The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-18

nothing TO that great and tender ana glOrl-
Gus message. L shall not attempt TO do so.
No words of mine, however we'll meant, can
meet the unspeakable sorrow of human
hearts under earth's be-reavements; for one
reason. that mans wisdom unaided by d.
vine revelation does not go very far beyond
the things that are seen and temporal. But
these Scriptures give us glimpses into the
unseen realities of Gods great universe,
and yet no book recognizes more fully than
the Bible the sad facts of life in this world.
1t recognizes the mystery and the sorrow
producing nature of many of Gods provi-
dences as seen and experienced by men.
Clouds and darkness are round about Him;
His judgments are a great deep which our
finite reasons cannot fathom.
And so we have impressed upon us a
lesson of caution. Judge nothing before the
time. We know but in part, and partial
knowledge is misleading. Gods provi-
dences as far as we actually see them may
appear wholly dark and painful, but beyond
what We see those providences, we are
taught, reach on and on and work out for
those who trust in Him and yield them
selves TO Him results that we do not see,
and they are results that are worthy of
infinite wisdom and goodness and love.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face
SORROWFUL EXPERIENCES.
what l do, said our divine Lord, thou
knowest not now. thou shalt know here
after. What then remains for us when
we pass through such experiences? Wait
and trust. There is nothing that honors
God, there is nothing that God so values,
as such trust in Him. This is faith, not
hlind credulity. Faith verifies itself in
the experience of those who really exer-
else il. The steps of faith fall on the
seeming void and find the rock beneath
1t is the highest exercise of the spirit
of man, it is mans spirit reaching up
through the darkness and clasping the
hand of the infinite and loving Father.
But i'm the midst of the gloom we may
be sure that Gods providence is over us
ard that Gods presence is with us. He
is not Indifferent. He cares for us, He
has not left us comfortless. Through the
tender mercy of our God the day spring
from on high hath visited us to give
light to them that sit in darkness and IN
the shadow of death These words have
come to sorrowing hearts in all generations
like music in the night.
Three great shadows that daTken human
life are sin and suffering and death. Jesus
Christ, the dayspring from on high. gives
light to those in the darkness of sin. He
has by His sufferings, death and resur-
rection made atonement for it, SO that
| forgiveness is assured, and where sin has
%abounded divine grace doth much more
abound. He has brought light into the
darkness of human suffering. He does not
promise TO keep men from suffering. but
he does promise to sustain them under it
and to transmute every experience of ii
into final gain TO the immortal spirit
Even in the valley and shadow of death
we need fear no evil, for Jesus Christ has
abolished death and brought life and i'm
mortality to light. Death is no longer to
US the end, but the beginning. So that in
the presence of the king of terrors a trua
nan can say: %. death, where is thy sting? -
Thanks be to God who giveth US the vic
tory through our Lord Jesus Christ
THE SUPREME ANSWER.
"And so Gods supreme answer to hui
man sin and human sorrow and human
death is himself, revealed in the person of
| Jesus Christ. Into the very darkest ex-
periences of human life He comes. There
where the need is greatest the grace He
offers is richest and the consolation He
brings is the most sure and the most low
ing. Listen, He speaks: Let not your heart
be troubled. In my Fathers house are
many mansions. L am the resurrection and
the life.' These are the truths in the light
of which we see more clearly the meaning
of life for man in this world and the real
meaning of the life of him whose name is
in all our thoughts here to-day. For these
are the truths hat were wrought into the
very fiber of his strong nature and which
did so r1uch to empower him to be what he
was and TO do what he did.
Full and fitting tributes to his public
career and to his high achievements have
already been paid by many of you, by you
who knew him well and who for long years
have been associating with him in high
places In the Nation. This Is no time for
repetition by me of the life record familiar
to us all.
ut is a help to me TO realize that even
the few simple u~tter2nces thai almost voice
themselves, the mere outline reminders OF
his life are by your WI memories taken
and filed full of recollections vivid and en-
nobling. We are all mourners here to-day.
This Is no gathering of strangers offerine
a formal perfunctory tribute of grief. Some
or US are comparative strangers to one an
ether. but all of US, whether from distant
cities and States or from his own common
wealth and his own home city. are friends,
associates. neighbors. who held him in de-
served esteem and personal honor. The
story of his life. so strenuous in its en-
deavor, so high in it's ideals, so persistent
I'M it's loyalty to rectitude and to country
and God. is indeed a rich heritage. We will
not be ashamed to open that page of our
Nations annals where his name has a fore
most place.
THOUGHTS TURNED TO PAST.
To-day, as our thoughts are turned
toward the past, the experiences and
events of the long years Of his career
rise before US. We seem to see the very
scenes in which he played so active a
part; the camps and the battlehelds where
he exhibited the devotion of a heroic sol.
der OF his country; the courts OF law
in which, by combined ability and indie.
fatigable industry. he won a moderate
competence and a wide fame, and kept nj.
good name; the fierce. passion-swept Arena
OF political life, where he battled unto
the last, persistently and conscientiously
for what he believed TO be the true prin.
ciples OF constitutional government: the
tremendous burdens and responsibilities OF
the office OF chief magistrate. where hs