Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-04-17
~ 1zEz1(I6zzI2|1{zBN71l7

| adiutors.
This is not the advice of a misanthrope
There is no man in the house to whom
the world is brighter than it is TO me. 1t
is not the advice of a dyspeptic-my d.
gestion is perfect; il is not the advice of
man who cannot understand a joke or
who prefers fun Al; it is not the advice
| of a WORKOUT man, but the advice OF
man who can see this world in all its
brightness. and. considering myself com
| pet in judging what is good cheer, l
tell the multitude of young men that
there is nothing in worldly association so
grand and SO beautiful and SO exhilarant
as in Christian society.
The Question of Self Denial.
l know there is a great deal of talk
about the self-denials OF the Christian.
L have to tell you that where the Ch-is-
tian has one self-deniai the man f the
world has thousand self-denials The
| Christian is not commanded ~ surren-
der anything that is worth Ecepicg. But
| what does a man deny hims.,lf who de-
MES himself the religion of Christ? He
! denies himself pardon for sin, he denies
himself peace Of conscience, he denies
himself the joy of the Holy Ghost, he
| low, he denies himself the glories of heav-
en-. De not talk TO me about the self-de-
malls of the Christian life. Where there
| is one in the Christian life there are
thousand in the life of the world. Her
ways are ways of pleasantness."
Again, find a great deal of religious
sunshine in Christian and divine eXpla-
nation. To a great many people life is
!
! differently from what was supposed.
| There is a useless woman in perfect
| health. There is an industrious and CON
| secrated woman complete invalid. Ex-
| plain that. There is a bad man with
| $4,000 of income. There is a good man
with $500 of income. Why is that:
| There is foe of society who lives on
| doiag all the damage he can, to 70 years
of age, and here is a Christian father,
! faithful in every department of life, at 80
/ years Of age taken away by death, his
family left helpless. Explain that. Oh,
| there is no sentence that oftener drops
from your lips than this: Il cannot IN
derst}nd it. l cannot understand it,
Well, now religion comes in just at
that point with its illumination and its
| explanation. There is a business man
who has lost his entire fortune. TIE
week before he lost his fortune there
were twenty carriages that stopped at
the door of his mansion. The week after
| he lost his fortune all the carriages you
could count on one finger. The week
before financial trouble began people all
| took Off their hats to him as he passed
down the street. The week his financial
prospects were under discussion people
| just touched their hats without any .vise
bending the rim. The week that he was
| pronounced insolvent people just jolted
their heads as they passed, not tipping
| their hats at all, and the week the sher-
iff sold him out all his friends were look
ing in the store windows as they wena
down past him.
Now, while the world goes away from
a man while he is in financial distress
the religion of Christ comes to him and
says: You are sick, and your sickness is
to be Iaoral publication; you are be-
reaved. God wanted in some way tc
take your family to heaven, and he must
| begin somewhere, and so he took the one
that VIA most beautiful and was most
| ready To 60" do not say that religion
| explains everything in this life, but do
say it Lays down certain principles which
are grandly consola tory. You know bust
ness men often telegraph in cipher. The
merchant in San Francisco telegraphs TO
| the merchant in New York certain infor-
| nation in cipher which no other man in
that line of business can understand, but
the merchant in San Francisco has the
key to the cipher, and the merchant in
| New York has the key to the cipher. and
| ON that information transmitted there are
enterprises involving hundreds of thou
sands of dollars. Now, the providences
| of life sometimes seem to be a senseless
| rigmarole, a mysterious cipher, but God
has a key to that cipher and the Chris.
tian a key to that cipher, and, though he
may hardly be able to spell out the mean
ing, he gets enough Of the meaning to
understand that it is for the best Now
is there not sunshine in that? Is there
not pleasure in that? Far beyond laugh
ter, it is nearer the fountain of tears
than boisterous demonstration. Have you
never cried for JOY? There are tears
which are eternal rapture in distillation.
All is for the Best.
There are hundreds of people who ara
walking day by day in the sublime sat
isfaction that all is for the best, all things
working together for good for their soul.
How a man can get along through thia
life without the explanation is to me q
mystery. What! Is that child gone for.
ever? Are you never to get it back? Ia
| your property gone forever Is yout
soul to be bruised and to be tried for
ever? Have you no explanation, ne,
Christian explanation, ard We, not d ma
MAC? But when you ave the religion
of Jesus Christ in your soul it explains
everything so far as it is best for you tn
understand. You look off in life, and
your soul is full of thanksgiving TO God
that you are so much better off than yog
might be. A man passed down the street
without any shoes and said: II have no
shoes Isn't it hardship that | have NJ
hoes? Other people have shoes. M
shoes. no shoes until he saw mao
who had no feet. Then he learned les
son. You ought to thank God for what
he does instead of grumbling for what he
does not. God arranges all the weather
in this world--the spiritual heather, the
moral weather, as well as the natural
weather. "What kind of weather will It
be to-day" said some one to a farmer.
The farmer replied, 1T will be such
weather as like what do you mean
by that?" asked the other. "Well, said
The farmer, lit will be such weather as
pleases the Lord and what pleases the
Lord pleases me"
Oh, the sunshine, the sunshine of Chris
tian explanation. Here is some one
bending over the grave Of the dead.
What is going to be the consolation: The