The Penn's Grove record., 1899-06-30

turtles OF the Christian church some OF
these stars have been hunting an Edward
irving or a Horace Bushnell or an Albert
Barnes, And the stars that were In pur.
suit ofthe other stars lost their own orbit.
ana some OF them could never again find
1t, Alas for the heresy huntersl The best
way to destroy error is to preach the
truth. h best way to scatter darkness
is to strike a light. There is In immensely
room enough for all the ministers. The
ministers who give up righteousness and
the truth will get punishment enough any
now, Tor they are "the wandering stars for
whom Is reserved the b~lackness Of dark.
ness forever
tfss Did IKE, as a minister, when / am
ssUu Fla, be able truthfully to say what a
= u Ndin of the English army, fallen at the
neau OF his column and dying on the Egyp.
tian battlefield, said to General Wolseley,
who came to condole with him. 81 led
them straight. Didn't 1 lead them
straight, Reneral2" God has put us minis
tiers as captains in this battlefield OF truth
against error, Great at last will be our
chagrin II we fall leading the people the
wrong way; but great will be our gladness
II, when the battle is over, we can hand
our sword back to our great Commander,
saying: Lord Jesus! We led the people
straight Didn't we lead them s~tralght?"
Those ministers who go off ut n tangent
and preach some other gospel are not
stars, but comets, and they Hash across tho
heavens a little while and make people
stare, and throw down a few meteoric
stones, and then go out Of sight IL not out
OF existence, Brethren In the ministry,
let us remember that God calls US stars,
and our business Is to shine and to keep
our wi sphere, and then when we get
lone trying to light up the darkness OF
this world, we will wheel into higher
cnhara and IL ra rLnlI - F,IpfIol At.
promise they that turn many to righteous
ness shah shine as the stars forever and
ever"
The ministers are not all Peeksniffs and
cantinR hypocrites, as some would have
you think! Forgive me, II having Mt other
times glori1ed the medical profession, and
the legal profession, and the literary pro-
iesslon-1 glorify my own, / nave seen
them in their homes and heard them In
their pulpits, and a grander array Of men
never breathed, and the Bible figure is not
strained when 1t calls them stars; and
whole consultations OF glorious ministers
have already taken their places on high,
where they shine even brighter than they
shone on earth; Edward N. Kirk, of the
Congregational Church; Stephen H.. Tying,
OF the Episcopal Church; Matthew Simp-
son. OF the Methodist Church; John Dowl-
ing, OF the Baptist Church; Samuel X. Tai
mage, OF the Presbyterian Church; Thomas
De witt, Of the Reforiaed Church; John
Chambers, Of the Independent Church and
there l stop, for 1t so happens that | have
mentioned the seven stars Of the seven
churches. y
pass on to another mighty Bible seven
and they are the seven seals. st. job in
vision saw a scroll with seven seals, and he
heard an angel cry, "Who is worthy to
loose the seals thereof" Take eight or
ten sheets OF f~oolscap paper, paste them
together n roll them into a scroll, and
have the scroll at seven different places
sealed with sealing wax, You unrol! the
scroll till you come to one of these seals,
and then you can 10 no farther until you
break that seal; then unroll again until
you come to another seal, and you can go
no farther until you break that seal; then
you go on until all the seven seals are
broken, and the contents Of the entire
scroll revealed. Now, that scroll with
seven seals held by the angel was the
prophecy of what was to come on the
earth; it meant that the knowledge OF the
future was with God, and no nan and no
angel was worthy to open it; but the Bible
SAYS Christ opened 1t and broke all the sew
en- seals. He broke the first seal and I'M
rolled the scroll, and there was a picture OF
a white horse. and that meant prosperity
and triumph for the Roman empire, and so
1t really came to pass that for ninety years
virtuous emperors succeeded each other
Nerva, Trajan and Antoninus. Christ In
the vision broke the second seal and IN
rolled again, and there was a picture of a
red horse, and that meant bloodshed, and
SO 1t really came to pass, and the next
ninety years were red with assassinatlons
and wars. Then Christ brokethe thlrd
and unrolled it, and there was a picture oil
n black horse, which In all literature means
famine, oppression and taxation; and so it
really came to pass. Christ went on I'M
til He broke all the seven seals and
opened all the scroll, Well, the future OF
all Of us is a sealed scroll, and l am glad
that no one but Christ can open it.. Do not
let US Join that class OF Christians in our
Cay, who are trying to break the seven seals
OF the future. They are trying to peep into
things they have no business WITH.
Do not go to some orspirit-
uallst or soothsayer or fortune teller TO
find out what is going to happen to your
self or your family or your friends. Wait
tin Christ breaks the seal to find out
whether in your " personal life or the
life OF the nation or the life OF the world 1t
Is going to be the white horse OF prosperity
or the red horse OF war or the black horse
of famine. You will soon enough see him
paw and hear him neigh. Take care OF the
present, and the future will take care OF
itself. II q man live seventy years, his
DlORruDuN Is Ill u StIol hhNihH u N"S
seven seals, and let him not during the
lrst ten years of his life try to look
into the twenties, nor the twenties into
the thirties, nor the thirttes into the
forties, nor the forties into the 1fties, nor
the Hfties into the sixties, nor the sixties
into the seventies. From the way the
wears nave got the habit of racing along,
guess you will not have to walt n great
while before all the seals of the future are
bnaEan yunnlt not give two cents to
know how long | am going to live, or in
what day OF what year the world is going
to be demolished. l would rather give
$1,000 not to know. Suppose some one
could break the next seal in the scroll OF
your personal history and should tell you
that on the next 4th OF July, 1901, you
were to die, the summer after next,
how much would you be good for between
this and that2 1t would from now until
then he n prolonged funeral. You would
be counting the months and the days,
and your family and friends would be
counting them, and next 4th OF July you
would rub your hands together and whine:
Zone year from to-day l am 10 20. Dear
mel | wish no one had told ne so long be-
fore. I wish that necromancer had not
broken the seal of the future" And meet
ing some undertaken, you would say: Il
hone YOU will keep yourself free for an en-
paremen the 4th OF July, 1901. That day
You will be needed at my house. To save
lime. YOU might as we'll take my measure
now five feet eleven inches" l AM glad
that Christ dropped a thick veil over the
hour OF our demise and of the hour OF the
worlds destruction when He said, "0fthat
dav and hour knoweth no mani no. not the
angels. but my Father only" Keep your
hands of the seven seals.
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