Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-08-28


ance. "And /, If I be lifted up, will
draw all men unto mer' o God, give
US conquering church, clear as the
sun. Make the light of our church
shine from the loving, pardoning eyes
of Christ, who has died that sinful man
might live. Clear as the sun"-aye.
clear as theSun Of Righteousness, which
will scatter every black mist out of the
dark night of every sinful horizon.
An Invading Army.
But we cannot picture the conquer
ing church as a great invading army.
with her banners flying in the winds
and her soldiers singing their haIlelu-
iahs of triumph as they tramp along,
until we find her fair as the moon, as
we'll as "clear as the SUM-" The queen
of night here offers her symbols as
we'll as the golden chariot of the day."
The moon has just as much a part to
play with the advancing hosts of the
conquering church as has the clearness
of the sun. AS the children of Israel
were led through the wilderness In the
long journey Of forty years by the pill
lar of fire as well as by the pillar Of
cloud so we now find the flair NOON
and the "clear sun" are concomitants.
They must move along side by side
They must continually be seen at the
same time by watching world. The
twain, as at marriage altar. must in
deed become one in life.
"Oh," some one says to me, 'sbut that
is impossible. You cannot have the
sun and the moon shining at the same
time. When we were children back on
my fathers farm we used to have
moonlight sleighriding parties. We
would wait until the sun had set Then
we would have supper. Then the big
sleighs, with their heavy robes, would
be driven up. About s or 9 o'clock
over the eastern hills the pale faced
moon would arise With her mellow
light she would flood the valleys and
the white robed trees. Then over the
crisp snow the runners would slide,
the bells would Jingle, the dogs would
bark and the merry songs would be
sung. But we would not expect a
moonlight ride and a sunlight ride at
the same time" Perhaps not, my
friend But, though we cannot see the
sun and the moon rise and set at the
same time, if you have ever camped
upon the heights of old Greylock Of
the Berkshire hills, in the early hours
Of the morning, you would have seen
the sun rise before the moon has set.
Together, for a time, they sit upon
their thrones in the heavens, as King
Ferdinand and Queen Isabella together
governed the kingdoms Of CASTLE and
of Aragon.
Now, where does the moon gather
her light? 1 find this old earth stretch
ing out her arms and warming her
body by the blazing fires of the suns
furnaces. When I think of the sun,
1 picture the old New England Puri-
tan coming out in the January snow
storm chilled and cold and hugging
the old fashioned andirons to get
warm. But when l approach the
moon I find she has no fires. Here
are only deep caverns and a burnt
out CRATE. Then 1 cry out in amaze
ment, 80 moon, from whence cometh
thy light?" Man, am not blazing
furnace like the sum-" I hear the moon
answer II am not simply FURNISHED
mirror. All the light have is reflected
back to earth, because the suns rays
beat upon my Sides" Then I say to
myself: ooh, yes! I know what the
old book means when it declares that
the conquering church is to be clear as
the sun and fair as the moon It
means that the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ shall conquer the world
for Christ when she does two things:
She must preach Jesus, and Jesus
alone; secondly, all the members Of
that future church in their private
lives must be rejecting the light Of
the gospel as found in the light Of
Jesus Christ"
Rejecting the Light.
Most of US see this symbol to our
own shame. O moon, thou fair
checked, laughing eyed, golden Tipped
moon! moon, thou beautiful queen
OF the night, who doth carry no Ian
tern, yet whose face is aglOw with
kissed thy forehead as the skin of
Moses shone when he descended from
Mount Sinai, after talking face to face
with God! 0 moon, thou dear friend,
who kept vigil with me as 1 paced the
ships deck under the Southern Cross
and babe thee carry messages Of love to
my dear ones by the moaning seas OF
an Atlantic coast! Is my life reflect
ing the divine life of Christ as thou
dost reflect the light of the sun? Is
every word l speak, every thought that
is Graded in my brain, every hope,
every desire, every deed, an echo, re-
Election of my Savtour's life, who gave
up his life that sinful man might live!
The moon is speaking to the church
members today. With her mellOwed
light she is signaling this message:
Church members, when you preach
Christ and live Christ then Christs
church shall be a conquering church
Men and women, as church members,
xriT IO,, in tbo DAYTIME be clear as