The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1899-04-22

up the great obstacle in your life, and
you tug and sweat along the pathway
and wonder when the exhaustion will
end. My friends. the brightest crowns
in Heaven will not be given to those
who. in stirrups, dashed to the cavalry
charge. while the general applauded,
and the sound of clashing sabers rang
through the land. but the brightest
crowns in Heaven, | believe, will be
given to those who trudged on amid
chronic ailments which unnerved their
strength, yet all the time maintaining
their faith in God. 1t is comparatively
easy to fight in regiment of ,hou-
sand men, charging up the parapets to
the sound of martial music, but it is not
so easy to endure when no one but
the nurse and the doctor are the wit
nesses of the Christian fortitude. Be
sides that, you never had any pains
worse than Christ's. The sharpness
that stung through His brain, through
His hands, through His feet, through
His heart, were as great as yours GER
tainly. He was as sick and as weary.
Not a nerve or muscle or ligament
escaped. All the pangs of all the ma
tons of all the ages compressed into
one SOU. cup. He took the vinegar!
There is also the sourness Of poverty.
Your income does not meet your out
goings, and that always gives an honest
man anxiety. There is no sign of desti-
tuition about you-pleasant appearance
and cheerful home for you-but God
only knows what time you have had
to manage your private finances. Just
as the bills run up the wages seem to
run down. You may say nothing, but
life to you is hard push and when
you sit down with your wife and talk
over the expenses you both rise up dis
couraged. You abridge here, and you
abridge there, and you get things snug
for smooth sailing, and, 10, suddenly
there is a large doctors bill to pay, or
you have lost your pocketbook, or some
debtor has failed, and you are thrown
abeam end. Well, brother, you are in
glorious company. Christ owned not
the house in which He stopped or the
colt on which He rode or the boat in
which He sailed. He lived in bor-
rowed house; He, was buried in Dor
rowed grave. Exposed to all kinds of
weather, yet He had only one suit
of clothes. He breakfasted in the morn
ing, and no one could possibly tell
where He could get anything to eat be-
fore night. He would have been pro-
nounced financial failure. He had to
perform miracle to get money to pay
a tax bill. Not dollar did He own.
Privation of domesticity, privation of
nutritious food, privation of comfort
able couch on which to sleep, priva-
ton of all worldly resources! The
kings of the earth had chased chalices
out of which to drink, but Christ had
nothing but plain cup set before Him
and it was very sharp, and it was very
sour. He took the vinegar.
There were years that passed along
before your family circle was invaded
by death, but the moment the charme
circle was broken everything seemed
to dissolve. Hardly have you put the
black apparel in the wardrobe before
you have again to take it out. Great
and rapid changes in your family rec.
ord. You got the house and rejoiced
in it, but the charm was gone as soon
as the Grape hung on the doorbell. The
one upon whom you most depended was
taken away from you. A cold marble
slab lies on your heart to-day. Once,
as the children romped through the
house, you Put your hand over your
aching head and said "Oh If could
only have it still" Oh, it is too still
now! You lost your patience when the
tops and the strings and the shells were
left amid floor, but, oh, you would
be willing to have the trinkets scat
tered all over the floor again if they
were scattered by the same hands.
With what ruthless plOwshare be-
reavement rips up the heart! But
Jesus knows all about that. You can.
not tell Him anything new in regard
to bereavement. He had only few
friends, and when He lost one il
brought tears to His eyes. Lazarus had
often entertained Him at his home
Now Lazarus is dead and buried and
Christ breaks down with emotion, the
convulsion of grief shuddering through
all the ages of bereavement. Christ
knows what it is to go through the
house missing familiar intimate
Christ knows what it is to see an unoc-
cupied place at the table. Were there
not four of them-Mary and Martha
and Christ and Lazarus? Four of them
But where is Lazarus? Lonely and af-
ficted Christ, His great, loving eyes
filled with tears! Oh, yes, yes! He
knows all about loneliness and the
heartbreak He took the vinegar!
Then there is the sourness of the
death hour. Whatever else we may es-
cape, that acid sponge will be pressed
to our lips. ! sometimes have a curl
csity to know how will behave when
l come to die. Whether will be calm
or excited, whether / will be filed with
"reminiscences or with anticipation,
cannot say. But come to the point
must and you must. An officer from
| the future world will knock at the door