Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-02-24

I other surveyor take that cna1n and go tc
! the east, and another surveyor take that
chain and go to the west, and then make
| report of the square miles of that vast
! kingdom of God s mercy. Aye, you viii
! have to wait to all eternity for the re
/ port of that measurement. 1t cannot be
/ measured. Paul tried to climb the
! height of it, and he went height over
height, altitude above altitude, noun.
/ tain above mountain, then sank down
| in discouragement and gave it up, fo1
he saw Sierra Nevadas beyond and Mat.
terhorns beyond, and waving his hands
back to US III the plains he says, "Past
finding out; unsearchable, that in al.
things he might have the pre-eminence.
You notice that nearly all the sinners
mentioned as pardOned in the Bible
were great sinners-David a great sin.
ner, Paul a great sinner, Rahab great
sinner, Magdalene a great sinner, the
prodigal son great sinner. The worlC
easily understood how Christ could par.
don half and half sinner, but what
the world wants to be persuaded of is
that Christ will forgive the worst sin.
ner, the hardest sinner, the Oldest sin.
ner, the most inexcusable sinner. Tc
gathering of the people be.
But, | remark again, the people will
gather around Christ as a sympathizer
Oh, we all want sympathy hear PEG,
pie talk as though they were independ-
ent of it. None of us could live without
sympathy. When parts of our family
are away, how lonely the house seems
until they all get home! But, alas, fol-
those who never come home. Sometimes
it seems as if it must be impossible.
What, will their feet never again come
over the threshold? Will they never
again sit with US at the table? Will
they never again kneel with us at fami
ly prayer? Shall we never again look
into their sunny faces? Shall we never
again OF earth take counsel with them
for our work? Alas me, who can stand
under these griefs? Oh, Christ, thou
canst do more for bereft soul than any
one else! It is he who stands beside us
to tell of the resurrection. 1t is he that
came to bid peace. 1t is he that comes
to US and breathes into US the spirit Of
submission until we can look up from
the wreck and ruin of our brightest ex-
pectations and say. Father, not my will,
but thine, be dOne.' Oh, ye who are
bereft, We anguish bitten come into this
refuge! The roll Of those who came for
relief to Christ is larger and larger.
Unto this Shiloh Of omnipotent sympa-
thy the gathering of the people shall be.
Oh, that Christ would stand by all these
empty cradles and all these desOlated
homesteads and all these broken hearts
and persuade US it is we'll!
Christ's Sympathy.
The world cannot offer you any help
at such time. Suppose the world
comes and offers you money. You would
rather live on a crust in cellar and
have your departed loved ones with you
than live lie palatial surroundings and
they away. Suppose the world offers
you its hOnOrs to console you. What is
the presidency to Abraham Lincoln
when little Willie lies dead in the White
House? Perhaps the world comes and
says. Cline will cure it all. - All, there
are griefs that have ragged on for 80
years and are raging yet. And yet hun
dreds have been comfOrted, thousands
have been comforted, millions have
been comforted, and Christ had done
the work. Oh, what you want is SYM
pathy! The world heart of sympathy
beats very irregularly. Plenty of sym
pathy when we do not want it, and Of
ten when we are in appalling need of it
no sympathy. There are multitudes of
people dying for sympathy
in their work, sympathy in their ia
tigues, sympathy in their bereavements,
sympathy in their financial losses, SYM
pathy in their physical ailments, SYM
pathy in their spiritual anxieties, SYM
pathy in the time Of declining years
wide, deep, high, everlasting, almighty
sympathy. We must have it, and Christ
gives it. That is the cord with which
he is going to draw all nations to him.
AT the story of punishment mans
eye flashes, and his teeth set, and his
fist clinches, and he prepares to do bat
tie even though it be against the heav-
ems. Yet what heart SO hard but it will
succumb to the story of compassion !
Even a mans sympathy is pleasant and
helpful. When we have been in some
hour of weakness, to have a brawny
man stand beside us and promise to see us
through, what courage it gives to our
heart, and what strength it gives to our
arm. Still mightier is a woman's sym
pathy. Let him tell the story who,
when all his fortunes were gone and all
the world was against him, came home
and found in that home wife who
could write on the top of the empty
flour barrel, 1.-THE Lord will provide"
or write on the door of the empty ward
robe Consider the lilies Of the field.
If God SO clothed the grass of the field,
will he not clothe us and ours?'
Or let that young man tell the story
hO hoe no whole rOnn6 of 6iCCi-
patton. The shadow of the penitentiary
is upon him, and even his father says:
"Be off Never come home again ~ The
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