Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-10-07

HE 1fOM unUSf TIE THRONE, cledE DIS
crystal While reading this Bible, aft
er our eyes have been touched by grace,
/ we find it all transparent, and the earth
rocks, now with crucifxion agony and
/ now with Judgment terror, and Christ
appears in some of his 256 titles, as far
/ as l can count them-the Bread, the
! Rock, the Captain, the Commander, the
! COnqueror, the Star, and on and be-
! yond any capacity of mine to rehearse.
Transparent religion!
Eliminates and Brightens.
The providence that seemed dark be-
before becomes pellucid. Now you find
God is not trying to put you down.
Now you understand why you lost that
child and why you lost your property.
1t was to prepare you for eternal treas
ures. And why sickness came, it being
the precursor of immortal juvenescence.
And now you understand why they lied
about you and tried to drive you hither
and thither. 1t was to put you in the
glorious company Of such men as Igna-
titus, who when he went out to be de-
strOyed by the lions said, 81 am the
wheat, and the teeth Of the wild beasts
must first grind me before 1 can be-
the company Of such men as chat an
cient Christian martyr" who, with
standing in the midst of the amphi-
theater waiting for the lions to come
out Of their cave and destroy him, and
the people in the galleries jeering and
shouting, "The lonsw replied, "Let
them come on"' and then, STOPPING
down toward the cave where the wild
beasts were roaring to get out again
cried, Let them come on!' All, yes, it
is persecution to put you in glorious
company, and, while there are many
things that you will have to postpone
10 the future world for explanation, l
tell you that it is the whole tendency
of your religion to unraYel and explain
and interpret and illumine and irradi-
ate Job was right. 1t is a glorious
transparency. ''The crystal cannot
equal it,
/ remark again that religion surpass-
es the crystal in its beauty. The lump
Of crystal Is put under the magnifyfng
glass Of the crystallographer, and he
sees in it indescribable eXquisteness-
snowdrift and splinters of hoarfrost
and corals and wreaths and stars and
CIONu LIS anu VI COASpiCu-
Gus beauty. The fact is that crystal is
so beautiful that l can think Of but one
thing in all the universe that is as beau
tiful, and that is the religion Of the BIZ
BILE. No wonder this Bible represents
that religion as the daybreak, as the
apple blossoms, as the glitter of a
kings banquet. It is the JOY Of the
whole earth.
People talk too much about their
cross and not enough about their
crown. Do you know that the Bible
mentions a cross but twenty-seven
times, while it mentions a crown
eighty times? ASK that old man what
he thinks of religion. He has been
close observer. He has been cultivat-
ing an aesthetic taste. He has seen the
sunrises OF half a century. He has
been an early riser. He has been an
admirer of canoes and cOralS and all
kinds of beautiful things. Ask him
what be thinks of religion, and he will
tell you: ct is the most beautiful thing
l ever saw. The crystal cannot equal
it,
Beauty of Gods Love.
Beautiful in it's symmetry. When it
presents Gods character, it does not
present him as having love like a great
protuberance on one side of his nature,
but makes that love in harmony with
his justice-a love that will accept all
those who come to him and a justice
that will by no means clear the guilty.
Beautiful religion in the sentiment it
implants! Beautiful religion in the
hope it kindles! Beautiful religion in
the fact that it proposes to garland and
enthrone and emparadise an immortal
spirit! Solomon says it is lily. Paul
says it is a crown. The Apocalypse
says it is a fountain kissed of the sun.
Ezekiel says it is a fOliaged cedar.
Christ says it is a bridegroom come to
fetch home bride. While Job in the
text takes up a whole vase of pre-
cious stones-the topaz and the sap
phire and the chrysOprasus-he takes
out of this beautiful vase just one
crystal and holds it up until it CLEANS
in the warm light of the eastern sky,
and he exclaims, "The crystal cannot
equal it!''
Oh, it is not a stale religion, it is
not q stupid religion, it is not tooth
less bag, as some seem to have repre-
scented it; it is not Meg Merrilies with
shriYeled arm come to scare the world.
1t is the fairest daughter of God, heir
ess of all his wealth, her cheeks the
morning sky, her voice the music of
the south wind, her step the dance Of
the sea. Come and WOO her. The
Spirit and the Bride say come, and
whatsoever will let him come. Do you
agree with Solomon and say it is lily?
Then pluck it and wear it over your
heart. Do you agree with Paul and say
it is a crown? Then let this hour be