The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-11-13

tlllllk tllat JOIlll must nave ldllen Dack
Into his cavern, nerveless and exhaust,
ed, Too much was ii for naked eye to
look at, Too much was it for human
strength to experience,
OPEN THE GATES,
My friends, would not wonder
ii you should have very similar
vision after awhile, You will be
through this world, its cares and IA
tigues and struggles, and if you have
served the Lord and have done the
best you could, | should not wonder if
your dying bed were Patmos, 1t
often has been so. | was reading of
dying boy who, while the family stood
round sorrowfully expecting each breath
would be the last, cried; "Open the
gates! Open the gates! Happy Hap
Ply Happy"
John Owen in his last hour said to
his attendant, "Oh, Brother Payne,
the long wished for day is come at
last" Rutherford, in the closing mo-
ment of his life, cried out: 81 shall
shine, shall see him as he is, and all
the fair company with him, and shall
have my large share, have gotten
the victory, Christ is holding forth
his arms to embrace me, Now feel
Now | enjoy! Now rejoice! | feed
on mamma. have angels food, My
eyes will see my Redeemer. Glory,
glory dwelleth in lmluanuel's land"
Yes, ten thousand times in the his
tory of the world has the dying bed
-heen made u Patmos. You see the
time will come when you will, oh, child
of God, be exiled to your last sickness
as much as John was exiled to Patmos
You will go into your room not to
come out again, for God is going to do
something better and grander and hap
pier for you than he has ever yet done
There will be such visions let down to
your pillow as God gives no man if he
Is ever to return to this tame world.
The apparent feeling of uneasiness and
restlessness at the time of the Chris
tian's departure, the physicians say, is
caused by no real distress.
1t is an unconscious and involuntary
movement, and | think in many eases
it is the vision of heavenly gladness too
great for mortal endurance. 1t is only
heaven breaking in on the departing
spirit. You see your work will be done
and the time for your departure will be
at hand, and there will be wings over
you and wings under you and songs let
loose on the air, and your old father
and mother gone for years will descend
into the room, and your little children
whom You put away for the last sleep
years ago will be at your side and their
kiss will be on your foreheads, and you
will see gardens in full bloom, and the
swinging open of shining gates, and viii
hear voices long ago hushed.
In many a Christian departure that
you have known and | have known
there was in The phraseo!ogy of the de-
parting ones something that indicated
the reappearance Of those long de
teased 1t is no delirium, no delusion,
but a supernal fact Your glorified
loved ones will hear that you are about
to come, and they will say in heaven;
MAY | go down to show that soul the
way up2 May be the celestial escort?
May | wait for that soul at the edge Of
the pillow" And the Lord will say
Eyes. You may fly down on that mis-
cio, ~ And | tl,i,Ily oil f,lnrifiaI
kindred will come down, and they will
be in the room, and although those in
health standing around you may hear
no voice and see no arrival from the
heavenly world, you will see and hear,
And the moment the fleshly bond of
the soul shall break, the cry will be:
''Follow mel Up this way! By this
gilded cloud past these stars, straight
for home, straight for glory, straight
for God" As on that day in the Gre
clan archipelago Patmos began to fade
out of sight, walked to the stern of the
ship that might keep my eye on the
enchantment as long as | could, and
the voice that sounded out Of heaven
to John the exile in the cavern on Pat
mos seemed sounding in the waters
that dashed against the side Of our
ship, "Behold the tabernacle Of God is
with men, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people and God
himself shall be with them and be their
God, and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away