The Progress., 1898-05-28

stirred the blaze Then they brought out a
bar of iron and put 1t in q crushing ma
chine, and then they put 1t between jaws
that bit IL in twain. Then they put 1t on
| an anvil, and there were great hammers
| swung by n,nchincry-c;cho ono half n ton
Ill wclght-that went thump, thump,
thump! If that iron could have spoken, It
would have said: ''Why all this bcating2
Why must be pounded any moro than
any other }rOn?' The workmcn w0uld
| nave SAID, We want TO make axes out Of
you, keen, sharp aNcs--l with which to |
| hew d"nn the forest and build the ship |
! and erect houses and carry thousand
| enterprises of civilization That is the
! reason we pound YOU.
| Now, God puts u soul into the furnace
| Of tria. and chen it is brought out and
| run through the crushing machine and
| then 1T comes down on the anvil and upon
| it, blow after blow, blow after blow, until
| the soul cries out, 80 Lord, what does oil
I this mcan?' God says: II want to make
something very useful out Of you. You
shall be something to hew with and some
thing to build with. 1t is practical proc
ess through which l am putting you.
Yes, my Christian friends, we want moro
tools In the church Of God; not more
wedges TO split with. We have enough Of
these. Not more borcs with which to
drill. We have too many borcs. What we
really want Is keen sharp, we'll tempered
making them than in the hot furnace, and
on the hard anvil, and under the heavy
hammer, do not know what 1t is. Re
member that If God brings any kind Of
chastisement upon you it Is only to make
you useful. Do not sit down discouraged
and say: 81 have no more reason for liv-
ing. 1 wish We're dead " Oh there never
was SO much reason for your living as
now! By this ordeal you have been con-
secrased n priest OF the most high God
Go out and do your whole work for the
Master.
Again, there is comfort in the Thought
that all our troubles arc n revelation
Have you ever thought Of it in that con-
nectiOn? The man who has never been
through chastisemcnt Is ignorant about
thousand things in his soul he ought to
know. For instance, here Is a man who
pridcs himself on his checrfulness Of char
acter. He has no patience with anybody
who is depressed in spirits. Oh, it is easy
for him to be cheerful with his fine house,
his filled wardrobe and we'll strung instru-
mcntS Of music and tapestried parlor and
plenty of money In the bank waiting for
some permanent Investment! 1t Is easy
for him to be cheerful. But suppose
his fortune goes to pieces and his house
goes down under the shcriff's hammer
and the banks will not have anything to
do with his paper. Suppose those people
who wcre once elegantly entertained ut his
recognize him upon the street. How
then? Is it SO easy to be cheerfuliI
1t is easy to be cheerful In the home after
the days work Is done, and the gas is
turned on and the house is full Of romp-
ing little ones But suppose the piano Is
shut because the fingers that played on 1t
will no more touch the keys and the child
ish voice that asked many questions
will ask no more. Then Is 1t SO easy2
When a man wakes up and finds that his
resources are all gone, he begins to rebel,
and he says: God Is hard God is out
He had no business to do this to
me-" My friends those of us who have
been through trouble know what n sinful
and rebellous heart we have, and how
much God has to put up with, and how
much we need pardon. It is only in tho
light of flaming furnace that we can
learn our own weakness and our own lack
Of moral resource.
Giories of Reunion.
There is also great deal Of comfort In
the fact that there will be family recon-
struction in u better place. From Scotland