The Brookhaven leader., 1886-09-02

ernalia."
Well, this Is free country and you shall
have the right Of choice, but let me tell you
that the purest mirth, and the most un-
trammeled glee, and the greatest resil-
fence Of soul are inside the Christian COM
partnership, and not outside of it. l have
tried both styles Of companionship-tha
companionship Of the world and the CONF
partnership Of Christ, and I know by ex-
perience. have Teen now so long in the
sunshiny experience and society OF
Christian people that when ] am com-
PEELED to to 60 for a little while amid in
tense worldly society feel depressed. IL
is like going out of June garden into an
ice-house. Men never know fully how 10
laugh until they become Christians. Tue
worlds laughter has jerk Of dissatisfac-
ton at the end, but when man is conse-
Grated to God, and he is all right for the
world to come. then when be laughs, body,
mind and soul crackle. Let q group OF
ministers Of the Gospel, gathered from all
denominations Of Christians, be together
in a dining hall, or in a social circle, and
you know they are proyerhially jocund.
o We unconverted people! / know MT
how you can stand it down in that
moping, bilious, saturnine, worldly assoc
citation. Come up into the sunlight Of
Christian society-those people for whom
all things are working right now, and
will work right forever. l tell you that
the sweetest japonicas grow in the Lords
garden; that the largest grapes are fl. IN
the vineyards of Canaan; that the most
sparkling floods break forth from the
Rock OF Ages. Do not too much pity IN
Ruth Of my text; for she is going TO be-
come Joint owner Of the great harvest
felts Of BoaZ.
5. Once more: II we want to become
Christians. we must, like Ruth in the text,
choose the Christians death and burial.
She exclaimei:
Where thou diest will die, and there Will
l be buried.
think we all, when leaving this worl1,
would like to be surrounded by Christian
influences. You would not like to have
your dying pillow surrounded b. earica-
turis's, and run,tcrs, AMI wire-h bb rs.
How would You like b have John Leech
come with his London pjctorials, and
Christopher North with hs loose fun. and
Tom Hood with his rhymng jokes, when
vou are dying: No! no! no: Let me
have 4 Christian nurse IN my las sickness.
Let me have . Caris'ian physician to adj
minister the medicines. Let it be a Chris
tian wife, or parent, or child, that watches
tie going out OF the tide of my mortal
exiStcuca. Let CHris,ian men come in the
room and read cf the Illuminated valley,
and the oxtinguishment of grief, and
drown the hoarse blasts Of death with the
Strains OF mount llsgan'' ana saint
/ Martin"
In eur last moment we viii all be chill
rlren. : aid Dr. Guthrie. the famous Scotch
+ clercymqn, when dyins:
/ "SinG me a b airn's hymn"
Yes, we will all be children then. In
4 that hour the world viii stand confounled
/ around us. Our friends may cry over US;
/ tears will not help US. They may look
I sad; what We want is radiat on in the last
moment, thnkin it VII help them to die.
! IN our last moments we want that bread
! which came down fir IN heaven. Who viii
/ give it to u.s. Oh, we want Christian peo-
/ pie in the room. 50 that if our hope begins
to struggle hey may say:
Courage, brother! All is well! Cour.
age"
In tnat expiring moment | want to hear
the old MS that We usel to sing in
/ church and prayer-meeting. In that last
moment | want to hear tn voice Of some
Christian friend pleading that tie sins
and shortcomings of my life may be for
given and the doors of Heaven may he
opened before nv entrancei ,pirit.
Come Sing to me of Heaven
wen I'm about to die
Sing songs of holy ecstasy,
To wait my soul on high.
Yes; Christian pc pie on either side the
/ bed. and Christian people at the foot of the
! bed, and Christian people TO close my
eyes, and Christian people to carry me
! out, and Christian people to look after
/ those whom leave ehind, and Christian
/ people to rememL er me a little while after
! ! am.gOne.
/ Where thou dIest will die, and there VIII
/ ! be buried.
! Sometimes an epitaph covers up more
| than it expresses. Walking through Green
wool cemetery have sometimes seen an
| inscription which impressed me how hard
the sculptor and friends were trying to
make out a good story in stone. ! saw
| from the inscription that the man or woin-
an buried there had died without hope.
/ The inscription told me the man was a
member of Congress, or a hank president,
/ or some prominent citizen, but said noth-
/ ing about his souls destiny. Tie body
! is nothing. The soul! The soul! And
| here by this inscription l see that this
man was born in 1870 and died in 1919.
! Seventy years on earth, and no
! Christian hoVe, Oh, if in all the ceme-
! terieS of your city the graves of those who
! have gone out of this world unpreparcd
! should sigh on the wind, VINO would have
! he nerve to drive through such placer
/ If all those who have gone out of this
world unprepared could come back to- day
and float through this air, telling the story
of their discontinue, this audience would
| fall fat on its face, asking to be rescued
! from the avalan he OF horror.
My hearers, do you wonder that this
! Ruth of my text made the Christians
choice and closed it with the ancient form
of imprecation upon her own soul, if she
ever forsook Naomi?
The Lord do so to me, and more also IL
aught but death part thee and Inc.
/ They were living together. Come the
jackals, come the bandits, roll on Dead
sea! Ny hearers, would you not like to le
with your Christian friends forever: Have
there not gone out persons from your
household whom you would like to spend
eternity with? They were mild, and low
ing, and gentle, and beautiful while here.
You have no idea that the joys of heav, n
have made them worse, Choose their
] CMrist. and Won nav hive their hnaran