Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1902-02-13

life in silence because the ear rcfusea t.
do ITS Office. they never hear music. yo.
cal or instrumental. The thunder that
rolls its full diapason through the heay-
The air that has for US so MANY melodiee
has no sweet sound for them. They live a
a quletude that will not be broken untif
heaven breaks in upon them with its bar
monies. The bird voices of the springtime.
the chatter of the children, the subliu,e !.
chant OF the sea, the solo of the cantatriee
semb. es mean nothing to them. Have we
dcvoutly thanked God for these two won
ders of our hearing, with which we ear
now put. ourselves under the. charm Of
sweet sound and also carry in our mernor-
les the lnfantile song with which our
mothers put US to sleep and the voices oa
the great prima donnas like Lind and PATTI
ana Nelson, and the sound of instruments
like the violin of the Swedish performer.
or the cornet of Arbuckle, or the mightiesf
of all instruments, with the hand of Nor
gan on the keys and his foot on the pedal.
or some Sabbath tune like "Coronation.b 5
in the acclaim of which you could hear
the crowns OF heaven coming down at the
thanked God for this hearing apparatus
OF the soul. That is one of the ten strinra
OF gratitude that we ought always ta
thrum after hearing the voice of the loved
| one or the last strain of an oratorio or tia
clang Of a cathedral tower.
But we must tighten the cords Of our
narp and retune It while we celebrate ges-
pei advantages. The highest style of CIV
ilization the world has ever seen is Amer
| 'can civilization, and it is built out Of the
gospel OF pardon and good morals That
| gospel rocked our. cradle, and it win euii-
| taph our grave. It soothes our sorrows.
| brightens our hopes, inspires our courage.
| forgives our sins and saves our souls. Il
him all right. What that gospel has aoue
tor you and me is a story that we can
never fully tell.
| What 1t has done for the world and WIN
yet do for the nations it will take the thon--
sand years of the millennium to celebrate.
The grandest churches are yet to be built
The mightiest anthems are yet to be
hoisted. The greatest victories are yet to
be gained. The most beautiful Madonnas
are yet to be painted. The most trium-
pbant professions are yet to march.
oh. what a world this will be when Is
rotates in its orbit redeemed planet.
| grid ed with spontaneous harvests and
enriched by orchards whose fruits ara
speekless and redundant, and the last pain
will have been banished and the last tear
wept and the last groan uttered, and there
shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in aIl
Gods holy mountain! All that and more
will come to pass, for 'the mouth Of the
Lord hath spoken it.
So far have mentioned nine of the ten
strings Of the instrument of gratitude Z
now come to the tenth and the last. ]
mention it last that it may be the more
memorable-heavenly anticipation. By the
grace of God we are going to move into q
place so much better than this that on ar
irving we will wonder that we were for so
many years so loath to make the transfer.
After we have seen Christ face to face and
rejoiced over our departed kindred there
are some mighty spirits we will want ia
meet soon after we pass through the gates.
! We want to see and will see David, =
mightier king in heaven than he ever was
on earth, and we viii talk with him about
; psalmody and get from him exactly what
he meant when he talked about the instru.
ment Of ten strings. We will confront
Moses, who viii tell of the law giving on
rocking Sinai and of his mysterious burial,
! with no one but God present. \
I We will see Joshua, and he will tell II
cho at the blast of the rams horn and ex.
; plain to us that miracle-how the sun and
moon could stand still without demolition
: of the planetary system.
We will see Ruth and have her tell a
the harvest field of Boaz, in which she
cleaned for afflicted Naomi. We will see
Vashti aud hear from her own lips the
story Of her banishment from the Persian
palace by Infamous Ahasuerus.
We will see Paul and hear from him
how Felix .trembled before him and the
, audience of skeptics on Mars Hill were
confounded by his sermon on the brother
} hood of man, what he saw at Ephesus and
Syracuse and Philippi and Rome and hos
dark was the Mamertine dungeon and how
, y. ~ l., l>l L.
road to Ostia. Yea, we will see all the
} martyrs, the victims of axe and sword and
. fire and billow. What thrill of excite
: ment for US when we gaze upon the heroes
and heroines who gave their lives for the
: truth.
We will see the gospel proclaimers Chry'
sostom and Bourdalous and Whitefield
and the Wesleys and John Knox: W.
will see the great Christian poets, Miltoa
and DaEte and Watts and Mrs: Heman,
: and Frances Havergal. Yea, all the de
parted Christian men and women Of what
; ever age or nation.
: But there will be one focus toward
which all eyes win be directed. His in
fancy having slept on pillow of straw. all
!. the hates of the Herodic Government plan
ming for His assassination; in after time
whipped as though He were a criminal;
!; asleep on the cold mountains because ne
one offered Him lodging; though the
greatest being who ever touched our earth,
i. derisively called @tthis fellow" His lasl
|; hours writhing on spikes of infinite tor
ture; His lacecated form put in sepulcher,
then terminated and ascended to be thA
centre of all heavenly admiration-upon
that greatest martyr and mightiest herr
of al the centuries we will be permitted te
lock. Put that among your heavenly antsc.
} ipations.
. Now take down your harp OF ten stringl
: and sweep all the chords, maj 7g all n
them tremb,e with great giadness. | have
mentioned just ten-delightsome food, eye
: sight. hearing, healthful s,eep, power d
physical locomotion, illumined nights. men.
tai faculties in equipoise, friendships a
life, gospel advantages and heavenly an
ticipations. Let us make less complaint
, and offer more thanks. render less dirgs
and more cantata. Take paper and pen
, and write down in long columns your bless
ings. have recited only ten. To expresl
!, al the r1ercies God has bestowed you
, would have to use at least three, and
; think five. numerals, for surely they would
run UP into the hundreds and the thou
, sands "Oh. give thanks unto the Lord
, for He is good, for His mercy enduretf
/ forever" Get into the habit of rehearsal
OF the brirhtnesses of life.
! Notice how many more fair DAYS there
are than foul, how many more good people
| than bad YOU meet Set your misfortunei
L.