Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-01-01

yet in the land of the living. If we
give this serious consideration, we
must regard it as remarkable. Some
think death the strangest wonder of
human history, but is not life stran-
ger? When we reflect upon our frame,
and the shocks of life it must endure,
must we not exclaim with Young,
"strange that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so longr'
Is it to be wondered at if, like
David, we too should put the question,
"What wait for?" The mystery of
being here is not profounder than the
mystery of staying here. Let US ask
God the question. The psalmist felt
he could not trust his own conclusions,
and SO he said, lord, what wait
for?"
1t may be you are waiting to be
saved. God is not willing that any
should perish, but that all should
come to repentance and live.
20 Ephraim, how can give thee up,
how shall I leave thee, Judah?" Be
hold him weeping over the Holy City,
20 Jerusalem, how often would have
gathered thy children together. as
hen gathereth her brood under her
wings, and We would not'' He is so
pleading with some of you today. To
go back no farther than the past year,
has there been no sermon, no invitation
or warning, no supplication or exhorta-
ton, that has appealed to your intelli-
gence, or moved your emotions plead
ing with you to accept Christ? Have
you lost no friend or neighbor by death
during that period? Have you had no
escape from bodily peril or no illness
to remind you Of the uncertainty of
life? Can you conscientiously say that
in all these respects God has left you
alone?
1t may be you are waiting to bear
fruit. You are, by the grace of God,
already saved, let us suppose. But for
what purpose were you saved? Since
God loves you with '1ove that pass
seth knowledge" and since ito depart
and be with Christ were far better"
than to remain here-why did he not
call you to himself at your conversion?
Why are you here instead of enjoying
your Redeemer's presence? There
must be some reason. Eye have not
chosen me-" said Christ, "but have
chosen you, and ordained you, that We
Should go and bring forth fruit. and
that your fruit should remain" May
1t be to give you another opportunity
to glorify his father by bearing fruit,
that you are still here?
1t may be you are waiting to be
perfected. I ought to explain this, be-
cause there Is a sense in which every
true Christian is perfected the moment
ne accepts Christ as his Savior. He
Is perfected In that he is both justified
and sanctified; his sin Is put away, and
by the Holy Spirit he himself is set
apart for God forever. The New Tes-
lament is very clear on this; notice
Paul's words in his epistle to the Co.
lossians, for example.
What, then, do we mean by saying
we may be waiting to be perfected?
DO we mean the attainment of a state
Of sinlessness this side of heaven? No:
for if Christian lived to be as old as
Methuselah, would he not still require
to pray, "Forgive US our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against
us?" We only mean that perfectness,
In the sense Of ripeness for the
sickle, which comes in the lives of
some as If crown of glory had been
vouchsafed to them even before they
passed into the unseen.
And so may it be with some of YOU. !
Though now your pruning, your dig
ging, and perhaps your growing days |
are over, yet the quiet but potent rays
of divine grace are accomplishing a
maturity in your experience, so that
your Christian life never will have
been so attractive as in the hour that
you depart hence. eve all do fade as
a leaf, but the fall of you, ye glory
crowned ones, is to be illumined by
the grandeur of an autumnal sunset.
God bless you, aged brethren! God
bless you, young and old, rich and
poor, saint and sinner! May you have
a Happy New Year" in the highest
and truest sense. Happy Is the peo-
pie whose God is the Lord" Accept
him, serve him, wait for him. 1t is
only as we stand in such relationship
to him that, after employing the psalm
lists question, "And now, Lord, what
rait for?" we can confidently apply
The consolation in his words that fol-
,oW, my hope Is IN thee." I