Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-11-12

acter come to be one. That which
they would keep secret cannot be con-
cealed. The mask which men would
wear, slips aside and discloses the face
beneath it. "a Time reveals charac-
ter. As the years pass along, man
generally gets to be known for what
he is. For example, if man is cow
ard and enlists in the. army, he may
swagger about and look like real
soldier, but time will come when the
spirit of the man will show itself, and
he will be set down at his real value.
Or, a young man in an Office may act
dishonesty and go on perhaps for
long time doing so, and thinking he is
carefully concealing his frauds, but,
when least expected, discovery takes
place, and ruin and disgrace follow.
(2) Sorrow reveals character. Moth
ing more truly shows what a man is
than his bearing under the sorrows of
life. When the flag is wrapped round
the flagstaff on a calm day, when no
breath of wind is moving, we cannot
read the device that is upon it, but
when the storm unfurls the flag, we
can read it plainly enough. In the
same way when the troubles of life
beat upon men, we can read clearly
what they are. Again, when we go
along the road on summer day, we
often cannot see the houses that are
concealed by the foliage of the trees;
but in winter time, when the trees are
bare and leafless, We know what kind
of houses are there, whether they are
squalid cottages or great mansions.
So in the winter time of life, when the
loo h 0rrt
and we know what kind of character
they have been building up behind the
screen of life. (3) If time and sor-
row do not reveal character, eternity
will. We will appear then, not as we
seem, but as we are. Christ is to be
our judge. Consider what a striking
thing it is in the life of Christ, that
His searching glance seemed to go
right to the heart, to the hidden mo-
tive, to the man within. HE knew
what was in man." a poor woman
passed by Him as He sat in the tenn
pie. She was poverty stricken in her
garb, and she stole up to the contribu-
ton box and dropped in her offering.
ChrlSt's glance went right beyond her
outward appearance, and beyond her
small and almost innperceptible offer
ing, to the motive and character. "She
hath given more than they all" All
sorts of people were around Him;
Pharisees with their plylacteries;
Scribes, with their notions Samari-
tans, with their Wanted traditions;
but He always went right beyond the
outward show. The Samaritan was
good and kind, though he got no credit
for piety; the Pharisee was corrupt
and self-seeking, though he got all
credit for piety; the publican was a
child of God, though no one would
speak to him. Christ reversed the
judgment of men on those people
whom they thought they knew SO well,
but did not. know at all. So it shall
be at the last we shall be judged by
what we are. If we have Christ in
lis the hope of glory" we are safe; for
He that hath the Son hath life, and
he that hath not the Son of God, hath
not life, but the wrath of God abideth
upon him."
4. Character alone endures.-What
man has he leaves behind him; what
man is, he carries with him. 1t is
related that when Alexander the Great
was dying he commanded that his
shroud, that all men might see, that,
though conQuerer of the world, he
could take nothing away with him.
Before Saladin the Great uttered his
last sigh he called the herald who had
carried his banner before him in all
his battles, and commanded him to
fasten to the top of a spear the shroud
in which he was to be buried, and to
proclaim, This is all that remains to
Saladin the Great of all his glory" SO
men have felt in all ages that death
strips them, and that they take moth
ing with them of what they have gain
ed But what we are ourselves we
take with us. All that time has made
us, for good or evil, goes with us. We
can lay up treasures in ourselves that
neither moth nor rust can corrupt, and
which thieves cannot steal away The
splendid treasures of memory, the
treasures of disciplined powers, of en-
larger capacities, of pure and loving
heart, made so by the spirit and
grace of God, all are treasures which
a man can carry in him and with him
into the other world. Everything else,
fame and fortune, rank and station,
must be left behind. But our charac-
ter will be our own. If it is what it
should be; if it has been built up of
holy aims, and sacred emotions, and
the experience of charity and faith; if
it has been so shaped and featured that
We may trace upon it the image of
Jesus; if it is beautiful with the image
of penitence, and cheerful obedience,
and sweet submission; then it is our
unSpeakable treasure-our family like
ness to the redeemed, the token of our
relationship to the holy spirit before
the throne. How solemnly, then, does
its Importance throw every earthly or
temporal interest into the shade.
Without it, kings are poor, and with
it, beggars are rich. 1t constitutes, by
the grace of God our title to the rank
of the nobility in heaven.
5. The highest character a man can
have is the Christian character.-O
Christ is the giver of noble character.
1t is possible to be united to Christ as
the branch is united to the tree; and
when we are so, His life passes into
ours; d change in character comes to
us; we are renewed in the inward
man, old things pass away, and all
things become new. In the life of the
Apostle Paul we have striking in
stance how coming to Christ effects a
change in character. He became a
different man from what he was; he