Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-07-02

Christ himself He was the chief Of
the banqueters. When the wine gave
out, he supplied it, and so, take it, he
will not deny us the joys that are posi-
lively festal.
I think the children Of God have
more right to laugh than any other
people and to clap their hands as loud
ly. There is not a single joy denied
them that is given to any other people.
Christianity does not clip the wings Of
the soul. Religion does not frost the
flowers What is Christianity? / take
it to be simply a proclamation for all
the enslaved, and if a man accepts the
terms of that proclamation and be-
comes free has he not right to be
merry? Suppose father has an ele-
CANT mansion and large grounds. To
whom will he give the first privilege Of
these grounds? Will he say: my chill
dren, you must not walk through these
paths or sit down under these trees or
pluck this fruit. These are for outsid-
ers. They may walk in them" No
father would say anything like that.
He would say, "The first privileges in
all the grounds and all of my house
shall be for my own children" And
yet men try to make us believe that
Gods children are on the limits and
the chief refreshments and enjoyments
of life are for outsiders and not for his
own children. It is stark atheism.
There is no innocent beverage too rich
for Gods child to drink; there is no
robe too costly for him to wear; there
io II 10, nv To- h 70 IN,
dulge in and no house too splendid for
him to live in. He has a right to the
joys of EARTH he shall have a right to
the joys of heaven. Though tribula-
ton and trial and hardship may come
unto him, let him rejoice. "Rejoice in
the Lord, We righteous, and again L say
rejoicei"
In the Hour of Extremity.
1 remark. again, that Christ comes
to us in the hour of our extremity. He
knew the wine was giving out before
there was any embarrassment or NOR
LITIGATION. Why did he not perform
the miracle sooner? Why wait until
it was all gone and no help could come
from any source and then come in and
perform the miracle? This is Christs
way, and when he did come in, at the
hour Of extremity, he made first rate
wine, SO that they cried out, 'Thou
hast kept the good wine until now"
Jesus in the hour Of extremity! He
seems to prefer that hour. In a Chris
tian home in Poland great poverty had
come, and on the weekday the man
was obliged to move out of the house
with his whole family. That night he
knelt with his family and prayed to
God. While they were kneeling in
prayer there was q tap on the window
pane. They opened the window, and
there was q raven that the family had
fed and trained, and it had in it's bill a
ring all set with precious stones, which
was found out to be q ring belonging
to the royal family. 1t was taken up
to the kings residence, and for the
honesty of the man in bringing it back
he had a house given to him and a gar
den and a farm. Who was it that sent
the raven tapping on the window? The
same God that sent the raven to feed
Elijah by the brook Cherith. Christ
in the hour of extremity!
You mOurned over your sins. You
could not find the way out. You sat
down and said: God will not be merci-
full. He has cast me Off" But in that
the darkest hour Of your history light
broke from the throne, and Jesus said:
ooh, Wanderer, come home! | have
seen all thy sorrows. In this the hour
of thy extremity [ offer thee pardon
and everlasting lifep'
TrO11hIa corO0 Won al tor1,
to pieces by that trouble. You braced
yourself up against it. You said, 81
will be q stole and will not care But
before you had got through making the
resolution it broke down under you.
You felt that all your resources were
gone, and then Jesus came. 'In the
fourth watch of the night" the Bible
says, "Jesus came walking on the sea-"
Why did he not come in the first watch
or in the second watch or in the third
watch? I do not know. He came in
the fourth and gave deliverance to his
disciples. Jesus in the last extremity!
A Wedding Triumph.
I wonder if it will be so in our very
last extremity. We shall fall suddenly
sick, and doctors will come, but in
vain. We will try the anodynes and the
stfmulants and the bathings, but all in
vain. Something will say, you must
CO." No one to hold us back, but the
hands Of eternity streached out to pull
us on. What then? Jesus will come to
us, and as we say, Lord Jesus, 1 am
afraid of that water; 1 cannot wade
through to the other side," he will say,
Take hold of my ARM" and we will
take hold Of his arm, and then he will
put his foot in the surf Of the wave,
taking us on down, deeper, deeper,
deeper, and our soul will cry, Cali thy
waves and pillows have gone over me-"