Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-12-04

Begins to expect disasters. Others wait fo
something to turn up; he waits for it 1
turn down. Others, with only half as mucl
education and character, get on twice a
well. He sometimes guesscs as to what |
all meane. He says: "Perhaps richie
would spoil me. Perhaps poverty is neces
sary to keep me humble. Perhaps might
if things were otherwise, be tempted int
dissipation" But there is no complete sol
ution of the mystery. He sees through .
glass darkly, and must wait for higher
unfolding. Will there be an explanation
Yes; God will take u at man in the light o.
the throne and say: "Child immortal, heal
the explanation! You remember the fail
ing OF that great enterprise. This is the
explanation" And you will answer: "It
is all rightl'
l see, every day, profound mysteries Of
Providence. There is no question We ask
oftener than Why? There are hundreds O,
graves that need to be explained. Hospital,
for the blind and lame asylums for the
idiotic and insane, almshouses for the de.
stitute and world of pain and misfortune
that demand more than human solution.
Ah! God will clear it all up. 10 the light
that pours from the throne no dark my
stery can live. Things now utterly inscrut.
able will bs illumined as plainly as though
the answer were written on the Jasper wall
or sounded in the temple anthem. Barti.
meus will thank God that he was blind: and
Lazarus that he was covered with sores;
aud Jos ph that he was cast into the pit;
and Daniel that he denned with lions: and
Paul that he was humpbacked; and David
that he was driven from Jerusalem; and the
sewing woman that she could get only a
few pence for making garment; aud that
invalid that for twenty years he could not
lift his head from the pillow; and that wild
ow that she bad such hard work to earn
bread for her children. You know that in
song different voices carry different parts.
The sweet and overwhelming part of the
halleluj ah of heaven will not be carried by
those who rode in high places. end gave
sumptuous entertainments; but pauper chi,-
dren will sing it, beggars will sing it, re-
deemed hod-carriers will sing it, those who
were once the offscouring of earth will sing
1t. The hallelujah will be al the grander
for earth's weeping eyes, and aching heads,
and exhausted hands, and scourged backs,
and martyred agonies.
Again: "The thought of my texts is true
when applied to the enjoyment of tho right.
eous in heaven. I think we have but little
idea of the number of the righteous in heav-
en-. Infdels say: "Your heaven will be a
very small place compared with the world
of the lost; for, according to your teaching.
the majority of men will be destroyed" l
deny the charge. suppose that the mul
titude of the finally lost, as compared with
the multitude of the finally saved. will be
handful. suppose that the few sick peo-
pic in the hospitals of our great cities, as
compared with the hundreds of thousands
of well people, would not be smaller than
the number of those who shall be cast out
in suffering, compared with those who shall
have upon them the health of heaven. For
we are to remember that we are living in
only the beginning of the Christian dispen-
sation, and that this whole world is to be
populated and redeemed, and that ages of
light and love are to flow on. If this be
40, the multitudes of the saved will be in
vast majority. =, Take all the congregations
that have assembled for worship through
out Christendom. Put them together, and
they would make but a small audience com
pared with the thousands and tens of thou
sands, and ten thousand times ten thou.
sand, and the hundred and forty and four
that shall stand around tie
throne. Those flashed up to heaven 10
martyr fires; those tossed for many years
upon the invalid couch; those fought in the
armies of liberty, and rose as they fell;
those tumbled from high scaffoldipgs, or
slipped from the mast, or were washed off
into the sea. They came mp from Corinth,
from Lsodicea, from the Red Sea bank and
GeDnesarst's wave, from Egyptian brick
yards and Gideon's threshiug floor. Those
thousands of years ago slspt tho last sleep,
and these are this moment having their
eyes closed, and their limbs stretched out
for the sepulcher. A general expecting an
attack from the enemy stands on hill and
looks through f1eld-glass a3d sees in the
great distance multitudes approaching, but
has no idea of their numbers He says: 81
tell anything about them. I merely
k k1Ow that there are great number" Aud
so John, without attempting to count, says:
ga great multitude that no man can mum
ber." We are told that heaven is a place
Of happiness; but what do we know about
Happiness in this world is only
a half-hedged thing; a f1owery path, with a
serpent kissing across it; a broken pitcher,
from which the water has dropped before
we could drink it; thrill of exhilaration,
by disastrous reactions. To help
US understand the joy of heaven, the Bible
takes Us to river. We stand on the grassy
bank. We see the waters flow on with
Wdfcs DuG lilo ulLu VI Ju0 Cttico
s emptied into it, and the banks are torn,
aud unhealthy exhalstions spring UP from
it, and we fail to get an idea of the River
Of Life in heaven.
We get very imperfect ideas of the re-
unions of heaven. We think of some fessal
day On earth when father and mother were
yet living, and the children came home. a
good time, thatl But it had this drawback
all were not there. The brother went off
to sea and never was heard from. That
sister did we not lay her away in the
freshness of her young life, never more in
this world to look upon herr All! there was
a skeleton at the feast; and tears mingled
with our laughter on that Christmas day.
Not SO with heavens reunions 1t will be
an uninterrupted gladness. Many Chris
tian parent will look around and fnd all his
children there. ''Ahp' he says, "can it be
possible that we are all hers-life's perils
over? the Jordan passed and not one want
ing2 Why, even the prodigal is here. al
most gave him up. How long he despised
my counsels! but grace hath triumphed. All
here! All herel Tell the mighty Joy
through the city. Let the bslls ring and
the angels mention it in their song. Wave
it from the top OF the walls. All herer'
No moro breaking of heartstIings, bat
faos to face. The orphans that were lef5
poor, aud in meroilsss world, kicked enG
cuffed of many hardships, shall join their
parants over whose graves they so long
weps, and gaze into their gloriied couute-
nances forever, face to face. We may come
pp from different parts Of the world, one
from the land and another from the depths
of the sea; from liVss affluen5 and prosper
oue, or from scenes of ragged distress; but
We shall all meet In rapture aud jubilee,
face to face.
Many of our friends have entered upon
that joy. A few days ago they sat with US
studying these Gospel themes; but they
ouly saw dimly-now revelation hath como.
Your time will also come. God will not
leave yon floundering in the darkness. You
stand wonderstruck and amazed. You feel
SIS if all the loveliness of life were dashed
out. You stand gazing into the open chasm
OF the grave. Wait little. In the pres.
ence of your departed and of him who car
ries them in his bosom,yo shall soou stand
face to. Oh! that our last hour may kindle
up with this promised joy! May we be able