-
cupied room for little while, and the
husband goes not after her, nor asks
why she was there. He knows without
asking that she has been praying The
husband notices that her face is brighter
than on the day when, years ago, they
stood at the marriage altar, and he
knows that Jesus has been putting upon
her brow q wreath sweeter than the
orange blossoms She n11ts the children