Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-02-22

yards, we may die sailors death. On
mission of mercy in hospital, amid broken
bones and reeking leprosies and raging
fevers. we may die philanthropist's death
On the field Of battle, serving. God and our
country, slugs through the heart, the gun
carriage may roll over us, and we may die a
patriots death. But, after all, there are
only two styles of departure-the death of
the righteous and the death of the wicked
and we all want to die the former.
God grant that when that hour comes you
may be at home. You want the hand Of
your kindred in your hand. You want your
children to surround you You want the
light on your pillow from eyes that have
long reflected your love. You want the
room STILL You do not want any curious
strangers standing around watching you
You want your kindred from afar to hear
your last prayer. / think that is the wish OF
all of us But is that alp Can earthly
friends hold us up when the pillows
of death come up to the girdle? Can
human voice charm open heavens
gates Can human hand pilot us
through the narrows of death into
heavens harbor? Can any earthly friend
ship shield us from the arrows of DEATH and
in the hour when Satan shall practice upon
us his Internal archery No, no, no. mol
Alas Poor SOUL if that is all. Better die in
the wilderness, Ear from tree shadow and
from fountain, alone, vulture5 circling
through the air waiting for our body, I'M
known to men, and to have no burial if only
Christ could say through the solitudes: II
will never leave thee, will never forsake
thee From that pillow of stone ladder
would soar heavenward, angels coming and
going; and across the solitude and the bar
Tenness would come the sweet notes of heay
emily minstrelsy.
Gordon Hall, far from home, dying in the
door Of heather temple said: GLORY to
thee 0 Godp What did dying Wilberforce
say to his wife? "Come and sit beside me,
and let us talk of heaven. l never knew
what happiness was until ! found Christ"
What did dying Hannah More say "To go
to heaven, think what that is! To go to
Christ, who died that l might live Oh,
glorious gravel Oh, what glorious thing it
is to die? Oh, the love of Christ the love OF
Christi What did Mr.. Toplady, the great
hymnmaker, say in his last hour? "Who can
measure the depths of the third heaven? Oh,
the sunshine that fills my soul | shall soon
be gone for surely no one can live i'll this
world after such glories as God has mani
tested to my soul"
What did the dying Janeway say? II can
as easily die ms close my eyes or turn my
head in sleep Before few hours have passed
[ shall stand on Mount Zion with the one
hundred and forty and four thousand and
with the just men made perfect and we
shall ascribe riches, and homer, and glory,
and majesty, and dominion unto God and
the Lambn Dr. Taylor, condemned to burn
at the stake, on his way thither broke away
from the guardsmen aud went bounding and
leaping and jumping toward the fire, glad to
90 to Jesus and to die for Him Sir Charles
Hare, in last moment, had such rapturous
vision that he cried up
ward upward, upwardw And SO
great was the peace of one of
Chrst's disciples that he put his
fingers upon the pulse i'll his wrist and
eouuted it and obsei vea il; and so great was
his placidity that after a while he said:
''6toppedm and his life had ended here to
begin in heaven. But grander than that was
the testimony of the worn out first mis-
sionary, when, in the Mamartine dungeon,
he cried: Il am NV ready to be offered AMI
the time Of my departure is at hand, have
fought the good fight [ have finished my
course | have kept the faith; henceforth
there is laid up for me crown of righteous
ness, which the Lord. the righteous Judge,
viii give me in that day, and not to me
only, but to all them that love His appear
ingp Do you not see that Christ is above
oil in dying alleyiations?
Toward the last hour of our earthly resi-
dence we are speeding. When see the sun
set, say: Zone day less to live When |
I
other season gone forever" When | close
this Bible on Sabbath night, 1 say: "An-
other Sabbath departed" When | bury
friend, l say; another earthly attraction
gone forever" What nimble feet the years
have The roebucks and the ligh Things run
not so fast. From decade to decade, from
sky TO sky, they go at bound. There is a
place for us, whether marked or not,
whore you and | will sleep the last
glaan and the m livi,1nr
who will with solemn trade, carry us to our
resting place. Ay, it is known in heaven
whether our departure will be coronation
or a Punishment.
Brighter than banquating hall through
which the light feet OF the dancers go up and
down to the sound Of trumpaters will be the
sepulcher through whose riffs tho holy light
lie will send His angels TO guard your slunl-
boring ground, until, at Christs behsst, they
shall roll away the stone.
So, also Christ is above all in heaven. The
Bible distinctly says that Christ is the chief
theme or the celestial ascIiption, all the
thrones facing His throne, all the palms
waved before His face. all the crowns down
at His feet. Cherubinl TO cherubim. sera-
phim to seraphim, redeemed spirit TO re-
deemed spirit, shall recite the Sayiour's eartli-
ly sacrifice.
Gtsnl on some his,, hill of heaven and in
all the ia liant sweep the most glorious OBJ
iect shall BE- Jesus. Myria1s gazing on the
scars of His suffering, in silence first, after
ward breaking forth into reclamation The
martyrs, all the purer for the fame through
which they passed will say: "1'his is Jesus,
for whom we died" The apostles, all the
happier for the shipwrecll and the scourging
through which they went, will say: "rhis
is the Jesus whom we preached at Corinth,
aud at Cappadocia, and at Antioch, and at
Jerusalem" Little children clad in white
will say: "This is the Jesus who took MS in
Ills arms and blessed us, and when the
storms of the world were too cold and loud.
brought us into this beautiful place. The
muitltudes of the bereft will say: ''This is
the Jesus who comlortcl us when our heart
broke" Many who wandered clear off from
Tod and plunged into vagabondism, but
were saved by grace, will say: This is the
Jesus who parioned us. We wore lost on
the mountains, and He brought us home,
We were guilty, and He has made us white
as snow" Mercy boundless, grace unparaI-
leled And then after each one has recited
his peculiar deliveranceS and peculiar mer-
cies recited them as by solo, all the voices
VIII come together into great chorus.
which will make the arches echo aud re-echo
with the eternal reverberation Of gladness
and peace and triumph
Edward l was so anxious to go to the Holy
Land that when he was about TO expire he
bequeathed $4,000 to have his heart after
his decease, taken to the Holy Land in Asia
Minor, and his request was compile with.
But there are hundreds today whose hearts
nre already in the Holy Land Of heaven
Where your treasures are, there are your
hearts also. Quaint john Bunyan, of whom
| spoke at the opening OF the dis
course, caught glimpse of that
place, and in his quaint way
he said: "And heard in my dream, and
10! the bells Of the city rang again for joy:
and as they opened the gates TO let in the
men looked in after them, and 10 the city
sFone like the sun, and there were streets OF
gold, and men walked on them, harps in their
hands, to sing praises witha: and after that
they shut up the gates, which when l had
seen wished myself among themw
WORK AND WORKERS.