Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-11-22

SiOh. 1ne text Is hebrews vi, ~,
(which hope"
There is en- Atlantic ocean OF depth
and fullness In the verse from which
my text is taken, and 1 only wade into
the wave at the beach and take two
words. We all have favorite words ex-
pressive of delight or adherence.
words that easily flud their way from
brain to lip, words that have In them
mornings and midnights. laughter and
tears. thunderbolts and 6ewdrops. In
all the lexicons and vocabularies there
are few words that have for me the at
fractions of the last word of my text,
(which hope"
There have In the course of our life
been many angels OF God that have
looked over our shoulders, or met us
on the road, or chanted the darkness
away, or lifted the curtains OF the
great future. or pulled us back from
the precipices. or rolled dewn upon US
the rapturous music of the heavens,
but there is one OF these angels who
has done so much for us that we wish
throughout all time and eternity to
celebrate 1.-THE angel OF Hope. st.
luG OI Il EEOup
three, saying, Now abideth faith,
hope. charity" And, though he says
that charity is the greatest of the
three, he docs not take one plume from
the wing, or one ray of luster from the
brow. or one aurora from the cheek, or
one melody from the voice OF the angel
of my text, (which hope"
That was a great night for our world
when In a Bethlehem caravansary the
Infant Royal was born, and that will
be great night in the darkness of
your soul when Christian hope is born.
There will be chanting in the skies and
star pointing to the Nativity. / will
not bother you with the husk OF def
milton and tell you what hope is. When
we sit down hungry at table. we do
not want an analytical discourse as to
what bread is. Hand 1t on; pass II
round; give US a slice OF II. John
speaks OF hope as pure hope;" Peter
calls 1t 4 lively hope;" Paul styles it
good hope" "sure hope" ire
jolcing hope" And all up and down
the Bible it is spoken Of as an anchor,
as a harbor, as helmet, as door.
Power OF Hope.
When We draw check on a bank,
we must have reference 20 the amount
of money we have deposited. but Hope
makes n draft on bank In which for
her benefit all heaven has been depos-
fed Hope! May it light up every
dungeon, stand by every sickbed. lend
n helping hand TO every orphana &c,
loosen every chain, caress every forlorn
NJ
the almsbouse into the vestibule of
heavenl How suggestive that mythol-
ogy declares that when all other delties
fed the earth the goddess Hope re-
maincdl
II was hope that revived John knox
when on shipboard near the coast OF
Scotland he was fearfully ill. and he
was requested TO look shoreward and
asked II he knew the village near the
coast. and he answered. 81 know It
well. for l see the stceple OF that place
where God first opened my mouth in
public 10 his glory, and l am fully per-
suaded how weak that ever 1 now APP
pear l shall not depart this life tin my
tongue shall glorify his holy name in
the Same place" His hope was reward
cd. and for twenty-five more years he
preached. That Is the hope which sus-
tained Mr.. Morrell OF Norwich when
departing this life at twenty-four years
OF age he declared, 81 should like TO
understand the secrets OF eternity be-
fore tomorrow morning" That was the
kind OF hope that the corporal had In
the battle when, after several standard
bearers had fallen, he seized the flag
and turned 10 a lieutenant colonel and
said, IF fall, tell my dear wife that 1
die with good hope In Christ and that
am glad 10 give my life for my coun-
try" That was the good hope that DR..
Goodwin had In his last hour when he
said: "Ah, is this death7 How have 1
dreaded as an enemy this smiling
friendy'
No better medicine did man ever
take than hope. 1t Is n stimulant, a
febrifuge, a tonic, catholIcon. Thou
sands Of people long ago departed this
life would have been living today but
FOR the reason they let hope slip their
grasp. have known people to live on
hope after one lung was gone and dis
ease had seemed to lay hold of every
nerve and muscle and artery and bone.
Alexander the Great, starting for the
wars In Persia, divided his property
among the Macedonians. He gave q
village TO one, a port to another, a field
TO another and all his estate to his
friends. Then Perdlccas asked, what
have you kept for yourselfY He an
swercd triumphantly, Hope" And.
whatever else you and give away, we
must keep for ourselves hope-all CON-
forting. all cheering hope. In the heart
or every man. woman and child that
hears or reads this sermon may God
implant this principle right nowl
Usefulness 10 Come.
Many have full assurance that all is
right with the soul. They are as sure
or heaven as IL they had passed tile
peariy panels Of the gate. as though
they were already seated in the temple
OF God unrolling the libretto of the
heavenly chorister. l congratulate all
such. l wish had It, too-full assur-
ance-but with me II Is hope, (which
hope" Sinful, 1t expects forgiveness:
troubled, 1t expects relief; bereft, II
expects reunion; clear down, 1t expects
wings TO lift; shipwrecked, it expects
lifeboat; bankrupt, 1t expects eternal
riches; prodIgal, 1t expects the wide
open door of the fathers farmhouse.
1t does not wear itself out by looking
backward; it always looks forward.
What Is the use of giving so much time
70 the rehearsal of the past? Your mis-
takes are not corrected by a review.
fcur losses cannot, by brooding over
them, be turned into gains. 1t is the
future that has the most for us, and
hope cheers US on. We have all COM
mitted blunders; but does the calling of
the roll of them make them any the
less plumbers? Look ahead in all mat
ters of usefulness. However much you
may have accomplished for God and
the worlds betterment your greatest
usefulness Is TO come. "No," says some
one "mV baalfh IL eOOa ssNyo cove,