The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1900-09-21


the Tears of cody repentance are gath
cred up into God S bottle. and some day.
standing before the throne. We will lift
our cup Of delight and ask that il be
filed with the wine OF Heaven. and
Jesus. from that bottle Of tears. Will
begin 10 pour in the cup, and we Will
cry: stop. Jesus. We do not want
to drink our own tears" And Jesus
viii say: Know sc not that the tears
OF earth are the wine Of lleaven?' Sor-
row may endure for a night, but joy
cometh in the morning.
remark. further. Jesus does not
shadow the joys Of others with His
own griefs. He might have sat down in
that wedding and said: Il have so
much trouble, SO much poverty. SO
much prsecuiion. and the cross is COM
ing. | shall not rejoice, and the gloom
Of my face and Of my SORROWS shall be
east over all this group" SO said not
Jesus He said TO Himself: Here are
two persons starting out in married
life. Let it be a joyful occasion. ! VIII
hide my own griefs. | will kindle their
JOY" There are many not so wise as
that. ! knew household where there
are many little children. where for TWO
years the musical instrument has been
kept shut because there has been trou-
bic i'm the house. Alas for the folly,
Parents saving: I'VE will have no
], l..
cause there has been trouble in the
house. Hush that laughing upstairs.
How can there be any JOY when there
has been so much trouble?' And so
they make everything consistently
doleful and send their sons and taugh-
tcrs TO ruin with the gloom they throw
around them.
Oh, my dear friends, do you not
know those children will have trouble
enough of their own after awhile?
BE glad they cannot appreciate all
yours. Keep back the cup Of bitter
ness from your daughters lips. When
your head is down in the grass of the
tomb. poverty may come TO her, be-
trayal TO her, bereavement TO her.
Keep back the sorrows as long as you
can. DO you not know that that son
may after awhile have his heart brok-
en-? Stand between him and ali harm.
You may not fight his battles long.
Fight them while you may. Throw
not the chill OF your own dependency
over his soul Rather be like Jesus
who came to the wedding hiding His
own grief and kindling the joys Of
others. So | have seen the sun on
dark day. struggling amidst clouds.
black. ragged and portcntous, but
after awhile the sun. with golden pry
heaved back the blackncss. And the
sun laughed TO the lake, and the lake
laughed 10 the sun. and from horizon
10 horizon. under the saffron sky, the
water was all turned into wine.
learn from the miracle that Christ
is not impatient with the luXurcs Of
life. It was not necessary that they
should have that wine. Hundreds of
people have been married without any
wine. We do not read that any of the
other provisions fell short. When
Christ made the wine, it was not a ne
cessity, but positive luxury. ! do
not believe that lie wants us TO eat
bread and sleep on hard mattresses
unless we like them the best. ! think,
if circumstances will allow. we have
right TO the luXuries of dress. the lux
urics of diet and the injuries OF resi-
dence. There is no more religion in
an old coat than in new one. We can
serve God drawn by golden plated har-
ness as certainly as when we 20
afoot. Jesus Christ will dwell with us
under a fine ceiling as well as under
thatcned roof
What is the difference between
Chinese mud hoyel and an American
home? What is the difference be-
tween the rough bear skins OF the Rus
sian boor and the outfit Of an Ameri-
can gentleman? No difference. eX-
cent that which the Gospel of Christ,
directly or indirectly, has caused.
When Christ shall have vanquished all
the world, suppose every house VIII
be a mansion and every garment
robe and every horse an arch necked
courscr and every carriage a glitterlng
vehicle and every man king ana
every woman a queen and the Whole
earth a Paradise, the glories OF the
natural world harmonizing with the
qlorics Of the material world until the
very bells of the horses shall jingle the
praises of the Lord.
Ilearn. further, from this miracle that
Christ has no impatience with festal
iov: otherwise he would not have ac-
cepted the invitation to that wedding.
lie certainly would not have done
that which increased the hilarity.
There may have been many in that
room who were happy, but there was
not one of them that did so much for
the iov of the wedding party as Christ
himself. He was the chief of the BAN
queters. When the wine gave out lie
supplied it. and so. take it. He VIII
not deny MS the joys that are positive
ly festal
I think the children Of God have
more right to laugh than any other
people. and 10 clap their hands as
loudly. There is not a single JOY de-
MED them that is given to any other
people. Christianity does not clip the
winps Of the soul. Religion does not
frost the flowers. What is Christian
itv? I take il to be simply procla-
nation from the throne Of God of eman-
cination for all the enslavod. and il
,,,a,, occerts the FERNS Of that procla-