St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-11-02

the day when make up my jewels"
Wonderful transformation! Where
sin abounded grace shall much more
abound. The carbon becomes the sol
itaire. ''The crystal cannot equal it. !"
Now, have no liking for those Peo-
pie who are always charging in
Christian meetings about their early
dissipation. Do not 60 into the par
ticulars, my brother. Simply say
you were sick, but make no display
4 of your ulcers. The chief stock in
trade of some minist tiers and Chris
tian workers seems to be their early
crimes and designations. The num-
Der of pockets you picked and the
number of chickens you stole make
very poor prayer meeting rhetoric.
Besides that, it discourages other
Christian people who never got drunk
or stole anything. But it is pleasant
to know that those who were far
thest down have been brought high
est up. Out of internal serfdom into
eternal liberty. Out of darkness into
light. From coal to the solitaire.
'The crystal cannot equal it."
But, my friends, the chief trans
forming power of the Gospel will not
be seen in this world, and not until
Heaven breaks upon the soul. When
that light falls upon the soul, then
you will see the crystals. What .
magnificent setting for these jewels
of eternity! sometimes hear people
representing Heaven in a way that
is far from attractive to me. It
seems almost a vulgar Heaven as they
represent it, with great blotches of
color and bands of music making a
deafening racket. John represents
Heaven as exquisitely beautiful.
Three crystals! In one place he says:
''Her light was like precious stone,
clear as crystal" In another place
he says: II saw pure river from
under the throne, clear as crystal"
In another place he says: Before
the throne there was sea of glass
clear as crystal" Three crystals!
John says crystal atmosphere. That
means health. Balm of eternal June.
What weather after the worlds east
wind! No rack of stormclouds. One
breath of that air will cure the worst
tubercle. Crystal light on all the
leaves. Crystal light shimmering on
the topaz of the temples. Crystal
light tossing in the plumes of the
equestrians of Heaven on white
horses. But "the crystal cannot
equal it" John says crystal river.
That means joy. Deep and ever roll
ing. Not one drop of the Potomac
or the Hudson or the Rhine to soil
it. Not one tear of human sorrow
to embitter it. Crystal, the rain out
of which it was made. Crystal, the
bed over which it shall roll and rip
pie. Crystal, its infinite surface. But
'the crystal cannot equal it." John
says crystal sea. That means multi
tudinously vast. Vast in rapture.
Rapture vast as the sea, deep as the
sea, strong as the sea, ever changing
as the sea. Billows of light. Billows
of beauty, blue with skies that were
never clouded and green with depths
that were never fathomed. Arctics
and antarctics and Mediterraneans
and Atlantics and Pacifics in crystal
line magnificence. Three crystals!
Crystal light falling on crystal river.
Crystal river rolling into a crystal
sea. But 1.-THE crystal cannot equal
it,
"Oh," says some one, putting his
hand over his eyes, "can it be that /
who have been in SO much sin and
trouble will ever come to those crys-
tals?" Yes, it may bet will be.
Heaven we must have, whatever we
have or have not, and we come here to |
get it. GLOW much must pay for it?"
you say. You will pay for it just as
much as the coal pays to become the
diamond. In other words, nothing.
The same Almighty power that makes
the crystal in the mountain will change
your heart which is harder than stone.
for the promise is: II will take away |
your stony heart, and will give you
a heart of flesh"
"Oh," says some one, sit is just the
doctrine I want. God is to do every |
thing, and I am to do nothing" Ny |
brother, it is not the doctrine you
It hears the resurrection voice in the |
and it comes to crystalliza-
ton; but your heart resists. The
trouble with you, my brother, is the
coal wants to stay coal.
/ do not ask you to throw open tho
door and let Christ in. / only ask that |
you stop boiling and barring it. My
friends, we will have to get rid of our
sins. l will have to get rid of my sins,
and you will have to get rid of your
sins. What will we do with our sins
among the three crystals? The crys-
tai atmosphere would display our pol
ntion. The crystal river would be be-
fouled with our touch. Transforma-
ton must take place now or no trans
formation at all. Give sin full chance
IN your heart and the Transformation
will be downward instead of upward.
Instead of crystal it will be cinder.
In the days of Carthage, Christian
girl was condemned to die for her faith.
and boat was bedaubed with tar and
bitch and filled with combustibles aud