Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-08-04

material world shall be utilized Tor the
promotion of nkn's happiness and glory
In this life anc In the life to come. love
to sit ut the feet OF Edison and hear
him forecast the wonders which electricity
is destined to accomplish. rejoice 10
think OF the time when railroads Will De
superseded by air-ships. and the stun more
glorious era when all methods OF locomo-
ton will be displaced by the hying-ma-
chine. These prophets make US better
satisfied with the present word, ana give
us nobler conceptions OF the signincance
and Importance of human hie'
KNEW THEIR VALUE.
Truly did Christ say, i am not come
TO destroy the prophets He knew .neir
value to the world. He knew how they
kept alive the hopes OF men, ana inspired
them for lofty achievements he "as
Himself a prophet and the greatest
of prophets He came 10 multiply the
prophets and to all the world with the
glory OF prophecy. The ideaI church Is
an army Of prophets going forth TO pro-
claim the coming OF time when satan
shall be bound: when the dead shall be
raised incorruptible; when every tear
shall be dried: when every cause OF hu-
man unrest shall be removed; when every
scar upon the face OF this old worla
shall be rubbed out and when the glory
d
God be praised for the men who have
the gift of prophecy. God be praised Tor
n world which is itself a phophecy-a
world In which everything good IL a type
of something better to come. Every gar
den of earth Is reminder or the Dl4om
and beauty Of Paradise, Every grandly-
rolling river Is symbol Of the stream
which makes glad the City OF God ana
every snow-crowned peak an emblem OF
the glory-gilded SUBMITS OF the 'delec-
table mountains i thank God that am
pernitted 10 connect the things tnat L
love most In this world with the Dies-en-
ness which | anticipate I'm the world TO
come / love music. My happiness In
life is largely dependent upon IT, i am
Indebted to its uplifting and hallowing in
fluence for much Of what / have been
able TO accomplish. When ] am under
the witchery Of II, II seems to me that
the gates Of glory are ajar. and that i
catch g1impses Of the rainbow around the
throne of Heaven. But the most glorious
bursts OF harmony that were ever con-
ceIved by the vaultng genius OF Handel
or Mozart. or Beethoven, are only faint
and far-off echoes of that grander music
of the skies on which my music-loving
soul shall feast when mortality Is swal-
lowed up of life.
among YOU Is exclaiming within himself,
oh, that is only poetry Yes; 1t is poet
~. and yet II is reality. dec'ara-
ton may be poetic, and at the same time
Enthusiastically true. Christ was poet.
Some of His parallels and prophecies are
among the rarest gems OF poetry; but IN
no parable or prophecy has He departed
from the truth. That man Is no mere
dreamer who sees in the tiny acorn OF to-
day the majestic oak of the future Near
ly 5000 years ago prophet OF Israel
said There shall be a handful OF corn
on the top of the mountains. and the
fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon
Nothing could be more poetic than these
words. and yet nothing could be truer.
Knowing the character OF the seed. the
prophet simply foresaw what the harvest
should be. Despise not prophesying, be-
cause the prophet Is your best helper. IT
Is he who conducts your thoughts into
the future, and stimulates you TO prepare
for its approaching realities.
THE PRACTICAL SIDE.
"The Bible" Dr. Hawthorne continued,
us book OF hophesies-prophesies cover
all that belongs to time and eternity.
What use shall we make OF the great
future outlined TO US in these sacred
Scriptures?
a refuge-a retreat from present trouble
and sorrow. Jesus commanded this use
of il when He said to His disciples: Let
not your hearts be troubled: We believe
In God, believe also in me. In my
Fathers house are many mansions: II 1t
were not so 1 would have told you. j
go and prepare place for you, and u
| go and prepare place for you l will
come again and receive you Into my
self, that where ] am ye may be Also
How many troubled heart has been
quieted by these prophetic words? How
many a Christian pauper has looked out
| from the door OF his howell into the starry
heavens and exclaimed: %. i shall soon
be rich, for up there, In my Father
| house, are many Mansions How many
| a bereaved soul has had its mourning
| turned into JOY. as II looked by faith to-
| ward the portal of the celestial city and
recalled those sweet words of prophecy:
| And God shall wipe away all tears from
| their eyes?' How many have looked up
| from a bed OF anguish and languishing
| and said: There shall be no more pain.
| for the former things are done away?
| How many a. dark dungeon has resound-
| ed with the rapturous shout: There shall
| be no night there% How many a per-
! secuted saint has forgotten his wrongs
| in dreaming OF the place, where the
| wicked cease from troubling and the
| weary are at rest?' How many a Chris
| tian merchant has stood amid the wreck
| of his earthly fortune and exultingly
said: My real treasure Is laid up In
| Heaven How many Christian father
! has stood over the pallid form of his
| dead child and with almost seraphic JOY
repeated the words Of David: He shall
| not come back to me. but / shall go tc
him?
| SHOULD FIGHT VALIANTLY.
1--WE may use the future as q powerful
incentive to Christian activity. Looking
into that future. as 1t stands revealed 10
| us in Gods word. we see that our labor is
| not in vain in the Lord We are sent
| forth to conquer this world for Christ.
| and we should fight the more valiantly
| because success is as certain as the
promises and resources Of the infinite God
can make It, The psalmist says: All
| the ends OF the world shall remember and
turn unto the Lord Princes shall come
| out OF Egypt; Ethiopia shall stretch out
| her hands unto God"
isaiah says: And II shall come to pass
| in the last days that the mountain of the
| Lords house shall be established In the
| top Of the mountains and shall be exalted
above the hills. and all nations shall flow
into IT,"
''Habakkak says: The earth shall bt
| filed with the knowledge of the glory OF
the Lord as the walters cover the sea-
"Zachariah says In that day there
| shall be upon the bells OF the horses
Holiness unto the Lord" This Is O
| prophecy Of a reign OF universal righte-
| ouaness In the dav which the prophef