The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-11-10

that be planted in the hours of the Loro
shall flourish in the courts of our God
They shall still bring forth fruit in ole
age fruit fair to the sight and sweet tc
the taste. This was eminently true Of
all three of the fathers who have recently
passed through the beautiful gate of the
temple to the higher activities of the
place where those who served God on
earth still serve Him, face to face They
never grew old, in one sense, because
they kept their faculties strong by exer-
else and their hearts warm by sympathy
with those younger than themselves
They retained much of their early fresh
ness to the last because they never lost
their interest in the present. They kept
a firm grasp upon what was true and
good in the systems and methods of the
past, whose value had been tested by
time and experience, but instead of stifen-
ing in antiquated moulds, they kept them
selves flexible by adopting new modes of
working and by laying hold of every en-
terprise of the day which promised good
results. They never chung to the old be-
cause of its antiquity, nor rejected the
new merely because of its novelty. I'm
like many men of advanced years they
did not indulge in laudations of times
gone by, as if in the generations of the
past the skies were bri ghter than now,
and the flowers of the garden and of the
heart sweeter than those which bloom in
our own day. 1t is a rare but beautiful
combination when aged men adhere with
ever increasing loyalty to old principles
and at the same time gladly welcome new
ideas, new enterprises, and new methods
of work The oak is never so grand as
when its strong trunk is seen through the
flexible branches and futtering leaves of
spring. To the very last these venera-
bic fathers were forming fresh plans of
usefulness, and animated by the purpose
and hope of dying in the harness.
4. would remind you as the last les
son of the hour that HEAVEN EVER GROWS
MORE ATTRACTIVE BY THE CONSTANTLY
INCREASING NUMBER OF THE SAVED
True, Jesus, the Lamb, is the light and
glory of the place, but the redeemed
shine His light and reflect His image.
1t is their Joy not only to be with Christ
but to be like. him. We do not dispar-
age Him when we long to be with them.
We love Him now, when we see how
grace transforms HIS children here
Yet more will we love Him then, when
we see how glory transfgures them there.
Some of you have been moved almost to
tears when you have read the we'll
known passage commencing: 80 proecZa-
ram dlene," but if heather moralist
with his uncertain com ectures about the
eternal future could break forth into
such strain of joyous expectation as he
anticipated renewed intercourse with
friends in some diviner sphere, what may
not we, whose hopes have been kindled
at the shrine where life and Immortality
have been brought to light expect, in the
world OF reunion, recognition, and com
munion in glory everlasting?
Death, like a narrow sea, divides the
heavenly land from ours, but love spans
the intervening waters; our affections over
leap the chasm, and in heart we mingle
with the glorifed in their holy employ
ments and enjoyments while our abode is
yet on the earth. Revelation tells us of the
great voice out of heaven, saying, come
up hither;" but are there not gentler
voices, fuller of human interest, which
softly whisper, come up hither? We can
NV Ae'fO wv mdu GleS 10 DlnQ our hearts
to heaven. By the attractions of memo
ry, hope, and love, we are drawn thither,
and soon we will exchange expectation
for the long yearned for thrill Of posses
sion. cannot now think of those three
men without thinking of the home they
have found in the Fathers house, and SO
| close my discourse with the remem-
brance Of heaven ever becoming more
dear because ever taking into itself those
whom we have loved and cherished.
We will not forget these solemnities :;
we will not suffer the impressions of these
providences of commingled 10y and sor-
row to fade from our minds, and we will
honor the departed, not by erecting visi-
BILE monuments only, but by obeying the
injunction of the text: Remember those
who have been your spiritual guides, be-
heve and obey the word of God spoken
by them, and follow their faith to the
end of life that yours may be the life that
has no end.
RaoanF D1,H1sooLs1