The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-01-07


years after a man comes up to you and
says, "You don't know me, do you?" You
ray, mo, I don't remember ever to have
seen you" Why" he says, II was in
were the teacher. One Sunday you in
yited me to Christ: l accepted the offer.
You see that church with two towers yon-
derF Yes you say. He says, THAT is
where preach, or do YOU seeihat gov
ernor's house. That Is where L live"
One day man comes TO you and says
Good morning" You look at him and
say, "Why, you have the advantage of me;
/ cannot place you" He says, Don't you
remember thirty years ago giving me let
ter of introduction to Young mana let
ter of introduction to William h. Dodge"
eyes, yes, l do" He says, az am the
man. That was my first step toward a
fortune, But have retired from business
now and am giving my time to philanthro-
pies and public interests. Come up TO my
house and see me-"
Or n man comes to YOU and saws: 81
want to introduce myself to you l went
into prayer meeting some years ago. L
sat back by the door. You arose to make
an exhortation;., That, talk changed the
course of my life, and If / ever get to
heaven under God will owe my salvation
to you" In only ten, twenty or thirty
years the circle swept out and swept back
again to your own grateful heart.
But sometimes 1t is n wider circle and
does not return for great while saw
q bill of expenses for burning Latimer
and Ridley The bill of expenses has these
items among others:
Shillings. Pence.
Carriage for four loads of wood. 2 &.
Item, post ....,...............l
Item, two CHAINS. ...............3
Item, two staples. Observation-Disclosures. @
Item, for labOrers. .............2
making in all 25s Sd. That was cheap
al 10 ~ 1,,N
it kindled a light which shone all around
the world and aroused the martyr spirit,
and out from that burning of Latimer
and Ridley rolled the circle wider and
overrunning, circumscribing, overreaching
all heaven-a circle.
But what is true of the good is just as
true of the bad. You utter a SANDER
against your neighbor. 1t has gone forth
from your teeth. 1t will never come back,
YOU think You have done the man ali
the mischief YOU can. You rejoice to see
him vince You say, Didn't l give it to
him" That word has gone out, that
slanderous word. on its poisonous and
you any harm. But I am watching that
word, and [ see it beginning to curve and
1t curves around. and it is aiming at your
heart You had better dodge il. You cam
not dodge it, 1t rolls into your bosom,
md after 1T rolls in a word OF an old book
rolls in after it. saying: with what meas
ure We mete it shall be measured to you
again"
You. matreated an aged parent. You
begrudge him the room in your house
You are impatient with his whimsicalities
Pnd garrulity. 1t makes you mad TO hear
him tell the same story twice. You give
him food he cannot mastcate. You wish
he was away. You wonder If he is going
TO live forever. He will be gone very soon
His steps are shorter and shorter. He is
going to stop. But God has an account to
settle with you on that subject. After
awhile your eye will be dim, and your gait
will halt, and the sound of the grinding
will be low and you will tell the same
story twice, and your children will wonder
lf you will never be taken away. They
ealled you father" once. Now they call
you the cold man" If YOU live a few
years. longer they will call you the cold
chap" What are those rough words with
which your children are accosting you?
They are the echo of the very words you
used in the ear OF your old father forty
years ago.
A gentleman passing along the avenue
saw a son dragging has father into the
street by the hair OF the head. The gentle
man, outraged at this brutal conduct, was
about to punish the offender. when the
old man arose and said: Don't hurt him.
It's all right. Forty years ago this very
morning | dragged out my father by the
hair of his head" IL Is a circle Other
sins may be adjourned to the next world
but maltreatment of parents is punished in
this world. That circle Is made quickly,
very quickly.
The meanest thing man can do is after
soDe difficulty has been settled to bring
II mp again, and God will not do anything
like that, Gods memory rs mighty enough
to hUid all the events of the ages. but
There IS one thing that is sure to slip His
memory, one thing He is sure to forget,
End that Is hardened transGression.
How do I Know II! L VIII prove it.
Their sins and their iniquities will | re-
member no more" Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven"
But do not make the mistake of think
ing that this doctrine OF the circle stops
with this life. IL rolls on through heaven.
You might quote IN opposition 10 me what
st. John says about the city of heaven.
He says it "lieth four square That does
seem to initiate against this idea of a cir
Gle. But do you not know there is many a
square house that has family circle fac
ing each other and In circle moving
and / can prove that this IS so In regard
to heaven. st. John says, 81 heard the
voice OF many angels round about the
throne and the beasts and the elders"
And again he says II saw round about
the throne four and twenty seats" And
again he says, There was rainbow round
about the throne"
The two former imply a circle the last
either a circle or a semicircle. The seats
facing each other, the angels facing each
other, the men facing each other. Heaven
an amphitheatre of glory. Circumference
of patriarch and prophet and apostle Cir
conference of Scotch Covenantcrs and
Theban legion and Albigeuses. Circumfer.
euce Of the good of all ages. Periphery
of splendor unimaeincd and Undesirable.
A circle a circlel
But every circumference must have a
centre, and what is the centre of this hcav-
emily circumference? Christ His an the
glory; His all the praise His an the
crowns All heaven wreathed into n gar
land round about Him: Take of the i'm
perial sandal from His foot and behold the
gear Of the spike Lift the coronet of do
minion from His brow and see where was
the liberation of the briers. Come closer,
al heaven. Narrow the circle around His
great heart. o Christ, the Saviouri o
Christ. che man! o Christ the Godl
Keep Thy throne forever. seated on the
circle OF the earth, seated on the circle Of
heaven.
"On Christ the solid rock, stand;
All other ground 10 shifting sand"