West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-01-12

not heard t.
Skim from the summer waters the brightest
sparkles and you will get no idea of the sheen
OF the everlasting sea. Pile up the splendor
OF earthly cities and they would not make a
stopping stone by which you might mount 10
the city OF God Every house is palace.
Every step n triumph. Every covering for
the head a coronation. Every meal is ban
quet. Every stroke from the tower Is a we'd
ding bell. Every day is n jubilee, every hour
a rapture and every moment an ecstasy.
Eye had not seen IL, ear hath not heard IT, F"
i remark further, we can get no idea on
earth of the reunions OF heaven. If YOU have
ever been across the seas and met friend,
or even an acquaintance, in some strange
sity, you remember how your blood thrilled,
and how glad you were TO SEQ him What
will be our JOY, after we have passed the seas
! of death, TO meet IN the bright city OF the
| sun those from whom wo have long been sep
| aratod. After we have been away from our
friends ten OF fifteen years, and we come
| upon them, we SEQ how differently they look
The hair has turned, aud wrinkles have come
! in their faces, and we say: " How you have
| changedln But OH, when we stand before the
throne, all cares gone from the face, all
marks OF sorrow disappeared. and feel
ing the JOY of that blessed land, methnks
/ we will say tn each other, with an ex-
! utation we cannot now imagine: " How you
/ have changed In this world we only meet
| 10 part. lt Is goOdby goodby. Farewells
| floating in the air. We hear it at the rail
car window, and at the steamboat wharf
gOodby. Children lisp IL, and old ago an
swePs IL. Sometimes we say it in light way
| -'goodby:n and sOmetime3 with anguish in
| which the soul breaks down. Goodby! All,
/ that is the word that ends the thanksgiving
| banquet; that is the word that comes i'm TO
! close the Christmas chant Goodby; goodby
| But not so in heaven. Welcomes I'm the air,
welcomes at the gates, welcomes at the house
! of many mansions-but, no goodby That
group is constantly being augmented They
are going up from our circles OF earth
! TO join it-littls voices to join the
anthem-little hands TO take hold in
the great home circle-ltte feet TO dance in
the eternal glee, little crowns to be cast down
/ before the feet OF Jesus. Our friends are in
! two groups-a group this side OF the river
and group ON the other side of the river.
| Now there goes one from this TO that, and
another from this to that, and soon we will
| all be- gone forever. How many of your
| loved ones have already entered upon that
blessed placei IL | should take paper and
/ pencil, do you think L could put them all
downf All, my friends, the waves of Jordan
roar so hoarsely, we cannot hear the Joy on tho
other side when that group is augmented. IL
/ Is graves here, and collins and hearSes here.
! little childs mother had died. and they
comiorted her They said: Your mother
has gone TO heaVcn-don't cry and the next
| day they went 20 tho graveyard and they
| laid the body of the mother down into
| the ground; and the little ghl came up
/ to the verge OF the grave, and, look
| us this heavenF Oh, we have no idea what
heaven is. 1t is the grave here-it is dark
ness here-but there Is merTymaking yonder.
Methinks when soul arrives some angel
/ takes 1t around TO show 10 the wonders of
/ that blessed place. The usher angel says TO
/ the newly arrived: "These are the martyrs
\ that persisted at Piedmont: these were torn
TO pieces at the Inquisition; this is the throne
| OF the great Jehovah; this is Jesus.n 81
am going to SEQ Jesus" said dying
| boy; II am going TO see Jesus" The mis-
| sionery said "You are sure you will see
HimP "Oh! yes; that's what IwaRt 10 go to
! heaven for But said the missionary,
suppose Jesus should go away from heaven
| what thenT 81 should follow Him. said
the dying boy. But if Jesus went down to
hell-Nrhat thenT" The dying boy thought
/ Tor moment, and then said: "Where Jesus
Is there can be no hell" Oh! to stand i'm His
! presencel That will be heavenl Obi to put
our hand in that hand which was wounded
] for us on the cross-to go around amid the
/ groups of the redeemed, and shake hands
with the prophets, and apostles, and martyrs.
aud with our own dear, beloved ones That
! VIII be the great reunion we cannot imagine
\ IT now, our loved ones seem so far away
| w ben we are in trouble AMI lonesome they
| don't seem TO come to us. We go on the banks
OK the Jordan and call across to them, but
they don't seem to hear. We say: ''Is it well
with the childi Is it well with the loved onesln
and we listen to hear il any voice comes back
over the water. NOnel nonel Unbelief says:
''Ihey are dead, and they are annihilated;"
/ but blessed be God, we have a Bible that
! tells us different. We open it and we find
| they are neither dead nor annihlated-that
/ they never were so much alive as now-that
\ they are only waiting for our coming, and
/ that we Will join them on the other side of
the river. Oh, glorious reunion! we cannot
! grasp 1T now. Eye hath not seen, nor car
/ heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for
them that love him. Oh, what a place of
| explanation it will bel
SEQ every day profound mysteries of
! Providence. There is no question we ask
ottener than Whyl There are hundreds of
| graves in Greenwood and Laurel Hill that
| need to be explained. Hospitals for the
blind and lame, asylums for the idiotic and
! Insane, almshOuses for the destitute and n
/ world OF pain and misfortune that demand
more than human solution Ali God will
/ clear 1t all up. In the light that comes from
the throne no dark mystery can live. Things
/ now utterly inscrutable will be illuminated rs
plainly as though the answer were written
on the Jasper wall, or sounded in the temple
| anthem Bartimeus viii thank God that nc
I was blind; and Lazarus that he was covered
! with sores; and Joseph, that he was cast into
I the pic; and Daniel, that he denue1 with the
] lions; and Paul, that no was humpba ,ked.
/ and David that LA was driven from Jerusa
lem; and that invalid. that for twenty years
he could not Itft his head from the pillow.
/ and that widow that she had such hard ork
\ TO earn bread for her children. The song
will be all the grandeT for earth's weeping
\ eyes and aching heads, and exhausted hands,
/ and scourged backs, and martyred ngonIes.
] But we can get no idea OF the anthem here.
/ We appreciate the power Of secular music,
/ but do we appreciate the power OF sacred
sOngf There Is nothing more inspiriting 20
mo than a whole congregation lifted on
tho wave Of holy melody. When we
| sing some Of those dear old psalms and
| tunes they rouse all the memories Of the
/ past Why, some Of them were cradle songs
IN our fathers house. They are all sparkling
with the morning dew Of thousand Chris
tan babbaths. They were sung by brothers
| and sisters gone now-by voices Tnat were
I aged and broken in the music voices none
| the less sweet because they did tremble and
/ freak. When j hear these old songs sung 10
/ seems as N all the old country meeting homes
/ Joined In tho chorus and city church and
/ sailors' bethel and western cabin until tho
/ whole continent lifts the doxology and the
! scepter8 Of eternity beat tine TO the music
| Away, then, with your staryeling tunes that
| chill the devOtiOns Of the sanctuary and
make the people sit silent when Jesus
is marching on b victory. When generals
I come back from victorious wars don't we
cheer them and shout iiuzla huzzaw and
I when Jesus passes along In The conquest ~
the earth. shall we not have for him On3 loud,
f. ringing cheerf
Al hail the power o. Jesus namoi
let angels PROSTATE flll,