Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-06

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and out of churches where their presence Hras
an onense. Considering the insignificant wsv
many OF these went out of the world the
poor doctoring and the coarse shroud and the
haste of the obsequies, you might have exS
pected for them a tame reception on the other
side: but a shining retinue was awaiting he
yOnd the river for their departing spirits: and
as they passed celestial escort confronted
them and snow white chargers of heaven were
brought in and the conquerors mounted; and
here they pass in the throng of the victors-
poor house exchanged for palace, rags for i'm
perlal attire, weary walking for seats on the
white horses from the Kings stable. Ride on,
ye victors.
Another retinue: that of the Christian in
YalIds. Those who pass now languished for
many year on their couches. From the
irmness and the strength and the exhilara-
ton with which they ride you would not have
supposed that they had been bent double with
ailments and had crouched with pain IRENE
dlable and writhed in sufferings that were
CHASTITY to the beholder. But after % years
OF useless prescription and all surgery had
Ialled, IN one moment they recovered. The
black groom named Death came out and nut
their foot IN the stirrup, and gave them one
lit by which In moment they sprang upOn
Whlte horses to ride forth as conquerors for
ever.
1 heard Thomas stockton IN the midst of his
sermon about the Good Land stop and cough
for two or three minutes, until it seemed as If
he never would get his breath and then 90 on
again; but, recovering his strength, he put his
hands upon his lungs and SAID: THANK God,
there is no coughing in heavens" He is well
now. Eloquent Thomas stockton! Glorious
Thomas Stockton! l had a friend who
preached the gospel in the West. He was
seized by disease which must prove fatal
unless he submitted to a surgical operation.
The prospect was that he would die in the
hands of the surgeon; but there was a faint
hope OF recovery. and so he felt it his duty to
submit. One Sabbath morning he stood in his
pulpit supporting himself by chair, and said
TO his congregation: my dear people, to-
morrow morning 1 start for New York
to submit to a surgical operation which
will probably take my life, but there
Is falnt hope that 1t may restore me, and
that faint hope leads me to go, but it is proba-
bic 1 shall never see you again. | shall now
proceed to preach to you my farewell SER
mon" And then, with face all illumined
with JOY and triumph, he said: you will find
my text in chapter of Second Timothy,
verses 8 and Z, Il am now ready to be offered
up, and the time of my departure is at hand.
have fought the good fight, | have finished
my course, have Kept the faith. Henceforth
there is laid up for me crown of righteous
ness which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
shall give me at that day." The next Thurs
day morning he was well; he was all well. In
that land they never say II am sick" Ride
on, ye great host of recovered invaids, in the
triumphal procession of heaven!
Henry VII. brought Anne Boleyn to his
palsce. The river Thames was the scene of
her trlumphal entry. Fifty barges followed
the Lord Mayor. Officials dressed in scarlet |
Choirs chanting along the banks of the river.
EldRS dUDT0Su Win DelIS Inab rang as the
breeze stirred them. Anne Boleyn, in cloth
of gold, and wearing a circlet of precious
stones, stepped into the barge amid the sound
of trumpets and the shout of a kingdom
Then entering the street seated on richly
caparisoned palfry that sometimes walked on
cloth of gold and velvet, led between houses
adorned with scarlet and crimson and de-
Tended by guards In coats of beaten gold, and
along by fountains that were made on that
day to pour out Rhenish wine for the peopIc
until she at last kneeling in Westminster Az
NnWr fT1l~ flNn DIT Ia e. a..
of Henry VIII. and Annie Boleyn! They
lived in worldliness and their splendid career
went out in darkness! Not so with those
whom our King shall call to the hOnors of
heaven. Along the river of death their barge |
shall glide amidst the shadows until it comes |
to the light of the city; and then on streets of
gold and amidst places of gold, and greeted
by harps of gold, they shall join the armies of |
the King, following on white horses.
But L cannot count the interminable troops
of God as they pass-the redeemed of all ages |
and lands and conditions. One hundred and
fOrty-four generations of people have lived
since the world was made, and consequently
about $4,000 millions of people have died
figures OF which we can have no appreciation.
A great proportion of these must have gone
into glory, so that nothing but an archangel
for a mathematician with an arithmetic of
eternity could give any idea of the number
who shall make up the thrOng that follow on
white horses. Every hour the line is length
ening. They are going up by scores and by
hundreds and thousands. At the beginning Of
this discourse we took our position on the
street of heaven to watch, but the first regi-
ment has not passed yet, and | hear the clat-
I er OF the hosts still coming. Yea, stand at
this point and watch until the century has
gone and the world has persisted and time has
wound up and myriads of ages have gone their
slow round, still you will not have seen half
of the first division who follow on white
horses. Go up on the highest tower OF heaven,
look to the north and look to the south; can
you see the end? No, no. Coming, coming.
Forever and forever they pass on. ''The
armies which were in heaven followed Him
upon white horses"
1t has been to me the most anxious question
of this hour-will you and l join that great
prOcession2 Not unless on earth we belonged
TO the Lords army and followed after the
King. You must know that the cavalry of
heaven that you see passing fought with the
cavalry of he'll; and that the arch-demon has
had his vlctorIls, and that those whom he
conquers ne carries away in chains to be
reserved in darkness until the great day
which side are you on? Those who do not
follow Christ on earth shall not triumph with
him IN heaven. If you are on the wrong side
the black cavalry instead of the white cavalry.
you had better head the other way. Plunge
the spurs into the TANKS and dash up under
the standard of the cross!
suppose of course that what the text saws
about the white horses of heaven is flguratIve,
and yet know not but in some sense it may
pc 1e Hteral. IL mas seemed to me inscrutab e
that horses should be maltreated and whipped
and killed by the cruelty of their owners and
have no other state of being by way of com
pensation. My little child of 6 years of age
was overheard telling her brother of years
that there would be heaven for the birds
and another heaven for the horses had not
the courage to correct her defective theology.
If wake up at last in heaven and find real
white horses for the redeemed to ride upon |
shall not be sorry; but for the present must
take my text fguratively and learn from it
the tieetDess and the victory and the strength
Of the redeemed. Rejoice, o ye righteous, in
the glorious prospect!
When the last war was ended, and the re-
turning army passed in review at Washing
ton, among the most impressive sights were
the horses on which the generals rode. But
those horses had not been in battle. They
had been picked up at the close of the war:
they had carried no burdens; they had seen
no hardshlps, but came prancing along the
line with arched necks, and rounded limb.
and princely trappngs, and flying feet and
flaming eye. AS they bOunde ed to the roll of the |
drum and trumpet blast, their drivers bowed
on either side to the almost interminabIe
huzZah. Oh, when Christ, our King. shall re
turn TO heaven with all the armies of the
saved-natlons and kingdoms and ages in the
line-may you ana /, through the infinite
mercy of the King, be among those who shall
follow Him in the great cavalry troop of the
redeemed; that will be the grand review of