The Penn's Grove record., 1912-08-02
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Bridegroom
and Bride
Analogy Between Man's Earthly and His
Heavenly Relations.

~ UPPOSE that after getting mar
ried an earnest man should dis
" that his bride cared moth
ing at all about any Of the
things in which he was interested,
that she could not sympathize with
his aims and purposes in life, and
that she preferred the company Of
other people, or even her own com
pany, to- his, and was altogether taken
up with pursuits that did not seem to
him worthy Of pursuit-could that
man rejoice over his marriage1
And the wife; would not she be also
terribly disappointed-unless she had
married the man only for his money
without any intention of caring what
he thought or did? And ever in that
case. could she hope to know any of
the deeper joys of life? Could she
help giving way more and more to a
sense Of dissatisfaction and discon-
tent?
Would not such a marriage be a
cause Of unhappiness to both husband
and wife?
All Members of the Bride of Christ.
Well, then, how about this case?
The church is the Bride of Christ
Church members-if they are in fact
members of the spiritual church-are
members of the Bride of Christ. Yet
is it not evident that a very large pro-
portion Of those who consider them
selves members Of the Church OF
Christ, and who are recognized as
such, prefer the company Of other
people to the company of Christ. and
even when alone, prefer their
company to his? Is It not a fact that
the majority of church members show
much more interest in their " az
fairs and in their own comforts ana
pleasures than they show in the prog
ress of the Kingdom of Christ or in
overcoming the obstacles to its prog
ress. In other words, do not profess
ing Christians very commonly act like
the wife who takes no interest IN her
husband or in his plans or in his
work, and shows no sympathy with
him in regard to the things in which
he is most intensely concerned?
Can such a condition OF things be
anything but a cause of grief to the
celestial bridegroom?
And can it bring any satisfying Joy
to the terrestrial bride?
How about our own lives. yours and
mine?
Suppose we go through life without
learning to love the things that God
loves, to desire the things that he de-
sires, and to take a deep interest in
the carrying out of his purposes
would we be able to enjoy Heaven IL
we could get to Heaven? What would
we do there? What pleasure could
we find in trying to do the very
things that we did not want to do in
this life?
Out of Place In Heaven.
One a imagine a fashionable
church member asking, as soon as she
had entered the pearly gates: where
are the whist tables, and which is the
way to the theater? Where is the
ball to be given tonight?" And n
can family conceive of the intense as
constituent of her angel guide that
n one could take any interest in
such things in the presence OF the
king, and of the glorious work that he
is doing. But if such pleasures as
these are really the most enjoyable
and most desirable occupations, why
should we not expect TO find them in
Heaven? And if secret prayer is an
unwelcome duty and if prayer meet
ing and hymn singing are so dull and
tiresome as most Christians seem to
think them, what would be the good
of going to Heaven, where worship is
more in fashion than card-playing. or
dancing?
Paul said: "AIl things are lawful
for me; but not all things are ex-
pedient. All things are lawful for
me; but I will not be brought under
the power of any," The real ques-
ton is not whether we may do this,
that, or the other thing. but whether
the thing we do comes between US and
Christ, or not; whether 1t interferes
with our fellowship with him and the
service that he required of US, or not.
Messengers of Light
Tho things which Civa uS most evi-