Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-02-25

All We who bear in your body the
marks of the Lord Jesus, have you
thought what use those marks will be
in the heavenly world? What source
of glorious "reminiscences! In that world
you will sit together and talk over
earthly experiences. "Where did you
get that SCARF" saint will say TO saint,
and there will come back a story of
hardship and struggle and persecution
and wounds and victory through the
grace Of the gospel. Another spirit
will say to listening spirit, Where did
you get that hurt so plainly marked?' q
And the answer will be: "Oh, that was
one of the worst hurts 1 ever had.
That was a broken friendship. We
were in sweetest accord for years, to-
gether in joy and sorrow. What one
thought the other 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
misunderstanding are gone, and we
are in the same heaven, on neighbor-
ing thrones, in neighboring 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 great bereavement, of desolated
household, of a deep grave, Of all the
heartstringS at one stroke snapped al
together. But you see it is no longer a
liberation, for the wound has been
healed, and my once bereft spirit is
now in companiOnship with the one
from whom for awhile 1 was separat-
ed" "Where did you get that long,
deep scar" says another immortal to
listening immortal, and the answer
comes: "That was the awful fatigue of
a lifetime struggle in attempting, amid
adverse circumstances, to achieve a
livelihood. For 80 years L was tired
oh, so tired! But you see it is a healed
wound, for I have found rest at last
for body and soul, the complete rest,
the everlasting rest that l heard of be-
fore l came here as the rest that re-
maineth for the people of God" Some
one in heaven will say to Martyr John
Rogers, where did you get that scar
on your foot?" and the answer will
come, ooh, that was a burn l suffered
when the flames of martyrdom were
kindled beneath me-" 'Ignatius, what
is that mark on your cheek?' ooh,
that was made by the paw Of the lion
to which l was thrown by the order Of
Trajan." Some one will say to Paul,
Great apostle, that must have been
deep cut once-the mark which l see OF
your neck" And Paul says, THAT was
made by the sword which struck me at
my beheadment on the road to Ostla."
But we all have scars of some kind,
and those are some of the things we
will talk over in the heavenly world
while we celebrate the grace that made
us triumphant over all antagOnism.
More Courage Needed.
Now, what is the practical use of this
subject? 1t is the cultivation of Chris
tan heroics. 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 popu-
lar work, for compensating work, but
we all greatly need more courage to
brave the world and brave satanic as
sault when there is something aggres-
sive and bold and dangerous to be I'M
dertaken for God and Righteousness.
And, if we happen to get hit, what an
ado we make about it! We all need
more Of the stuff that martyrs are
made out of. We want more sanctified
grit, more Christian pluck, more holy
reckIessnesS 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.
The same little missionary who wrote
my text also uttered that piled up mag
nificence to be found in those words
which ring like battleaxes on splitting
helmets: ''In all these things we are
more than conquerors, through him
that loved us, for l am persuaded that
neither death nor life nor angels nor
principalities nor powers nor things
present nor things to come nor height
nor depth nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love Of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord"
How do you like that, you towards,
who shrink back from aggressive work
and if so much as a splinter pierce
your flesh cry out louder than many a
one torn in auto-da-fe. Many a soldier
has gone through a long war, been in
20 battles, led a regiment up a hill
mounted by cannon and swept by mus
kerry, and yet came home without hav-
ing been once hit and without a mark
upon him. But it will not be so among
those who pass in the grand review of
heaven. They have all in the holy
wars been wounded, and all bear scars.
And what would the newly arrived in
heaven do with nothing to show that
he had ever been struck by human or
diabolic weaponry? How embarrassed
and eccentric such q one in such a
place! Surely he would want to be ex-