The Opelousas courier., 1890-09-13

WI death come, and with a sharp, keen
elade new away this faculty of menoryf
ksraham said to Dives: sfSon, remember
the exiled and lost remember will not the
nthroned remember?
o know very we'll that our Joy in any
circumstance is augmented by the compan-
onship OF our friends. Wecannot see a pic
ure with less than four eyes or hear a song
With less than four ears. We want come one
Deside us with whom to exchange glanees
and kympathies. and / suppose the joy OF
heaven is to be augmented by the fact that
we are to have our friends with us when
here rise bsfore us the thrones Of the
blessed, and when there surges up in our ears
the jtbilate Of the saved. Heaven is not a
contraction: iii an expansion. II I know
you here | will know you better there Here
isee yctt VITA only two eyes, but there the
soul shall have a million eyes. It will be i'm
mortality gazing on Immortality, ransomed
spirit in colloquy with ransomed spirit, victor
beside victor. When John Evans, the Scotch
minister, was seated In his study his wife
came in and said to him: MY dear, do you
think we will know each other in heaven?'
He turned to her and said: ssMy dear, do you
think we will be bigger foolish heaven than
we are here?'
Again / accept this doctrine Of future re-
GOEAAuNCn DCS&HOS O8O . OARCNbShfNJ 1I
firms it. In all lands and ages this theory Is
received. What form of religion planted it?
No form Of religion, for it is received under
all forms Of religion. Then, Iargue. a senti-
ment, q feeling, an anticipation, universally
planted, must have been God implanted, and
If God implanted it is rightfully implanted.
Socrates writes: who would not part with
a great deal TO purchase o meeting with Or
pbeus and Homerf If it be true that this is
to tte tthAe consequences of death | could even
be able to die often"
cicero, living before Christ's coming, said:
s.Oh, glorious day when I shall retire from this
,ow and sordid scene to associate with the
divine assemblage Of departed spirits, and
not only with the one | have just now men
5ioned, but with my dear Cato, the best of
sons and the most faithful Of men. II |
seemed TO bear his death with fortitude it
was by no means that I did not most sensibly
feel the loss I had sustained. ft was BECAUSE
| was supported by the consoiing reflection
that we could not long be separated"
The Norwegian believes it. The Indian
believes it. The Greenlander believes it.
The Swiss believesit it. The. Turk believes it.
Under every sky, by every river, In every
principle universally implanted must be God
implanted, and hence q right belief. The ar
gument is irresistible.
Again I adopt this theory because there
are features of moral temperament and feat
nres of the soul that will distinguish US for
ever. How do we know each other in this
worldp Is it merely by the color Of the eye,
or the length of the hair, or the facial pro
portions? Oh, no. It is by the disposition
as well, by natural affinity, using the WORD
In the very best sense and not In the bad
sense. and IL in the dust our body should
perish. and lie there forever, mi there should
be no resurrection, still the soul has enough
features and the disposition has enough feat
ures to make us -distinguishable. | can UNI
derstand how in sickness q man will become
so delirious that ne will not know his own
friends; but viii we DO blasted with such in
siderable idiocy that, standing beside our
best friends for all eternity, we will
guess who they are?
Again, [ think tina OBJ reason why we
ought to accept this doct1 pc is because We
never in this world have an opportunity to
give thanks to those to whom we are spir-
itiaily indebted. The joy OF heaven, we are
told. liz to be ihat1gnrated by q review OF
Hfe,s work. These Christian men and women
who have been telling for Christ, have they
seen the full result of their work? Oh. no.
In the church Of Somerville. n. j., John
V~redenburgh preached for a great many
wears. He felt that his ministry was a fail
IRE, although he was a faithful minister,
preaching The Gospel all the time. He died,
and died amid Heterogeneous, and went
home to God; for no one ever doubted that
John Vredenburgh was a good Christian
minister. A little while after his death
there came a great aw akening In Somers
vile, and one Sabbath two hundred souls
stood up at the Christian altar espousing the
cause OF Christ. among them my W father
and mother. And what was peculiar IN re-
gard to nearly all of those two hundred
-.1. --z. AZ IL - l~%,z <1as. rrala~ioryS Sr
pressions from the ministry of John Vreden-
burgh. VIII that good Christian man be-
fore the throne OF God never meet those
souls b~ropabf0Ao Christ through his instru.
~meptakB has rSof course he viii know them.
sssm ia OpefSSaSabbath afternoon, borne
doWnassss of my sins, and know
ana Progress Oh. what . dark afternoon
it was, and I read the chapters, and ! read
the prayers, and / tried to make the prayers
my own. Oh, I must see Philip Doddridge.
A glorious old book he wrote. 1t is out OF
fashion now.
There is q mother before the throne of
God. You say her Joy Ii full. II iti Won
say there can be no augmentation OF it, Cam
not there be7 Her son was . wanderer anda
yagab0nd IN the earth when that good
mother died. He broke her old heart. She
died leaving him in the wilderness OF sin.
She is before the throne OF God now. Years
pass and that son Fepents OF his crimes and
gives his heart to God and becomes D useful
Christian, and dilA and enters the gates OF
heaven. You tell me that that mothers JOY
cannot be augmented? Let them confront
each other. The son and the mother. sOh,
she says to the angles of God, rejoice with
me. The dead Is alive again, and the lost u
found. HaiIeIuiah! 4 never expected TO ses
this lost one come back The Bible says ma
tions are TO be born in q day. When China
comes to God will it not know DR.. Abeelf
When India comes will it not know DR.. John
Scuddera When the Indians come to God
viii they not know David Brainardf
see 4 soul entering heaven at last. with
covered face at the idea that il has done go
little for Christ and feeling borne down with
anworthiness. and it say to itself, II have
no right to be here A voice from the
throne says: ssOh, you forget that Sunday
school class You invited to Christ. 4 was one
Of thsn.s And another voice says; You
forget that poor man 10 whom Jon gave Q
loaf of bread and tolaof the heavenly bread.
was that mani And another Says sYou
forget that sick one to wsam you gaye raedi-
cine for the body and theapnl. I was that
one And then ahTift g = throne over
topping all the rest, Wy e~Inasnnuch as
We did it to one of the least OF these you aid
It to Me- And then the seraphs viii tase
| their harps from the side Of the throne and
CRY: What song shall ii besn And Christ,
| bending over the haFpsra shall Eays I'D
| shall be the sHarrest H0rne.in
one more reason why / am disposed 10 &C
cent this doctrine OF future recognition is
that SO many In their last q on earth
have confirmed this theory. I speak notof
moment and knew not what they were about,
out OF persons who died In calmness and
lacidity and who we're not naturally super
titious, Often the glories of heaven have