Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-03-02

they could only sell Christ, as did Ju-
das, for thirty pieces OF silver. o
my friends. l beg and plead with you
not to sell Jour divine birthright for
mere mess of pottage! Stop. in Gods
name! Stop before it is too late.
In the ancient story we have been told
That Midas touch turned everything to
gold,
But we today a stranger sight behold
Man turns to everything when touched by
gold.
The Brfdegroom's Excuse.
But, bark, Another knock Is heard
at the door OF the good mans house.
aha" you say. think of the foolish
excuse this third expected guest has
sent! He says that he is bridegroom
and therefore cannot come. Why did
he not do as Mr.. Moody said he ought
to have done-go to the banquet hall
and take his wife alongT" But. my
friend, this excuse of the bridegroom
ought not to be to you an object Of
derision OF all the excuses which
Christ stated in the parable l think
this one was the most plausible and
the most rational. The bridegroom
In the east. by the custom of that time,
might be looked upon leniently for an
swering as he did. The Hebrews con-
sidered marriage one of the most sacred
and important events of human be-
ing's life. Every young girl spent her
time chiefly in preparing for her nup-
tial day. She was always spinning
linen and making garments for the
was taught that his duty to the world
and to God was to marry. He did not
enter into this marriage relationship
in a haphaZard way, as do many of the
young people of the present time. He
| did not marry upon momentary i'm
pulse. But the young people were Of
ten affianced for years before the we'd
! ding day. Then, by the old Hebrew as
we'll as by the Roman law, a bride
groom was absolutely independent Of
all military and, to a great extent, Of
civil obligations for a whole year. Aft
er the wedding night for twelve long
months he was allowed to stay at home
under his own roof So when the bride
| groom of the east sent q refusal to
! come to the banquet he practically said,
! as hundreds and thousands of wives
) and mothers are now saying: Il can
| not afford to come to Christs banquet
at the present time. l have my home
| duties to attend to. l have domestic
obligations. l pray thee have me ex-
| cused."
But, my dear friends, can the hus-
band and the wife truly attend to and
fulfill their domestic relations unless
they first have been to the marriage
banquet of the Lamb? No, no. You
know that no husband and father is
truly we'll equipped parent unless he
is a Christian man; you know that no
wife is truly an independent woman
unless she is Christian woman. Leigh
Richmond once developed this thought
in a pathetic incident which he told
about his mothers life. She had six
children, and one of them, her baby,
was killed by the carelessness Of a
nurse allowing the child to fall out of
a second story window. At that time
Leigh Richmond was walking in the
street below. He gathered up the poor
bleeding body of his little brother and
carried him into the house and placed
him in his mothers lap. All that day
the mother kept praying and praying
In the midst of her prayers she turned
to her son and said, leigh, If l cease
praying for five minutes l shall be
crushed under this sorrow, but when
pray to God he comforts and upholds
me-" So no wife and mother is able to
bravely confront the sorrows of the
home unless she is a Christian woman
Sooner or later troubles and awfu
troubles will knock at every bedroom
door, and, man and woman, you canno,
afford to say, like the bridegroom OF
old, that you cannot come to Christ Oh
account of your domestic obligations
The simple fact is your home dutie,
and sorrows ought to be mighty inspi
rations to send you to the feet of Christ
, The Duty of Parents.
Besides, parents, how can you hav'
, the right influence over your children
unless you are consecrated Christian
, men and women? How can a fathe
|, and mother tell their children how 4
, love the Lord Jesus unless they them
, selves have accepted the invitation =
, the gospel banquet? Can the blin'
lead the blind? Can something com
, from nothing? l lift clay vase in m
, hand and smell the sweetest fragrance
, 1 say: 80 vase, whence came thy pei
I fume? Were thy substances fragran
: before the hot fires Of the potter's full
/. mace touched thee" NAY" answer
? the vase. 1.-The reason 1 am perfume
, is because hundreds of flowers hav
3 been plucked and have been Above
: to kiss me with their red and whit
: lips" Upon the sand dunes of the sea
e shore 1 pick up a curiously twiste
: shell. l place it to my ear and hear
i low, moaning sound. / say to the shell
I "Shell, why dost thou moan like sic
4 child?' Because" answers the shell
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