Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-02-10

death you know that some OF God.
mi lest agents for the salvation OF
TIL :. GRID are TO he found among thoSs
or pale checks. thin hands and feverct
brows. Oh. no. my frieatls. God vii
never take out OF this world the spi'.
itual mission OF physical pain and SUI
fering until. through those sufrci 'ngs
the multitudes have been brou:..,t {.
confess Christ ut the foot OF the cross.
An Easy Task.
Easy would 10 be for God TO ma :,
right might and to melt the iron ice
OF tyranny In the hot fires of his in
dignation and righteous wrath. Easy
would 1t be for God 10 come forth witt
his great legions OF angels and ridI
down. the hillsiGcs of heaven upon tl,s
white charger OF victory. Easy would
II be for God TO destroy his puny ad
versaries, as they are trying TO destroy
his Kingdom OH earth. How do | know
this: In the first chapter of Proverbs
l read that when the time shall draw
near for God To bear his right and come
TO the defense of his children by TIC
overthrow OF his enemies God shall
say: Il also will laugh ut your .calam
ity. ! will mock when your feal
cometh." God will easily overthrow
his adversaries when the right time
comes. Bat now even sin has its mis-
sion. The battle against sin can devel
op us, even as u youth can be develop.
ed i'm his struggles against the trials OF
the world
lnjusticcs have their benefcent mis-
siong How else would you ever appre-
ciate what the pardoning love OF
Christ meant unless you learned 1,
through your willingness to forgive
those who kayc "rcviled you and perse-
cuted YOU ana have said all manner of
evil against you falsely for my sake"
Don't you remember how you were
distressed by caiumnies and false
charges uttered by SOME malicious enc.
MY How angry and furious yeu were
against the caluInniator. You have
learned your lesson now; you have
learned how to forgive. Was it not IN
trying to overcome those bitternesses
and hatreds that you We're led into the
realisation Of the truth that God Is
love and that we must forgive men
/ their trespasSes. even as our Father
IN heaven forgives US our trespasses.
On, yes. injustices have their spiritual
mission. They have taught us that the
true gospel does not consist simply In
showing how we should reach out our
hands 20 our friends, but also how we
should reach out loving hands TO our
enemies In triumphing over the
wrongs by which we are surrounded
God is teaching us how. for his sake. we
can triumph over our own evil selves.
Death Might Ne Abolished.
Easy would II be for God to make
| death an impossibiiity When Christ
| stood by the bier OF 1.-The only son OF
his mother. and she a widow" he was
able 70 make silent corpse open its
ryes and sit I'D. He said. Young man.
] say unto thee, arise!' When Christ
went TO tho tomb Of dead Lazarus he
said TO Mary and Alarthai sThy BROTH
er is not dead. He is only asleep.u
Christ looked upon death then In the
same way you and would stand over
the crib in which slumbers one of our
little children. We know that we can
bend over the crib and kiss our little
one and say: Wake. baby. Papa is
here Then the baby will awake and
come to our arms. Christ only had to
speak. and Lazarus came forth. The
day Is coming when Christ will speak
and all the family tombs and the
Gods hnlf acres" and the lonely
graves on western prairies and the
wrecked and sunken hulks OF the At
lantic and the Pacific oceans lying at
the foot of coral reefs will give ND their
dead. But until that day death must
reign, and only through death can we
enter ipto life AID into that land where
there Is 40 more death.
Has death 20 purpose In the divine
seoaonY? Have M the agonies and
SORROWS and bereavemepts no wise de.
sign? Ask that father who when he
parted with his beloved Child learned
TO love and trust God and lived bal.
lowed iife ever after in the hope OF
once more eiasping bier ~ his arms.
ASK that husband whose wife passed
from his ken and whose days OF lone
illness drove him for comfort TO him
whose love brlghtens every sorrow. 1t
is at n fearful cost that some men
learn the lesson OF faith. but once
learned they bless even the loss that
taught them.
Our earthly loss may mean our heay-
| emily gain. The agonies of death may
yet be swallowed up in victories that
| shall never die. There Is a beautiful
legend told that I'm the far east q king
was TO make a long journey. Hcthere-
fore sent ahead OF him his representa-
tive TO build for him a palace in which
he might I've while he sojourned there
He prcvhsed this forerunner literally
with paoney and supplies. When the
representative Of the king arrived I'm
this faron land he found there raging
q great famine and plague Thousands
Npop- Thousands OF the people there
were aytns from hunger and abe dis-
eases AFasaitsnt from starvation. So
this Representative Of the king changed
bis gold into bread. He sold all the
royal jewels and bought still more
bread. Then he battered away the
king's fniinept and bis horses apd chap
lots. and with the money be bought still
more bread until aii the people were
fed and the famine was stopped, At
first when the king heard what had
been done lie was very wroth But
when he found out how many lives had
been saved with his money he honored
his forefpRaer by making him prime
minister,
An Old hegeHa.
A short time after this tha king died
When he cnme TO the gate Of heaven.
ut first he was refused admittnncs, for
he seemed TO have no heavenly pass
port. Then the great King OF kings
came forth and said: "Let him in. Let
him in. lie has one of the finest man
sions in heaven reserved for him."
Then the King Of kings took the
trembling. frightened Immortal along
one OF the chief boulevards of heaven
and pointed 10 mansion near the
great white throne and said: There
Is your palace. You have built it,"
When ;,pqnd where did I build yonder
pataneT asked the earthly king. Then
the King, OF kings answered: when
your forerunner With y9gr consent
wiped away the tears OF th9se staryipg
people in that faron land caught