The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-18

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 stars to which I would call your atten- ton today. If we turn many to right eousness we shall shine. What does that mean? Shall we be as miners with our lit tie fickerng lamps going into the dark places of the earth to hunt out gold for our own selfish purposes? Shall we be- come misers who are ready to shut them selves up into solitary rooms, so that with a little flickering candlelght they can open their iron vaults and in safety examine their jewels and piles of silver and of gold? Nay. If we turn many to righteousness we can never shut ourselves up in heaven. We must shine as the stars We must shine not so much for the benefit of others Heaven is to be a place of eternal enjoyment because 1t is a place where we shall spend the mil- lieniums in helping to make others happy Oh, blessed, thrice blessed Is this thought! Is it your hope?
 When Cyrus " Field was about to lay the first successful Atlantic cable he had two vessels, the Agamemnon and the Niagara. Each loaded with the precious cable, they met in mid-ocean. Then the two vessels parted and one sailed toward Valentia and the other toward Trinity bay. Farther and farther apart they went, each paying out it's end of the ca ble. But during all that long journey toward the old world and the new these two vessels could keep sending messages to each other. So on the great sea of space the stars seem to be floating ships. Aye more than that-they seem to be creatures of life. And these stellar creat- ures of life seem to be always signaling, always talking to each other They seem to me to keep saying, "Oh, child Of Christ, when thou dost shine as the stars forever and ever thou shalt be shining for other worlds and not for myself" Is it not a beautiful thought to you that all through eternity you shall be shining to make your dear ones happy? Heaven can never be to your loved ones perfect heaven unless you are there to shine for their glory and eternal joy.
 Even the Stars Differ.
 But how are these celestial stars going to shine? Shall they all look alike and , have just the same color and the same characteristics? Are they to be similar to each other, like the pictures we used to study of the angels, who were always dressed in white robes and had two wings, with just so many feathers, so that each angel looked like every other angel? No. When you speak thus l know you have not observed the stars. You have not noticed how they differ in brightness and size and color. The Bible distinctly tells us that ''one star differeth from an- other star In glory" Heaven is not to be place of monotonous similarities, but of varied and ever fresh contrasts As in the material Armament one star diff fers from another star so there will be differences in the spiritual stars. Each of these stars will emit a radiance pe- culiar to itself.
 The difference between children born in the same family. the difference between any two birds, Or any two flowers of the same species, or any two mountain ranges, is not more marked than the diff ference between any two stars. They differ from each other In color. Some are yellow or purple, Or pale green or emerald green, or white or blue, or orange or sapphire, or crimson. Some stars give forth a steady light; others are variable. Citi and Mira and Algol and Agnus are changing their volume of light incessantly Some are stars of the first magnitude, others of the second the third the fourth, the fifth the sixth, the seventh, the eighth, or even the ninth magnitude. Argelander, the great astronomer. catalogued the stars in reference to the different sizes, as a jeweler might classify his gems by the color, the size and the purity of the precious stones, all of which implies that in heaven, when we shine as the stars forever and ever we shall all keep our own individualities and have our distinc- tive characteristics of light. Yes, heaven is to be place of infinite variety of im- mortal life, but though you and I. when we reach heaven, will be different in many ways, there is one way which we shall all be- similar when we shine as the stars forever and ever. We shall all shine with a supernatural light.
 How do I know this? Why, also by the symbol of the stars. Let me explain Now a star is not a planet like the earth. It is self luminous body like the sun. It is a great furnace in the heavens, which goes on, year after year and century after century and millennium after millennium, giving forth it's heat and light as our own sun for millions of years has been heat ing and lighting our planet. Now comes the practical question. What fuel feeds those seemingly inexhaustible furnaces? It Is absurd to suppose that here and there a stray meteor drawn Into those awful masses of heat could keep up the supply and combustion century after century and millennium after millennium. Sir Williaf Thomson the celebrated mathematician and physicist, says that the sun will burn at least five or six million years longer When one estimates the fact that the suns volume or bulk is at least 1,300,000 times larger than the earth he begins part ly to realize the enormous heat which this stars light is giving forth. What causes all this light of the star? "Oh," you an- swer. q cannot explain it upon any ra- tional grounds. Let us say it comes from God" Thus say we in reference to that spiritual light which shall make us shine as the stars forever and ever. Friend, no earthly light will make you thus shine forever and ever. Have you the spiritual light? Have you that light which comes only from touching the liv- ing coals of the spirits fire? If you have not that spiritual light within you, will you let God put 1t there now?
 Their Influence Lasting.
 But there is still another fact to which I want to call your attention to these spiritual stars. Though they may shine forever and ever in heaven, their spirit ual light will not be lost to earth as long as this world lasts My text reads thus: "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Armament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. Do you not see it?, As the immortal soul winner leaves this planet he will not only shine in tho other world but also in this world. 'No." says some one T do not see it." I will