Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-07-11

ne never would De DflSul Dut nc WAS
all 1 had. did love my baby so muchr
And after you have gone there with
me you win stop your complaining
and faultfinding and return to your
home and love your little ones as you
have never loved them before. Yes,
one OF the most precious sheaves the
gospel reaper ever gamers is the sheaf
OF contentment, the sheaf OF gratitude
to God for his many, many blessings.
Plant Undying Seeds.
Another precious sheaf which is gar
nered by the Christian sower is the
joyful realization that the results OF his
seed planting will never die as long as
the world lasts. AS we have before
said. one seed properly planted will
produce many seeds. Those seeds which
are produced by the one seed in turn
will produce many other seeds. And
these in their turn Will produce many
seeds more. So a Christians earthly
influence does not cease at the grave.
but will multiply for good MS long as
the world lasts. 1t viii go on incrcas-
Ing until the seas have been licked up
and the mountains and the valleys
have been cremated in the last confia-
grafton.
DIR. Louis A. Banks tells how Rev.
DIR. valpy wrote four simple lines for
his confession of faith. They went
thus:
In peace let me resign my breath
And thy salvation see:
My sins deserve eternal death,
But Jesus died for me.
DR.. Valpy gave a copy of those lines
to DIR. Marsh, the rector of Beckenham,
who had them placed over his study
desk. The Earl of Roden was visiting
DR.. Marsh one day and asked him for
copy. A short time after this Gen
eral Taylor, hero of Waterloo, was
visiting the Earl of Roden and he took
a copy of those lines and was by them
led to Christ. General Taylor in turn
gave copy of those lines to q soldier
friend OF his, and he also was con.
verted. Thus the good seed which DIR.
Valpy sowed many years ago has kept
on through generation after generation.
multiplying for good a hundredfold.
And today perhaps by my repeating
verted by them.
My father once told of chain Of in
fuence more wonderful to hear even
than the story of DIR. Valpy as show
ing the results of gospel seed planting.
lie started with a poor woman giving
simple gospel tract to a passerby
That tract brought this young man 70
Christ. This young man wrote n book.
That book was blessed of the Holy
Spirit and brought thousands upon
thousands into the kingdom, among
others Richard Baxter, who wrote
Saints Rest" That book in turn
brought thousands upon thousands
into the Kingdom of God. Among other
converts were this man, that man and
the other man who in turn all wrote
books which had blessed results. So
there was developed n harvest OF thou
sands OF souls. all the direct results of
one simple seed planting, the result of
one poor unknown woman giving n
gospel tract to young man who was
passing by. So the results OF the good
seed which the gospel sower sows will
never die MS long as this old world
lasts.
The Eternal Harvest Home.
But the most precious sheaf garnered
by the Christian sower and reaper is
the Joyful realization that all the har.
vests which result from all the differ.
emit Christian paintings shall be gath
cred at last into the granaries Of heav-
en-. 1t matters not how many immor.
tai men and women and children may
be saved, nor whether they are rich or
poor. black or white. Jew or GENTLE
Protestant or Catholic, they shall all
find room for themselves I'm heaven.
All who will accept Christ and throw
themselves upon his pardon and love
can come. The sower of the GOSPEL
seed might hesitate to cast the bread
OF life upon the troubled sea of sin
If he thought the gospel invitation was
TO be In any way clrcumscribed. But
IL is not. The invitation is so wide
that it takes in all who are ready 10
be cleansed OF sin. The invitation is
so wide that the welcome comes from
every direction. 1.-The Spirit and the
bride say, Come. And let him that
heareth say come. And let him that
is athirst come. And whatsoever will
let him take the water of life freely"
That surely is n broad enough invita-
ton for all.
And what harvest home that will
be when all the gospel sheaves shall
be gathered into the granaries OF
heaven! The rejoicing will be every
where. Some OF us have seen the noted
picture OF the painter Seifert, called
THE Harvesters' Return" We have
seen there the joyful looks upon the
faces or the men and the women who
have been working in the fields. Per-
haps we ourselves have lived in the
country. We have shared in the Joy
OF the laborers when the last sheaf of
wheat has been taken TO the thrashing
floors. but the Joy OF the earthly har.
vest home is as nothing compared to
the heavenly joy when all the gospel
sheayes shall be gathered into the
heavenly granaries. Fathers and moth
ers and children, they viii all be there.
Brothers and sisters, they shall be
there. Husbands and wives, friends
and loved ones, they shall be there.
From the north. the east, the south and
the west OF the heavenly lands will be
heard the cry: Harvest home, harvest
home, harvest homei This is the eter-
nal harvest homer
Sad to his toll he goes.
His seed with weeping leaves
But he shall come at twilight's close
And bring his golden sheaves
Now, as the gospel sower who casts
his bread upon the waters shall reap
such glorious harvests, shall we not
redouble our energies and plant as
many good seeds as we can for Christ?
Shall we not do as much good as we
can in the few years that remain for
us? Shall we not thank God that he
has given to us an opportunity to
work and to live for him? Shall we
not find our joy and reward In sowing
and In scattering our gospel seed over
the field OF sin, In scattering our good
deeds over the great troubled sea of
TO show what rewards can come
from casting the seeds abroad the sto-
ry is told that in the far east father
law dxfnO q % 1t