Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1900-10-26


our houses we have eight or ten; and we
pile them up in the corners OF our Sabbath
school rooms and send great boxes OF
them everywhere. If they get on as well
as they are now going on In the work OF
determination, do not know but that
our childltn may live to see the mllen-
MUM. Yea, ii there should come a time
of persecution in which all the known Ri.
bles of the earth should be destroyed, all
these lamps of life that blaze in our pull.
pits and in our families extlnguIshed, IN
The very day that in6delty and sin should
be holding jubilee over the universal ex.
tinction there would be in some clo.et OF
a backwoods church secretcd copy of the
Bible, and this Joasl of eternal literature
would come out and come up and take the
throne, and The Athaliah of iphdelity and
persecution would fly out the back door OF
the palace and drop. her miserable carcass
under the hoofs of the horses Of the king 6
stables YOU cannot exterminate Chris
tianityi YOU cannot kill Joash!
The. second thought hand you from
my subject is that there are opportunities
in which you may save royal llie You
know that prof,ne history is replete with
stories of strangled monarchs and OF young
princes 40 have been put out or the
way. Here is the story OF young KING
saved. How Jehosheba, the clergyman I,
wife, must have trem5led as she rushed
into the imperial nursery and snatched NJ
Joashl How she hushed him lest by, his
cry he hinder the escape! EfytS7sll4 him
,Jehosneba! You hold in your arms the
cause of God and good government. Fail
and he is slain. Succeed. and YOU turn
the tide of the worlds history in the right
direction 1t seems as If between that
young king and his assassins there is moth
ing bu; the frail a-li of a woman. I5i'
why should we spend our time IN praisIna
this bravery of expedition when God asks
the same thing of YOU and me! All
around lis The imperied children OF a
great king. They are born OF Almighty
parentage, and will come to throne or .
crown if permitted. But sin, the old Atll
allah, goes forth to the massacre. Muir
derous temptations are out for the assas
sination. Nalens, the Emperor; was told
that there vas somebody i'll his realm who
would rsurp his throne, and that the name
of the man who should be the usurpei
would begin with the letters 7. ii. T., o
ID, and the edict went forth from the En-
peror's throne, Kill everybody whose
name begins with L. II, l., o, d." And
hundreds of thousands were slain, hoping
one usurper. But. Gin is more terrific III
its denunciation. it matters not how YOU
spell your name. YOU come under its knife
under its sword. under its doom. unles,
there be some omnipotent relief brought &c
the rescue But, blessed be- God, there Is
such thing ,assdslWefak a royal soul
Who will sndtchAwGy beSsh?
How few of us appreciate the TACT that
the cuirch Of God is hiding place: There
are many people who put the church at Sc
loW mark that they begrudge ii every
thing, eJensihc few dollars they give to
ward it. They make no sacrifices. They
dole little otifsof their surplusssre( lfs;
pay Their. butchers bill, and they pay then
doctors bill; and they pay their landlord
and they nay everybody but the Lord. .auG
they come m At the last to pay the LORD
in His church and frown as they say:
There, Lord it is. Send me q receipt ir
full. and don't bother me soon agan!'
There is not more than one man out o.
a thousand that appreciates what tht
church is. Where are the souls that put
aside one-tenth for Christian Institutions
one-tenth of their income? Where arc
those who, having put aside that one-tentt
draw upon it cheerfully? Why it is pull
and drag hold on and grab and clutch
and giving is an affection to most people
when it ought to be an exhilaration and 9
rapture.
Oh. that God wouid remodel our souls
ION this subject and that we might appre
.siafe aAe-. house of God as the great ref
uge! If bildren are to come up tt
lives of yiftIS fNs4, happiness, they will
come up under tie sRsdpw of the church
If the church does gsks ct them, The
world will. Hfs
All. when You ass away-and ii will moi
be long before you do-when you pass
away, it will be a satisfaction to SEE
your children in Christian society. You
!. want to have them sitting at the holy sac
fadaesstsEssa,l on yantAstAem milgng II
Christian ASSOCIATIONS. You would like
to have them die in the sacred precincts.
When you are on your dyin5 bed and youi
little ones cor up to take your last word
and you look into their bewildered faces
YOU will want to leave them under the
church's benediction. | do not care how
hard you are, that is so.
And so, enough you may have been wan
derers from God, and though YOU may
have some times carlcatured the chureD .ol
Jesus, it is your great desire that youl
SONS and daughters should be standing all
their lives within this sacred inclosurc.. u
-, More than that. You-pQHyself will watt
the church &sEEp hiding place when the
mortgage fs,fo4ssSllosed, when your saHall,
denly clasps her sajds in iflpbsr that
knows no waking; when the l,aurit tss@uble
walks through the parlor and the sitting
room and the dining hall and the nursery,
you will want some shelter from the tenn
pest. All, some of you have been run
upon by misfortune and trial; WHY. DO
you not come into tht'2Ieherf' -
| said TO widowed mother after she
had buried her only son-months after
l said to her, How do you get along now
adays~ oh" she replied. II get along
tolerably wellttSetpt when the sun shines"
l said, 9Vhat do YOU mean by that"
when she said II can't bear te,see t&he
sun shine. My heart Is 50 dark that ar
the brightness OF the natural world seems
a mockery to me-"
o darkened soul! 0 broken hearted
man, broken h6artsd1,tvQmap! WHY do
you not come into the sheltery i swing
it from wall to wall Come in Come in!
You pt PLACE where your troubles
shall b, Interpreted, where your burdens
shall be unstrapped, where your tears shall
be wiped away.
Church CT God. be hiding place to all
luCoE DCOpiC' 0INt IllclI' al StdO- WItlt
they can rest Their weary souls Flash
some light from your chandeliers upon
their darkness. With some soothing
hymn hush these griefs
Oh, church of God gate OF heaven. let
me 60 through it! All other institutions
are -oing to fall but the church of Godzj
as foundation is the Rock of Ages, .it$
charter is for everlasting years, .itst.keys
are held b. the universal Proprietor, its
dividend is heaven, its president Us God!
Sure as Thy truth shall last,
To Zion shall be given
The highest glories earth can yield
And brightest bliss of heaven"
God grant thai all this audience, the
youngest, the eldest, the worst, the best.
may fin. their safe and glorious hiding
place where Joash found tin the temple.
LABOR WORLD.