The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-04-13

in great assemblages. Trappers. with
the same voice with which they shout
ed yesterday in the stag hunt. and
mariners with throaIs that only q few
lays ago ounde in the hoarse blast
OF the sea hurricane, they. sang it. One
theme for the One burden
for the song. Jesus for the invocation.
Jesus for the Scripture lesson. Jesus
for the baptismal font Jesus for the
sacramento sup. Jesus for TIE bene-
diction. But the day has gone II
rolled away on swift wheels Of light
and owe Again the churches are iieht-
ed. Tides of people again -ung
down the streets. Whole faEIllIeS COM
ing up the church aisle. We must
have one more service. WHAT snail
we peach? What shall We read? Let
il be Jesus, everybody says; let IL be
Jesus We must have one more song.
What shall it be, children? Aged men
and women. what shall il be? Young
men and maidens, what shall l. be?
II you dared to break the silence Of
this auditory, there would cone up
thousands of quick and jubilant voices.
crying out, Let it be Jesus! Jesus,
jesus"
We sing his birth-the barn thai
sheltered him, the mother that nursed
him, the cattle that fed beside him.,
the angels that woke up the shepherds
shaking light over the midnight hills.
We sing his ministry the tears he
wiped away from the eyes of the or
phans, the lame men that forgot their
crutches, the damsel who from the bier
bounded out into the sunlight, her
locks shaking down over the flushed
cheek, the hungry thousands who
broke the bread as ii blosSomed INTO
larger oaves-t AaL miracle by which
a boy with five loaves and two fishes
became the Sutler OF a Whole army.
We sing his sorrows-his stone bruised
80 nc q ~
loneliness, his desert hunger his storm
pelted body, the eternity of anguish
that shot through his last moments,
and the unreasonable ocean of tor
ment that heaved up against his cross
in one foaming, wrathful, O~mnipotent
surge, the sun dashed out. and the
dead, Shroud breaking open
their sepulchers and rushing out to see
what was the matter. We sing his
resurrection-the guard that could not
keep him., the sorrow of his disciples,
the clouds piling up on either side in
pillared ~splendors as he went through
reading the pothleSS air, higher and
higher, until he came to the foot of the
throne, and all heaven keep jubilee at
the return of the Oh, Is
there any song more appropriate for a
Sabbath night than this song of Jesus?
Let the paSsers by in the street hear
it, let the angels of God carry it amidst
the thrones. Sound it out through the
darkness; Jesus the night song, ap-
propriate for any hour, out especially
sweet and beautiful and blessed on a
Sabbath night.
A GREAT HARMONY.
l say once more Christ is the ever
lasting song. The very best singers
sometimes get tired, the strongest
throatS sometimes get weary, and
many who sang very sweetIy do not
sing now, but l hope by the grace of
God we will after awhile go up and
sing the praises of Christ where we
will never be weary. You know there
are some songs that are especially ap-
propriate for the home circle. They
stir the soul, hey start the tears, they
turn the heart in on itself and keep
sounding after the tune has stopped,
like some cathedral bell which, long
after the tap of the brazen tongue has
ceased, keeps throbbing on the air.
Well, it will be a home song in heaven,
all the SWeeter because those who sang
with us in the domestic circle on earth
shall join that great harmony.
Jerusalem, my happy home,
Name ever dear to, me;
When shall my labors have an end
In joy and peace in thee?
On earth we sang havest songs as
the wheat came into the barn and the
barracks were filled. You know there
is no such time On a farm as when
they get the crops in, and SC in heaven
it will be a havest song on the part OF
those who on earth sowed in tears
and reaped in joy. Lift up your heads,
We everlasting gates, and let the sheaves
come in Angels % all through
the heavens, and multitudes come
down the hills crying: Harvest home!
Harvest home!"
There is nothing more bewitching to
~-- H. &c o1A a ~
out at sea, whether in day or night,
as they pull away at the ropes-not
much sense otter in the words they
utter, but the music is thrilling. So
were voyagers once n though they
could never get to shore, and before
they could get things snug and trim
the cyclone struck them. But now
they are safe. Once they went with
damaged rigging, guns Of distress
booming through the storm, but the
pilot came aboard, and he brought
them into the harbor. Now they sing
Of the breakers past, the lighthouses
that show them where to sail, the
pilot that took them through the sraits
the eternal shore on which they land
ed.
THE CHILDREN'S SONG.
Aye, it will be the children's song.
o know very we'll that the vast ma
joritv of our ace die in infancy, and
II Is estimated CudC sixteen InOuSdIu
millions of the little mes are standing
about the throne to sing, the million
before God. When they shall rise
and the millions of the little ones-an
that will be music for you! These
played in the streets of Babylon and
Thebes; these plucked lilies from tn.
foot of Olivet while Christ was preach
ing about them; these waded in Sloan
these were victims of Herod's massa
ere; these were thrown to crocodiles
or into the fire; these came up from
: Christian homes, and these were found-
lings on the city commons-childreT
everywhere in all that land, children
in the towers, children on the seas OF
T glass, children on the battlements. All
if you do not like children, do not &C
there! They are in vast majority. An6
: what a song when they lift it aroun6
about the throneI
The Christian singers IND composer
OF all ages will be there to join in thai