Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-01-14


the coral; hot and scalding trouble to
make the jewels Of grace in the soul
We all hate trouble, and yet il does
great deal for u.s. You have heard per-
haps Of that painter who wished to get
an expression Of great distress for his
canvas and who had his servant lash .
man fast and put him to great torture.
and then the artist caught the look on
the victim S face and Immediately trans
ferred it to the canvas. Then be said TO
the servant, More torture, and under
more torture there was more thorough
expression Of pain, and the artist said:
"Stop there Wait till catch that eI-
preston. Therel Now / have it upon
the canvas. Let loose the victim. IhaVe
a work that will last forever. " "Oh,"
you say, "he was an inhuman painter"
No doubt about it, Trouble is cruel and
inhuman, but he is great painter. and
out Of our tears and blood on his palette
he makes colors that never die. Oh,
that it might be picture Of Christian
fortitude, of shining hopel
Development.
On the day was licensed TO preach
the gospel an old Christian man took
my hand and said, my son, when you
get in tight corner on Saturday night
without any sermon send for ne. and /
will preach for you" Well, it was q
great encourapc eent TO be backed up by
such a 96tF Old minister, and il was not
long before got into tight corner on
Saturday night without any sermon,
and | sent for the old minister, and he
came and preached, and it was the last
sermon he ever preached. All the tears
cried at his funeral could not express
my affection for that man, who was
willing to help me out Of tight corner.
All, my friends, that is what we all
want-somebody to help Us out Of 9
tight corner. You are in one now. How
do know it? / am used 10 judging OF
human countenances, and see beyond
the smile and beyond the courageous
look with which you hide your feelings
from others. know you are in tight
corner. What to do? Do as | did when
l sent for old Dr. Scott Do better than
| did-send for the Lord God Of Daniel
and Of Joshua and of every other man
who got into a tight corner. "Oh, says
some one, "why cannot God develop
me through prosperity instead OF
through adversity?" Twill answer your
question by asking another. Why does
not God dye our northern and temper
ate seas with coral? You say, THE wa
ter is not hot enough" Therel In an
swering my question you have answered
your own. Hot climate for richest spec
linens Of coral. hot trouble for the jew
els Of the soul The coral fishers going
out from Tore del Greece never brought
ashore such fine specimens as are brought
out Of the scalding surges of misfortune
| look down into the tropical sea, and
there is something that looks like blood,
and say, HAS there been great bat
tie down there:" Seeming blood scat
tered all up and down the reefs. Ii Is
the blood Of the coral. and it makes me
think Of those who come out OF great
tribulation and have their robes washed
white in the blood Of the Lamb. bus
these gems Of earth are nothing to the
gems of heaven. mo mention shall be
made Of coral.
Again, | take your hand, and we walk
on through this garden Of the sea and
look more particularly than we did at
the beauty Of the coral. The poets have
all been fascinated with it. One Of them
wrote:
There, with broad and easy motion.
The fan coral sweeps through the clear dep
sea,
And the yellow and scarlet tufts OF the ocean
Are bent like corn on the upland lea
One specimen Of coral is called the
dendrophilia, because it is like tree;
another is called the astrara, because tt
is like a star another is called the
brain coral, because it is like the convo-
lutions Of the human brain; another IL
called fan coral, because it Is like the
instrument with which you cool your
self ON hot day; another specimen Is
called the organ pipe coral, because t
resembles the king Of musical instru-
ments. All the flowers and all the
shrubs in the gardens Of the land have
their correspondence in this garden OF
the sea. Corallum 1t is q synonym Tor
beauty. And yet there is no beauty IN
the coral compared with our religion
It gives physiognomic beauty 1t does
not change the features; It does not
give features with which the person
was not originally endowed. but 1t sets
behind the features Of the homeliest
person heaven that shines clear
through. So that often, on first so
quaintance, you said Of man, he Is
the homeliest person ever saw, " when,
after you came to understand him and
his nobility of soul shining through his
countenance, you said, "He is the love-
liest person ever saw. ." No one ever
had a hopely Christian mother What
ever the world may have thought OF her
there were two who thought well-your
father, who had admired her for 90
years, and you. over whom she bent
with so many tender ministrationA
When you think Of the angels Of God.
and your mother among them, she out
shines them all Oh, that our young peo'
ple could understand that there 10 moth
ing that so much beauties the human
countenance as the religion OF Jesui
Christi II makes everything beautiful.
Trouble beautiful Sickness beautiful.
Disappointment beautiful Everything
beautiful.
Near my early hcme there was plac'
called the Two Bridges These bridges
leaped the two streams. Well, m,
friends, the religion Of Jesus Christ Il
two bridges 1t bridges all the past Il
arches and overspans all the future 4
makes the dying pillow the landins
place of angels fresh from glory. j
turns the sepulchr into Maytime or
chard- 1t catches up the dying into ful
orchestra. Coralluml And yet that doe
not express the beauty. "No mention
shall be made of coral
Work That Endures.
] take your hand again and walk I
little farther on in this garden OF thl