The Yale expositor., 1895-06-28

was a thin. weak woman's arm holding
you up; but while you look at that
arm there comes into the feeble muscles
Of 1t the strength OF the eternal God.
No Gliding. No frettlng. No telling
you about the beautiful house OF her
father, from which you brought her,
ten, twenty, or thirty years ago. You
say: "Well, this Is the happiest day OF
my life. l am glad have got from
under my burden. My wife don't care
i don't care" At the moment you
were utterly exhausted. God sent a
Deborah to meet the host Of the Amale-
kites, and scatter them like chaff over
the plain.
There are sometimes women who sit
reading sentimental novels, and who
wish that they had some grand aeld
in which to display their Christian
powers. oh, what grand and glorious
things they could do If they only had
an opportunity! My sister, you need
not wait for any such time. A crisis
will come In your affairs. There will
be Thermopylae in your own house,
hold, where God will tell you to stand.
There are hundreds of households
where as much courage is demanded Of
woman as was exhibited by Grace Dar-
ling, or Marie Antoinette, or Joan Of
Arc.
Woman Is further endowed to bring
us into the kingdom of heaven. 1t is
easier for woman to be a Christian
than for man. Why? You say she is
weaker. No. Her heart is more re-
sponsive to the pleading Of divine love.
The fact that she can more easily be-
come Christian, prove by the state
ment that three-fourths of the MEM
bers OF the churches in all Christendom
are women. So God appoints them to
be the chief agencies for bringing this
world back to God. The greatest SER
mons are not preached on celebrated
platforms; they are preached with an
audience Of two or three and in private
home-life. A patient loving, Christian
demeanor in the presence Of transgres-
sion, in the presence of hardness. in
the presence of obduracy and crime, is
an argument from the force Of which
no man can escape.
Lastly. one OF the specific rights Of
woman is, through the grace Of Christ,
finally to reach heaven. oh, what a
multitude of women in heaven! Mary,
Christs mother, In heaven; Elizabeth
Fry In heaven; Charlotte Elizabeth In
heaven; the mother of Augustine In
heaven; the Countess Of Huntingdon
who sold her splendid jewels to build
chapels-in heaven; while great many
others who have never been heard Of
on earth, or known but little, have gone
to the rest and peace of heaven. What
a rest! What change 1t was from the
small room, with no fire and one win
dow, the glass broken out, and the ach-
ing side and worn-out eyes, to the
house OF many mansionsw No more
stitching until u o'clock at night, no
more thrustlng of the thumb by the en-
ployer through the work to show that
1t was not done quite right. Plenty of
bread at last. Heaven for aching
heads. Heaven for broken hearts.
Heaven for anguish-bitten frames. No
more sitting up until midnight for the
coming of staggering steps. No more
rough blows across the temples No
more sharp, keen, bitter curses Some
of you will have no rest in this world.
1t will be toll, and struggle, and suffer-
Ing all the way up. You will have to
stand at your door fighting back the
wolf with your own hand red with
carnage. But God has a crown for you.
L want you to realize that he is now
making II. and whenever you weep a
tear, he sets another gem In that crown,
until, after awhile, in all the tiara there
Will be no room for another splendor,
and God will say to his angel: 1.-The
crown is done; let her up that she may
wear it," And as the Lord of Right
eousness puts the crown upon your
brow, angel will cry to angel, who is
she?" and Christ will say: II will tell
you who she is. She is the one that
came up out Of great tribulation, and
had her robe washed and made white
in the blood of the Lamb" And then
God will spread a banquet, and he will
invite all the principalities O. heaven to
sit at the feast; and the = bles will
blush with the best clusters from the
vineyards of God, and crimson with the
twelve manner Of fruits from the Tree
Of Life, and waters from the fountain
of the rock will fash from the golden
tankards; and the old harAers Of
heaven will sit there, making music
with their harps; and Chriz'wlll point
you out, amid the celebrities of heaven,
saying: "She suffered with me on
earth, now we are going to be glorified
together" And the banqueters, no
longer able to hold their peace, will
break forth with congratulation: HALL!
Hail!' And there will be handwritlngs
on the wall-not such as struck the
Persian noblemen with horror, but with
fire-tipped fingers. writing in blazing
capitals Of light and love and victory:
God has wiped away all tears from
all faces"
Figs and Thistles.