Milford chronicle., 1901-10-11


perfect rhom5oid, q perfect circle. The
edge Of Gods robe Of government never
trays out. There are no loose screws in
the worlds machinery. 1t did not inst
happen that Napoleon was attacked with
indigestion at Borodino so that he be-
came incompetent for the day. 1t did not
just happen that John Thomas. the mis-
sionary. on u heather island, waiting for
an outfit and orders for another mission
airy tour, received that outfit and those
orders in box that foated ashore. while
the ship and the crew that carried the
box were never heard of. / believe in n
particular providence. | believe Gods
geometry may be seen in all our life moro
beautifully than in crystallography. job
was right. The crystal cannot equal # ~
More Transparent Fhan Crystal.
Again remark that religion is superior,
to the crystal in transparency. know
not when or by whom glass was first dis.
covered. Beads of it have been found in
/ the tomb of Alexander Severus. Vases
OF 1t are brought up from the ruins of
Herculaneum. There were female adorn-
ments made out of it 5000 years ago
those aGornmcnts found now attached 70
the mummirs of Egypt. A great many
commentators believe that my text means
glass. What would we do without the
crystal? The crystal in the window to
keep out the storm and let in the day.
/ the crystal over the watch defending its
delicate machinery yet allowing us to see
the hour: the crystal Of the telescope, by
which the astronomer brings distant
worlds so near he can inspect them. Oh,
! the triumphs of the crystals in the cele-
hrnfnH wiz Of
! But there is nothing so Transparent in a
crystal as in our holy religion. It is a
I transparent religion. You put il TO vour
! eye and you see man-his sin, his soul.
his destiny. You look at God and Won
see something Of the grandeur Of his
character. 1t is a transparent religion.
lnfdels tell us it is opaque. Do you know
why they tell us it is OPAQUE? 1t is he
cause they are blind. "The natural man
receiveth not the things of God because
they are spiritually discerned." There
is no trouble with the crystal. The trou-
bic is with tine eyes which try to look
through it. We pray for vision. Lord.
that our eyes might be opened! When
the eye salve cures our blindness, then
we lind that religion is transparent.
1t is a transparent Bible. All the
mountains of the Bible come out-Sinai
the mountain of the law; Psgah, the
mountain of prospect; Olivet, the noun
tain OF instructions; Calvary, the noun
| tam of sacrifice. All the rivers of the
Bible come out-Hidekel, or the river Of
paradisaical beauty; Jordan, or the river
! or holy chrism; Cherith, or the river Of
prophetic supply; Nile, or the river of
palaces. and the pure river of life from
under the throne, clear as crystal. While
reading this Bible, after our eyes have
been touched by grace, we find it all
transparent, and the earth rocks. now
with crucihXion agony and now with
Judgment terror, and Christ appears in
some of his 2j6 titles, as far as / can
count them-the Bread, the Rock, the
Captain, the Commander, the COndueror.
the Star. and on and beyond any cuaacity
of mine to rehearse. Transparent religionl
Preparation For Eternal Treasures,
The providence that seemed da-k be.
fore 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. It wal
TO prepare you Tor eternal treasures. And
why sickness came, it being the precursor
| of immortal 5uveneseence. And now vol
understand why they lied about you anC
tried to drive you hither and thither.
was to put you in the glorious compan!
Of such men as Ignatius, who, when h,
, went out to be destroyed by the lions
said, Il am the wheat, and the teeth O
1he wild beasts must first grind me befOr
can become pure bread for Jesu
Christ" Or the company of such men a
shat ancient Christian martyr" who
when standing in the midst of the amphi
theatcr waiting for the lions to come on
of their cave and destroy him and tn
people in the galleries jeering and shout
ing, "Ihe lions" replied, "Let them com
on" and then, STOPPING down toward tn
cave where the wild beasts were roarin
TO get out, again cried, Let them com
on! All, yes, it is persecution to pu
| you in glorious company, and while Their
are many things that you will have
| postpone to the future world for explana
ton / tell you that it is the whole tend
ency of your religion to unravel and e1
plain and interpret and illumine and il
radiate. Job was right. 1t is a gloriou
transparency. 1.-THE crystal cannot equs
it,"
/ remark again that religion surpasse
the crystal in its beauty. The lump
j crystal is put under the magnifying glas
of the crystallographer and he sees in
7 / Undesirable eXquisiteness - snOwdri1
and splnters of hOarfrost and corals an
y / wreaths and stars and crowns and col
stellatiOns Of conspicuous beauty. Th
fact is that crystal is so beautiful that
can think of but one thing in all the un
1 verse that is as beautiful and that is Ii
religion of the Bible. No wonder tn
Bible represents that religion as the da,
break, as the apple blossoms, as the glitt'
of kings banquet. 1t is the joy of IL
! ] whole earth.
People talk too much about their Gro,
aud not enough about their crowns. .
1 you know that the Bible mentions croi
but twenty-seven times, while it mention
crown eighty times? Ask that old ma
I what he thinks of religion. He has bee
close observer. He has been cultiva
ing an aesthetic taste. He has seen Il
sunrises of half century. He has bee
an early riser. He has been an admir-
Of canoes and corals and all kinds
beautiful things. Ask him what he thin
of religion, and he will tell you: at is t
most beautiful thing l ever saw. II
crystal cannot equal it."
Harmony and Symmetry.
Beautiful in its symmetry. When
presents Gods character, it does not pl
sent him as having love like a great pi
tuberance on one side of his nature,
makes that love in harmony with his il
tice-a love that will accept all those W
come to him, and justice that will by
means clear the guilty. Beautiful religi
in the sentiment it implants! Beautit
a religion in the hope it kindles! Beautit
religion in the fact that it proposes
garland and enthrone and emparadise
immortal spirit. Solomon says it is
lpH lily. Paul says it is crown. The Ape
alypse says it is fountain kissed by t
sun. Ezekiel says it is foliaged ccd,
Christ says it is a bridegroom come
fetch home a bride. While Job in t
text takes up whole vase of precio