The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1908-11-05
THINGS WORTH KEEPING.
Chflarsa's Sermon. by ibe Rev. Vim
cent Raw. N. A.

tiiul DOH. When she ~ laid down
her cradle she shuts her eyes and goe
10 sieep, ~ every g,,o,d baby o0gh.
30 when put 10 bed When she j. "a
40 in The chair this doll opens her eye
aud seems ready 10 talk. You prz
thai doll very much; bow carefully yo
take oif snd put on her fine clothes; u
one is allowed 10 touch that preelou
doll bat yourself.
Here IL = boy, the proud possesso
Of q Columbia bicycle. Il was give
10 him when be passed from the Gram
mar into The High School. When b
iirsi got il be used 10 stay by il ali III
time. When night came be wishe,
that he might take il 10 bed. He ha
examined every part Of his preciou
machine, shined up every spoke, bar
nut, ihonsand times. He declare
that his wheel is the best wheel on th,
market, and II be catches any Of hi
brothers riding that bicycle there is
row right OF.
Or perhaps The thing We prize mos
is AN object not worth much in dollar
aud cents, but a great deal through it,
associations and rccollcctions. Onl,
this week a lady told me of brooch
which used 10 belong to her mother AMI
with which she would not part for d
great deal.
hold IN my hand book. Ii could
hardly he called handsome The cover
Is torn off; many of the pages are yel-
low with age, some of them are mar
red. Were ! to offer il for sale 10 some
dealer IN second hand books he would
not give me more than five cents, pro-
badly he would refuse to put II on his
shelves Nobody would ever think OF
buying it, from commercial point of
view il is worthless. But 10 me il is
worth Its weight in gold. for il is my
mothers Bible and il has history.
Friends before separating either for
good or for short time exchange
gifts; one says to the other: "When
am gone. once IN while look at this
picture. this knife, this locket, and
think of me-. We promise, and after
our friend has left us we keep his pre-
sent among our treasures.
Father, mother, friends give us
things 10 keep. So does our God. Last
week when was preparing this ser.
mon looked through my concordance
to see how many times and in what
connection the word keep" is used in
the Bible. To my surprise found
that this little word is to be found
about four hundred times; and that
many times il is used TO tell us that
God gives up precious things to keep.
Perhaps your father is business
man. You have been in his office or
store and you have seen, either built
in the wall or standing in secluded
corner, great big iron box weighing
many tons. That is the safe. Perhaps
you have seen your father walk up to
the safe, place his hand on the knob,
turn il first 10 the left, then ~ the
right, then again to the left several
times, and then swing open the heavy
iron doors. Perhaps when he was not
around you have tried to open the safe.
You have repeated the operation just
As yon have seen him do il; but strange
10 say the iron doors would not swing
open for you. Whyf Simply because
that iron box is provided with a secret
lock and your father is the only one
who knows the combination.
Some few years ago was going from
Paris TO London. At New Haven we
eft the boat which which had brought
US across the Channel. and got into a
railway compartment. SAT next 10 a
After while the Ice was
broken and we engaged iu conversa-
lion. He told me that he was
in the employ of a Partisan
irm. He was going 10 London ~ open
a safe. The owner of the safe had died
without revealing 10 any of his relatives
,r friends the combination Of the lock.
Aud so they hsd sent for him to open
he safe. He had constructed the lock
md knew how to openit.
God has givenevery one Of us certain
.hings 10 keep. Christ, when he was
lere IN the body, told his disciples sew
,ral stories about keeping things. He
iaid that once upon time there lived
! great man who found il necessary to
20 on visit 10 far country. Before
.oing be called his servants aud ,iistri- |
,uted among them his wealth. 10 one
ls gave five talents. 10 another two, TO |
third one; 70 each man according 10 |
lis ability.
In this story the great man repre-
ents God; his servants represent you
nd me. the talents stand for the pre-
ions things God gives us 10 keep.
God does not only give us things TO
ieep. he gives each strong box,
afe in which TO put these gifts OF His.
his safe has secret lock, only the
'ossessor OF il knows the secret, aud |
% thief can open il. until he learns the
from US. venture 10 say
bat by this time you have all guessed
be name Of this strong box. II is the
cart. Can anybody get into your
eart and find out what you have got
here unless you let them into the sec.
ei Of your own arconii
II little hoy or girl could look into
IL OF her heart soon after being born
'hai DO you suppose he or she would
ndi I.ei me lell you, They would
nd four very beautiful aud precious
'earls. God has pat them 10 your safe.
The name OF the first pearl is;
PURITY"
IL is the child's greatest treasure, its