The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-07-05

| khbSo VI tht NOIilD DONtllN may come 70
her, betrayal to her, bereavement TO her
| Keep back 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
| you may. Throw not the chill of your own
! dependency over his soul Rather be like
| Jesus, who came to the wedding hiding
| His own grief and kindling the joys of
| others. So | have seen the sun on a darh
day 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 wine
learn from this miracle that Christ is
not impatient with the luxuries of life. IL
was not necessary that they should have
that wine. Hundreds of people have been
married without any wine. We do not read
that any OF the other provisions fell short.
When Christ made the wine it was not a
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 circum-
stances will allow, we have right to the
luXuries of dress, the luxuries OF diet and
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 go afoot
Jesus Christ will dwell with us under
fine ceiling rs we'll as under u matched
roof
What is the difference between a Chi.
nese mud hovel and an American home2
What is the difference between the rough
bearsliins of the Russian boor and the
outfit OF an American gentleman? No
difference except that which the gospel of
Christ, directly or indirectly, has caused,
When Christ shall have vanqushed all the
world, | suppose every house will be a
mansion, and every garment robe, and
every horse an arch neckcd courser, and
every carriage glittering vehicle, aud
every man a king, and every woman
queen, and the whole earth n paradise. the
glories of the natural world harmouiZing
with the glories of the material world un.
til the very bells of the horses shall Jingle
the praises of the Lord.
| learn, further, from this miracle that
Christ has no impatiencc with iestal joy;
otherwise He would not have accepted the
invitation to that wedding. lie certainly
would not have done that which increased
the hilarity. There may have been many
in that room who were happy, but there
was not one of them that did sp much iur
the JOY OF the wedding party as Christ
Himself. He was the chief OF the BAN
queters. When the wine gave out, Hc sup.
piled it, and so, | take it, lie will loI deny
us the joys 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
Cherith. Christ in the hour extremity!
You mourned over your sins. You could
not find the way out. You sat down and
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: "Oh, wanderer, come
bntnai | hnya snnn all fby snrroNvs In
this the hour of thy extremity ! offer thee
pardon and everlasting life"
Trouble came. You were almost torn
to pieces by that trouble. You braced
yourself up against it. You said, Il will
be stole and will not care But before
you had got through making the resolution
1t broke down under you. You felt that
all your resources were gone, and tncn
Jesus came
I'm the fourth watch of the night" the
Bible says, Jesus came walking on ;he
sea-" Why did lie not come in the first
watch or in the second watch or in the
third watch? | do not know He came
in the fourth and gave deliverance to His
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 in. vain.
something VIII say, lou must go NO
one to hold us back but the hands Of eter-
nifty stretched out to pull us on. What
then? Jesus will come to us, and rs we
say, Lord Jesus, | am afraid of that wa
ter; | 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, "All Thy
waves and billows have gone over me-"
They cover the feet, come to the knee and
pass the girdle and come to the head, and
our soul cries out, Lord Jesus Christ,
cannot hold Thine arm any longer" Then
Jesus will turn around, throw both His
arms about us and set us on the beach lar
beyond the tossing of the pillows, Jesus
in the last extremity!
That wedding scene is gone now. The
wedding ring has been lost, the tankards
have been broken, the house is down, but
Jesus invites us to grander wedding.
You know the Bible says that the church
is the Lambs wife, and the Lord Will at
ter awhile come to fetch her home, There
will be cleaning of torches in the sky, and
the trumpets of God will ravish tie air
with their music, and Jesus will stretch out
His hand, and the church, robed in white,
will put aside her veil and look up into the
face of her Lord the King, and the Bride
groom will say to the BRIDE Thou hast
been faithful through all these years The
mansion is ready. Come home, Thou are
fair. my love!" and then He shall put upon
her brow the crown OF dominion, and the
table will be spread, and it will reach
across the skies, and the mighty ones OF
heaven will come in garlanded with beauty
and striking their eympals, and the Bride,
groom and bride will stand at the head of
the table. and the banqueters, looking up,
will wonder and admire and say That Is
Jesus, the Bridegroom. But the scar on
His brow is covered with the coronet, and
the stab in His side is covered with a
robe" and THAT is the bride! The wearl-
ness of her earthly woe lost in the flush
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 then
all the banqueters will drink standing.
/ Esther, having come up from the bac-
chanalian revelry of Ahasuerus, where a
thousand lords feasted, will be there. And
the Queen of Sheba from the banquet of
Solomon, will be there. And the mother
of Jesus, from the wedding in Cana, will
be there. And they all will agree that the
earthly feasting was poor compared with
that. Then, lifting their chalices in that
light, they shall cry to the Lord of the
FEAST. "Thou hast kept the good wine until
now."
Sir G. WnrRsn's batn.
Trb.rm Do uOpaatbiuu aytraTnaIU TnO.