Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1900-07-06

of their own after awhile. De Slau 'noy
cannot appreciate all yours Keep PACK
tne cup of bitterness from your daughter
Iips. When your head is down IN tne
grass of~the. tomb poverty may come 10
her. betrayal to her, bereavement to her.
Keen hack the sorrows as long as you can.
Do You not know that that son may, after
awhile. have his heart broken! Stand
between him and all harm. You may not
fight his battles long. Fight them while
Won NAV. Throw not the chill of your own
despondency over his soul. Rather be Ike
.Tesus who came to the wedding hiding
His own grief and kindling the joys OF
others So I have seen the sun on dars
dav struggling amid clouds, black, ragged
and portentous. but after awhile the sun,
with golden pry, heaved back the. black,
ness. and the sun laughed to the lake, and
the lake laughed to the sun, and from hori-
zon to horizon, under the saffron SKY, the
water was all turned into VINE. 80
I learn from this miracle that Christ is
not impatient with the luxuries OF NE; Ii
was not necessary that they snould nave
that wine. Hundreds of people have peen
married without any wine. We do not read
that anv of the other provisions fell short
When Christ made the wine it was not
necessity. but positive luxury. do not
believe that He wants us to eat hard bread
and sleep on hard mattresses unless we
like them the best | think, if crcum'
stances will allow, we have right. TO the
Injuries of dress, the luxuries OF diet ana
the luxuries of residence. There Is no
more religion in an old coat than IN a new
one. We can serve God drawn by golden
harness as certainly as when we 60 a1oot'
Jesus Christ will dwell with lis under a
fine ceiling as we'll as under matched
roof. r,,;.
nese mud howell and an American home, I
What is the difference between the TIough
bearskins Of the Russian boor and the
outfit of an American gentleman! NO
difference except that which the gospei OF
Christ. directly or indirectly, has caused.
When Christ shall have vanquished all the
world, l suppose every house VIII be q
mansion, and every garment robe, and
every horse an arch necked courser, ana
every carriage glittering vehicle, and
every man a king, and every woman a
oueen. and the whole earth paradise, tue
glories of the natural world harmonzlnB
with the glories of the material world un.
iii the very bells of the horses shall jingle
the praises of the Lord.
learn. further from this miracle that
Christ has no impotence with testal Joy;
otherwise He would not have accepted the
invitation to that wedding. He certainly,
would not have done that which increased
the hilarity There may have been many
in that room who were happy, but tncre
was not one of them that did so mncn loi
the JOY of the wedding party as Chris'
Himself. He was the chief OF the DAN
oueters. When the wine gave out, lie sup
plied it, and so, take it, He will not deny
ms the lows that are positively festal.
Who was it that sent the raven tapping
on the window? The same God that sent
the raven to feed Elijah by the brook
Cberitb. Christ in the hour extremity! 4,
You mourned over your sins. You couli
not find the way out. You sat down ana
said: God will not be merciful. lie, 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 l offer thee
pardon and everlasting life"
Trouble came. You were almost torn
to pieces by that trouble. You Dracen
yourself up against it. You SAID, i VIII
be a stole and will not care, But before
you had got through making the RESOLUTION
it broke down unoer you You 1elt Una.
all your resources were gone, and tnen
Jesus came. .,.yu
'Tn the fourth watch of the night, the
Bible saws. "Jesus came walking on me
sea" Why did He not come III the hrst
watch or in the second watch or Ill the
third watch? | do not know. lie came cam!
in the fourth and gave deliverance to Ills
disciples. Jesus in the last extremity!
wonder if it will be so in our very
last extremity. We shall fall suddenly
sick. and the doctors will come, but in vain
We will try the anodynes and the stimu'
lants and the bathings, but all III VAN
Something will say, "You must 60, NC
one to hold us back, but the hands OF 1 eter
nity stretched out to pull us on, Wha'
then? Jesus will come to us, and as we
say, Lord Jesus, l am AFRAID OF that wa
ter: | cannot wade through to the othel
side" He will say, "Take hold of My arm,
and we will take hold of His arm, and Their
He will nut His foot in the surf OF the
wave. taking us on down, deeper, deeper
deener and our soul will cry, "All IhS
waves and pillows have gone over me.
They cover the feet, come to the knee anC
nass the girdle and come to the head, an6
our soul cries out, Lord Jesus Christ,
cannot hold Thine arm any longer. 1hel
Jesus will turn around, throw both Hl'
arms about us and set us on the beach Iai
beyond the tossing of the pillows. Jesus
in the last extremity! nj,
That wedding scene IS gone now 1h'
wedding ring has been lost, the tanKaros
have been broken, the house IS down, pu'
Jesus invites us to grander weddlng
Won know the Bible says that the church
10 the Lambs wife, and the Lord w,ll at
ter awhile come to fetch her home. There
will be cleaning of torches in the sky, and
the trumpets of God will ravish the All
with their music, and Jesus will stretch Out
His hand. and the church, robed IN white
will nut aside her veil and look up into the
face of her Lord the King, and the Bride
groom will saw to the bride: Chou hast
been faithful through all these years The
mansion is ready. Come home. Thou arc
fair. INV Lowell" and then He shall put upon
her brow the crown of dominion, and tho
table will be spread, and 1T Will reach
across the skies, and the mighty ones OF
heaven will come in garlanded with beauty
and striking their cympals, and the brlde
groom and bride will stand at the head OF
The table, and the banqueters, looking up
will wonder and admire and say: THAT Ii
Jesus, the Bridegroom. But the scar or
HIS brow is covered with the coronet, and
the stab in His side is covered with
robe" and "That is the bride! The wearI
ness of her earthly woe lost in the Hush
of this wedding triumph"
There will be wine enough at that wed
ding. not coming up from the poisoned
watts of earth, but the vineyards OF God
will press their ripest clusters, and the
cups and the tankards will blush to the
brim with the heavenly vintage, and ther
all the banqueters will drink standing.
Esther, having come up from the bac
chanalian revelry of Ahasuerus, where
the Queen of sheba, from the banquet o.
Solomon. will be there. And the mother
Of Jesus, from the wedding in Cana, vii
be there. And they all will agree that Tho
earthly feasting was poor compared with