Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-02-27

To assure the truthfulness of his utter
ance, Il bear in my body the marks Of
the Lord Jesus
All OF Paul's suffering was for Christ's
sake. He had intellectual powers which
eouid have achieved for him all worldly
successes. You see what he could DO in
court room when with extemporaneoas
speech he made the judicial bench trem-
BILE; when on Mars Hill he confounded
the Athenfan critics; when he preached
amid the eXcitementsof tumbling peni-
Eentiafy; when in a storm at sea he took
command of the ship, the only one on
board cool headed. With his inspired
logic, and his courage of utteranee, and
his power of Illustration, and his capacity
TO move audiences, and his spirit of de-
tance there was no height of worldly
power he might not have gained.
Army Of Christian Soldiers.
There are many who. like that apostolic
martyr. have on them the mark of the
Lord Jesus. There Is the great army of
foreign missionaries, metiines maligned
by dissolute American. English and
Scotch merchants, who at Hongkong and
Calcutta and Constantinople have had
their wickedness reproyed by the pure
home life of those missionaries. There is
the great army of the ministers Of the
gospel, now in heaven, who on small sal
aries and anil fatigucs that slew them,
served their Day ana generation There
is another reat army Of private Chris
tiaRs who in sabbath schools aud in
tract dis button and in humanitarian
ana evan alistc Efforts have pat their
Fts in 81 IL. t.J
There is another army Of Christian inva-
lids who lost their life i'll oYerwork for
the church and tl,e orld's redemption.
People call their illness neuralgia or nerv
GUS prostration or insomnia or paresis
or premature Old age. | call their all
ments sears, as my text calls them sears.
There may be sears on the memory, sears
ON the spirits, scars on the courage, sears
ON the soul, as well us sears on the body
aud those invisible to the human eye are
as honorable as those visible
All We who bear in yoar body the marks
OF the Lord Jesus. have you thought
what use those marks viii be in the heav-
emily world? What source of glorious
Renaissance! In that world you will sit
together and talk over earthly expert
ences. Where did you get that SCARF
saint will say to saint. and there will
come back a story of hardship and strug
gle and persecution and wounds and vie
tory through The grace of the gospel. An
other spirit will say to listening spirit,
I y here did Won get that hurt SO plainly
markedG' And the answer will be: "Oh.
that WIS one of the worst hurts | ever
had. That was broken friendship We
IN f,a.. h
err in joy and sorrow What one thought
the ether thought We were David and
Jonathan. But our personal interests
parted, and our friendships broke never
to be renewed on earth. But we have
made it all up here, and misunderstood
ings are gone, and we are in the same
heaven, on neighboriDg thrones, in neigh
boring castles on the banks of the same
river"
where did you get that mark" says
another spirit to listening spirit and the
answer comes THAT is a reminder of a
great bereavement. of u desolated house
hold. of a deep grave, of all the heart
strings at one stroke snapped altogether.
But you see it is no longer aceration,
for the wound has been healed, and my
once bereft spirit is now in companion
ship with the one from whom for awhile
l was separated Where did you get
that long, deep scarT' says another inn
mortal tosHstening immortal, and the an-
swer comes: THAT was the awful fatigue
of a lifetime struggle in attempting amid
adverse circumstances to achieve live
lhood. For thirty years | was tired-oh.
so tired But you see il is healed
| roc of To- ff4.
body and soul, the complete rest, the
people of God" Some one in heaven will
say TO Martyr John Rogers. Where did
YOU get that scar on your footf" and the
answer will come, oh, that was burn
| suffered when the flames Of martyrdom
were kindled beneath me-" '1gnatius,
what is that mark on your cheek?" oh
that was made by the paw of the lion to
whcli-I was thrown by the order Of
Trajanr Someone will say to Paul,
Great apostle, that must have been a
deep cut once, the mark which | see on
your neck" And Paul says, That was
made by the sword which struck me at
my beheadment OH the road to Ostia. +"
But we all have sears of some kind, and
those are some of the things we will talk
over in the heavenly world while we cele-
brate the grace that made us triumphant
over all antagonism
Practical Application.
Now what is the practical use of this
subject? 1t IS the cultivation Of Chris
tan heroies The most of us want TO
say things and do things for God when
there is no danger of getting hurt. We
are all ready for easy work. for popular
work. for compensating work, but we all
greatly need more courage to brave the
world and brave satanic assault when
there is something aggressive and bold
and dangerous to be undertaken for God
and righteousness. And if we happen to
get bat what an ado we make about it.
We all need more of the stuff that mar
tyrs are made ont Of. We want more
sanetified grit. more Christian pluck,
more holy recklessness as to what the
World may say and do in any crisis of
our life. BE right and do right, and all
earth and hell combined cannot put you
down.
@@9@@&&~@@@@&@~@@ 9%@@@@@9@