St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-10-19
JOIINSBURY FRIDAY OCTOBER 49,, 1888.

, and open their arms-and receive us,
with a welcome that will make us for
get in an instant all the pain through
} which we were brought thither. Can
all this be true, and SO near, while we
are living as if heaven were a fable, or
a dream that may come true but not
for thousand years ?
". Once more, heaven is heaven
because it is going to God. We have
been accustomed to meet God here, in
the closet, in this house. We have
sought him in worship, with varying
success. Sometimes we have caught a
glimpse of him afar off sometimes we
have missed him utterly, yet knowing
that he was here sometimes he has
seemed very near. All this is to be
changed. We shall come to him. We
shall see him as he is. Not as we see
form and color, but as comprehending
his nature. 1t has been in this that we
have failed. We looked through the
fault and error in our souls and saw
distorted beng, as a stick in the water
or ship in the fog. Sin gone, selfish
ness cleansed away, the earthly nature
transformed, our eyes will be clear to
see the King in his beauty. The pure
in heart shall see God-the real God.
To understand any person you must
he in sympathy with him. An evil
man cannot understand judgment. A
bad man cannot appreciate IA good man,
cannot see one wherever he looks. To
him they are all bad. Yes, when we
come home to heaven we shall see God
because we are like him. Then the
memory of all that he has been to us
and all that he is and ever must be to
us will come upon us, us it never did
on earth, to fill our souls with love-
Here he is, before us, the Author of
this wonderful organism of ours, with
its amazing faculties of body and mind
an instrument on which, while it is an
endless delight to play, what other
tune can it strike under our hands, but
his praise Here is the Being, the
inspiration of whose holiness, felt
through all precepts and ordinances
and human examples, has wrought out
in us these noble characters. Here is
the Being who loved us in our sin and
wretchedneSs enough to send his Son
to die for us. HeIe is He, the loving
Shepherd that went through the awful
wilderness in his painful search, and
: laid down his life for the sheep. Here
!, is the Redeemer of all this that we
have become from the ruin that had
!, mastered and destroyed us. Here be
fore us is the Author of all our past Joy
of life and of this ineffable blessedness
with which our souls now overflow.
Shall we not love him Will he not
be the chief attraction of that place
) "a mother was sick and her little child
was taken away. The mother died,
and they thought best to have the
t child remember its mother as she was
when well. After the mother was
} buried they brought the child home.
She ran into the drawing-room to meet
her mother, but she was not there.
. The little thing was disappointed and
ran into all the rooms but could not
find her mother. She began to cry,
and asked them to take her back. She
J did not want to stay. Home had lost
its attractions because her mother was
, not there. The glory of heav-
: en- will not he the pearly gates, nor the
l Jasper walls, nor the streets paved with
| gold, but it will he the Lord Jesus.
That will make heaven glorious"
; Let these he more our thoughts and
2 anticipation dear friends, during our
. days of waiting. With such blessed
2 possibilities within reach of every one
2 of us-yes, every one of us-who will
; be content with that occasional shud-
l dering glance forward which is all the
2 anticipation that some induige-a half
= paralyzed feeling in view of what is to
, cOme-half recOnciled to Il continuance
VI lulS pltS'ul ilIt, IL lIdii tpult w.
: doubling the possibility of salvation to
= them, perhaps unconsciously calculat-
, ing how bad it would be to he lost.
a Away with all such folly and sin, that
g throws away the grandest chances that
a were ever set before human beings,
that thoughtlessly tears up the pass
| port to more glorious kingdom than
}, the heart of man ever conceived
e Rather give play to those God-given
h anticipations which swell the breast OF
e youth, and blow again the embers OF
II the highest ambitions of life. These
|, may not indeed be realized here, but
|, they are given us to be realized, not to
: be disappointed. No dream ever ex-
ii ceeded in sweetness or grandeur the
s real things of Gods Kingdom of IIeav-
= en-. Wait for all in patience. SeeI
if first the kingdom of God and his right
IS eousness and all these shall be added
e unto you.
r Capital Punishment.