The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1892-06-22

y
heavenly place? You ask me thou
sand questions about it that / cannot
answer. l ask you thousand questions
about it that you cannot answer. And
do you wonder that Paul was so glad
when martyrdom gave him a chance to
go over and make discoveries in that
blessed country?
I hope some day by the grace OF God,
to go over and see for myself; but not
now. No well man, no prospered man,
I think, wants to go now. But the time
will come, think, when l shall go over.
l want to see what they do there, and /
want to see how they do 1t. do not
want to be looking through the gates
ajar forever. want them to swing
wide open. There are ten thousand
things l want explained-about you,
about myself, about the government OF
this world, about God, about every
thing. We start in plain path OF what
we know, and in minute come up
against high wall of what we do not
know. Iwonder how 1t looks over there.
Somebody tells me it is like paved city
paved with gold; and another man
tels me it is like fountain, and 1t is
like tree, and it is like triumphal
procession; and the next man / meet
tells me it is all figurative. really
want to know, after the body is resur-
rected, what they wear and what they
eat: and have an immeasurable curl
osity to know what it is, and how 1t is,
and where 1t is Columbus risked his
life to find this continent, and shall
we shudder to go out on voyage OF
discovery which shall reveal vaster
and more brilliant country? John
Franklin risked his life to find pas
sage between icebergs, and shall we
dread to find passage to eternal sum-
mer? Men in Switzerland travel upthe
heights of the Matterhorn with alpen-
stock, and guides, and rockets, and
ropes, and, getting halfway up, stumble
and fall down in horrible massacre.
They just wanted to say they had been
on the tops of those high peaks And
shall we fear to go out for the ascent Of
the eternal hills which start thousand
miles beyond where stop the highest
peaks of the Alps, when in that ascent
there is no peril2 A man doomed to die
stepped on the scaffold, and said in Joy,
"Now, in ten minutes will
know the great secret" One
minute after the vital functions
ceased. The little child that died last
night knew more than Jonathan Ed
wards, or st. Paul himself, before he
died. Friends, the exit from this world,
or death, II you please to call 1t, to
the Christian is glorious explanation.
1t Is demonstration. It is illumi-
nation. 1t Is sunburst. 1t is the
opening Of all the windows. 1t is shut
ting up the catechism Of doubt, and the
unrolling of all the scrolls of
positive and accurate information.
Instead of standing at the foot
OF the ladder and looking up 1t Is
standing at the top Of the ladder and
looking down. 1t is the last mystery
taken out Of botany, and geology, and
astronomy, and theology. o, will it not
be grand to have all questions an
swered2 The perpetually recurring in
terrogation point changed for the mark
of exclamation. All riddles solved. Who
will fear TO go out on that discovery
when all the questions are to be decided
which we have been discussing all our
lives? Who shall not clap his hands in
anticipation of that blessed country II 1t
be no better than through holy curios-
ity crying, "The time Of my departure
Is at hand2"
Iremarlt, again, we ought TO have the
Joy Of the text, because, leaving this
world, we move into the best society of
the universe. You see a great crowd of
people in some street, and you say,
"Who is passing there? What general
what prince is going up there?" Well,
/ see a great throng in Heaven. | say,
WHO Is the focus of all that admira-
ton? Who is the center Of that glitter
ing company" IL is Jesus, the cham
pion Of all worlds, the favorite of all
ages. Do you know what is the first
question the soul will ask when IL
comes through the gate Of Heaven? /
think the first question will be, "Where
Is Jesus, the Saviour that pardoned my
sin; that carried my sorrows; that
fought my battles; that won my vic
tories?" o radiant One! how would
like TO see Thee Thou Of the manger,
but without its humiliations; Thou Of
the cross, but without its pangs; Thou
Of the grave, but without its darkness
The Bible intimates that we will talk
with Jesus in Heaven just as brother
talks with brother. Now. what will
you ask him frst2 do not know. /
can think what would ask Paul first
II saw him in Heaven. think |
would like TO hear him describe the
storm that came upon the ship when
there were two hundred and seventy-hve
souls on the vessel, Paul being the only
man on board cool enough TO describe
the storm. There is fascination about
q ship and the sea that l shall never get
over, and think would like TO hear
him talk about that first. But when /
meet my Lord Jesus Christ, of what
shall first delight to hear Him speak2
Now I think what IL Is shall first
want 10 hear the tragedy Of His last
hours; and then Luke's account of the
crucifxion, and Marks account of the
crucifxion, and Johns account of the
crucifxion will be nothing, while from
the living lips Of Christ the story shall
be told Of the gloom that fell, and the
devils that arose, and the fact that upon
his endurance depended the rescue Of
race; and there was darkness In the