The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1889-12-12
ill la monrninr. rnnnrninr. mourning,

i wal 10 hASAA %
because Dorcas is dead. blessed are
the dead who die in the Lord; they rest
from their labors, and their works do
| follow them"
| speak to you OF Dorcas, the resur-
rected. The apostle came to where she
was, and said: "Arise; and she sat upl'
In what a short compass the great writer
put that-"She sat upi" Oh, what a
time there must have been around this
town, when the apostle brought her out
among her old friends! How the tears OF
Joy must have started What clapping OF
hands there must have been! What sing.
ing! Whatlaughter! Sound 1t all through
that lanel Shout it down that dark alleyl
Let all Joppa hear 1t! Dorcas 10 resur'
rected!
You and have seen the same thing
many time; not dead body resusci-
tated, but the deceased coming up again
after death in the good accomplished.
If a man labors up to fifty years of age,
serving God, and then dies, we are apt
to think that his earthly work is done.
No. His influence on earth will con-
tinue till the world ceases. Services
IChuCItu lOE NyllIlob HCNCI sup. n ShAlo-
tian woman tolls for the upbuilding of a
church through many anxieties, through
many self-denials, with prayers and
tears, and then she dies. 1t is fifteen
years since she went away. Now the
spirit of God descends upon that church:
hundreds of souls stand up and confess
the faith of Christ. Has that Christian
woman, who won't away fifteen years
ago, nothing to do with these things? ]
see the towering out of her noble heart
l hear the echo of her footsteps in all
the songs over sins forgiven, in all the
prosperity OF tho church. The good
that seemed to Re buried has come up
again. Dorcas is resurrected.
After awhile all these womanly friends
of Christ will put down their needle for
ever. After making garments for 9th
ers, some one will make garment for
them; the last robe we ever wear-the
robe for the grave. You will have heard
the last cry of pain. You will have wit
messed the last orphanage. You will
have come in worn out from your last
round of mercy. l do not know where
you will sleep, nor what your epitaph
will be, but there will be lamp burn
ing at that tomb and an angel of God
guarding it, and through all the long
night no rude foot will disturb the dust.
Sleep on, sleep on! Soft bed, pleasant
shadows, undisturbod reposc! Sleep on!
Asleep in Jesusl Blessed sleep!
From which none ever wake to weep.
Then one day there will be a sky rend-
ipO an6 u,b ri If rybaa1S and tho fla
of pageant; armies marching, chains
clanking, banners waving, thundcrs
booming, and that Christian woman will
arise from the dust, and she will be sud-
denly urrounded-surrounded by the
wanderers of the street whom she re-
claimed, surrounded by the wounded
souls to whom she had administered!
Daughter of God, so strangely surround
ed, what means this? 1t means that re-
ward has come, that the victory is won,
that the crown is ready, that the ban.
quet is spread. Shout it through all the
crumbling earth. Sing it through all
the flying heavens. Dorcas is resur.
rected!
In 1855, when some of the soldiers
came back from the Crimean war to
London, the Queen of England distrib
uted among them beautiful medals,
called Crimean medals. Galleries were
erected for the two houses of Parliament
and the royal family to sit in. There
was great audience to witness the dis
tribution of the medals. A Colonel who
had lost both feet in the battle of Inker-
man was pulled in on a wheel chair;
others came in limping on their
crutches. Then the Queen of England
arose before them in the name of her
government, and uttered words of COM
mendation to the officers and men,
and distributed these medals, in
scribed with the four great battlefelds
Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman and Sebas-
topol. AS the Queen gave these to the
wounded men and the wounded officers,
the bands of music struck up the nation.
al air, and the people, with streaming
eyes, joined in the song:
God save our gracious Queeni
Long live our noble Queshl
God save the Queen!
And then they shouted "IIuzza! huz
"a" Oh, it was a proud day for those
returned warriors! But brighter, bet
ter and gladden. day will come when
Christ shall gather those who have
toiled in His service, good soldiers OF
Jesus Christ. He shall rise before them,
and in the presence of all the glorified
of Heaven He will say: "Well done,
good and faithful servant" and then Hs
will distribute the medals Of eternal
victory, not inscribed with works OF
righteousness which we have done, but
with those four great battle-feids, dear
to earth and dear to Heaven--Bethle-
heml Nazareth! Gethsemane! Calvary