Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-01-15

mans barn, and eating az another mans
table, and cruising the lake ia another mans
fishing smack, and buried in another mans
tomb. -Four inspired authors wrote His BIZ
Ography. and innumerable lives OF Christ
have been published, but He composed His
autobiography In a most compressed way
He said, 81 have trodden the wine pre,s
alone"
Poor in the estimation OF nearly all the
prosperous Glasses. They called Him Sab
bath breaker, wine bibber. traitor, bias
phemer and ransacked the dictionary Of op-
probrium from cover to cover 20 express
their detestation. l can think now Of only
two well to do men who espOused His cause
-Nieodemus and Joseph OF Arimathea. His
friends for the most part were people who, in
that climate where ophihllmia or inf ANNA
ton OF the eyeball sweeps ever and anon
rs scourge, had become blind. sick
people who were anxious to get we'll, and
troubled people in whose family there was
some one dead or dying. II He had purse
ut all, IL was empty, or We would have heard
what the soldiers did with the contents.
Poor? The pigeon in the doyecOt, the rab-
bit in its burrow, the silkworm In its cocoon,
the bee in its hive is better provided for,
better or, better sheltered. Aye. the brute
creation has n home on earth, which Christ
had not. A poet says
II on windy days tine raven
GambOl like Il dancing skin,
Not the less he loves his haven
On the bosom OF the cliff.
II almost with eagle pinion
Ger the Alps the chamOs roam,
Yet he has some small dominion
Which no doubt he calls his home
But the Crown Prince of all heavenly do
miniOn has less than the raven, less than the
chamois, for He was homeless. Aye. in tho
history OF the universe there is no other in
stance Of such coming down. Who can
count the miles from the top OF the throne
to the bottom OF the croSsY Cleopatra, CIV
ing banquet to Antony, took Il pearl worth
100000 and dissolved it in vinegar and
swallowed 1t. But when our Prince, accord
ing to the evangelist, in His last hours took
the vinegar, In it had been dissolved all the
pearls OF His heavenly royalty. Down until
there was no other haraSsment to suffer- poor
until there was no other pauperism to tor
ture. Billions OF dollars spent in wars 10 de-
stroy men. who will furnish the statistics of
the value % that precious blood that was
shed to save us? "Ye know tho grace Of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich,
yet for our sakes He became poor"
Only those who study this text in two
places can fully realize its power-the holy
Land of Asia Minor and the holy land Of
heaven. | wish that some dav you might 60
TO the Holy Land and take y drink out Of
Jacobs well, and take sail on Galilee,
and read the sermon on the mount while
standing on Oivet. and see the wilderness
where Christ was tempted, and be some
afternoon on Calvary at about O'clock
the hour at which closed the cruciflxiOn-
and sit Under the sycGmores and by the side
of brooks, and think and dream and pray
about the poverty Of Him who came our
souls to save. But you may be denied
that, and so here, in another continent
and in another hemisphere, and in scenes
as different as possible, we recount rs well
we may how poor was our heavenly Prince.
But in the other holy land above we may ali
study the riches that He left behind when He
started for earthly expedition. Come, let US
bargain to meet each other at the door of
the Fathers mansion, or on the bank of the
river Just where it rolls from under the
throne, or at the outside gate. Jesus got the
contrast by exchanging that world for this; we
will get il by exchanging this world for that
There aud then you will understand more of
the wonders OF the grace Of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who, Though He was rich, yet for
your sakes became poor"
Yes, grace, free grace, sovereign grace,
omnipOtent grace! Among the thousands
| OF words in the language there is no more
/ Queenly word. II means free and unmerited
| Kindness. My text has no monopoly of the
/ word. One hundred and twenty-nine times
| does the Bible eulogize grace. 1t is door
swung wide open to let into the pardon of
/ God all the millions who choose to enter It,.
John Newton sang OF 1t when he wrote:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved Il wretch like me.
! Philip Doddridge put it into all hymnology
| when he wrote:
Grace, It's charming sound
Harmonious to the ear.
Heaven with echo shall rescund,
And all the earth shall hear.
One of john Bunyan's great books Is en-
titled ''Grace Astounding" at is all of
grace that am saved as has been on the
lips of hundreds of dying Christians. The
boy Sammy was right when, being exam
ined for admission into church membership,
he was asked, "Whose work was your saliva,
tion?" And he answered, Part mine and
part Gods" Their the examiner asked,
'What part did you do, sammy And the
answer was, II opposed God ali could and
He did the rest" Oh, the height of it, the
depth OF it. the length of it, the breadth Of
it, the grace of God Mr.. Fletcher hav-
ing written pamphlet that pleased
the king, the king offered to CON-
pensate him, and Fletcher answered,
"There is only one thing | want, and that
is more grace" Yes, My blood bought
hearers grace to live by and grace 10 die by.
Grace that saved the publican; that saved
Lydia; that saved the dying thief that
saved the jailer; that saved me. But the
riches Of that grace will not be fully under
stood until heaven breaks in upon the
soul. An old Scotchman who had been
a soldier in one of the European wars was
sick and dying in one of our American
hospitals His one desire was to see Scotland
and his old home and once again walk
the heather OF the highlands and hear
the bagpipes Of the Scotch regiments. The
night that the old Scotch soldier died
young man, somewhat reckless. but
kiud-hearted. got a company of musicians
to come and play under the old soldiers
window, and among the instruments there
was bagpige The instant that the mu-
sicians began the dying Old man in delir-
ium said: whats that? What's that?
Why, it's the regiments coming home.
That's the tune-yes, that's the tune.
Thank God, | have got home once more'
''Bonnie Scotland and Bonnie Dom"
were the last words he uttered as he passed
up to the highlands Of the better country,
and there are hundreds homesick for heav
en-, some because you have so many be-
reavementS, some because you have so many
temptations, some because you have so
many ailments -honesick, very homesck
for the fatherland of heaven, and the music
that you want to hear now Is the song OF
free grace, and the music that you want tc
hear when you die is free grace, ant
forever before the throne of God you vii
sing of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
who, though He was rich, for your sakes be-
came poor"
Yes, yes, foryour sakes! 1t was not on {
pleasure excursion that He came, for 1t wa
all pain. 1t was not on an astronomical ex
ploration, for He knew this world as vel
before He alighted as afterWard. 1t was no
because He was compelled to come, for I'll
volunteered. 1t was notesecause it was easy
for He knew that it would be thorn and splk
and hunger and thirst and vociferation o
angry mobs. "For your sakes" To wp
away your tears, to forgive your wrongdo
ing, to companionship your loneliness, t
soothe your sorrows, to sit with you by tn