Democratic messenger., 1894-04-07

/ not Say ne Will laugh any IouueT. 10
not say but he may stand back from
some forms of hilarity i'll which he once.
indulged, but there comes into his soul
an immense satisfaction. \ young man
not a Christian depends upon worldly
successes 10 keep his spirits up. Now
he is prospered. now he has IA large sal
airy, now he has a beautiful wardrobe,
now he has pleasant friends. now he has
more money than he knows how to
spend. Everything goes bright and Well
with him.
But trouble comes. There are many
young men in the house this morning
who can testify out of their own expert
ence that sometimes to young men trou-
Bile does coine-his friends are gone, his
salary is gone, his health il gone. He
goes down. down. He becomes sour,
cross. queer, misanthropic, blames the
world. blames society. blames the church.
blames everything. rushes perhaps To the
Intoxicating cup to drown his trouble.
but instead of drowning his trouble he
browns his body and browns his soul.
But here is Christian young man.
Trouble comes To him. Does he give up:
No! He throws himself back on the re-
sources of heaven. He says: God is
my Father. out of all these disasters |
shall pluck advantage for my soul. All
the promises are mine. Christ is mine,
Christian companionship is mine. heaven
is mine. What though my apparel be
worn ont! Christ gives me "A robe of
righteousness. What though my money
he gone: | have title deed to the whole
universe iii the promise, All are yours
What though my worldly friends fall
away? Ministering angels are my body
! guard. What though my fare be poor
and my bread be scant: sit at the kings
banquet"
Oh. what poor, shallow stream is
worldly enjoyment compared with the
deep, broad, overflowing river of Gods
peace, rolling midway in the Christian
heart! Sometimes you have gone out
on the iron bound beach of the sea when
there has been II storm on the ocean, and
you have seen the waves dash into white
foam at your feet They did not do You
any harm. While there you thought of
the chapter written by the psalmist. and
perhaps you recited il To yourself while
the storm was making commentary upon
the passage: God is our refuge and
strength. a very present help III time Of
trouble. Therefore will / not fear,
though the earth be removed. and though
the mountains be carried into the midst
Of the sea. though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled, though the noun
tains shake with the swelling thereof"
Oh, how independent the religion of
/ Christ makes a man of worldly success
and worldly circumstances! Nelson. the
night before his last battle said, To
morrow l shall win either peerage or
grave i'll Westminster abbey" And it
does not make much difference 10 the
Christian whether he rises or falls i'll
worldly matters. He has everlasting re-
nown anyway. Other plumage may be
torn i'll the blast. but that soul adorned
with Christian grace Is fairer than the
dove-its wings covered with silver and
its feathers with gold.
LURKING IL THE cur.
You and have found out that people
who pretend to be happy are not always
happy. Look at that young man carica-
turing the Christian religion. scoffing ut
everything good. going into roistering
drunkenness. dashing the champagne
bottle to the floor, rolling the glasses
from the barroom counter, laughing,
shouting. stamping the floor. Is he hap
py: will go to his midnight pillow.
will see him turn the gas off. will ask
myself if the pillow on which he sleeps
is as soft AS the pillow on which that
pure young man sleeps.
All, no. When he opens his eyes in
the morning. will the world be as bright
To him as 10 that young man who retired
at night saying his prayers. invoking
Gods blessing upon his own soul and
the souls of his comrades and father and
mother and brothers and sisters far
away? No, no. His laugh will ring out
from the saloon so that you hear il as
YOU pass by, but it is hollow laughter
In it is the swapping of heartstrings and
the rattle of prison gates. Happy that
young man happy:
Let him fill high the bowl; he cannot
drown an npbraiding conscience. Let
the balls roll through the bowling alley:
the deep rumble and the sharp crack can
not overpower the voices of condemna-
tion. Let him whirl III the dance of sin
and temptation and death; all the bril-
liancy Of the scene cannot make him for
get the last look of his mother when he
left home. when she said To him: Now,
my son. you will do right; am sure you
will do right. You will. won't you:" That
young man happy: Why, across every
night there fit shadows of eternal dark
ness; there are adders coiled up in every
cup; there are yultures of despair strik-
ing their iron beaks into his heart: there
are skeleton fingers of grief pinching at
the throat.
USEFUL. RELIGION.
l come in amid the clicking Of the
glasses and under the flashing of the
chandeliers, and cry: Woe! Woe. The
way of the ungodly shall perish. There
is no peace, saith my God, To the wick
ed. The way of transgressors is hard"
Oh. my friends. there is more joy i'll one
drop Of Christian satisfaction than in
whole rivers of sinful delight. Other
wings may be drenched of the storm
and splashed of the tempest. but the
dove that comes in through the window
of this heavenly ark has wings like the
dove covered with silver and her feath
ers with yellow gold.
Again. remark. religion is an adorn
nent in the style of usefulness into which
1t inducts "A man. Here are two young
men. The one has fine culture, exquisite
wardrobe. plenty of friends. great world
ly success. but he lives for himself. His
chief care Is for his own comfort. He
lives uselessly. He dies unregretted.
Here is another young man. His ap-
parel may not he So good; his education
may not be so thorough. He lives for
others. His happiness is TO make others
happy. He is rs self denying as that dy
ing soldier falling in the ranks, when he
said: Colonel. there is no need of those