Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-06-30

catacomD5 OF Rome, but In one moment the
air OF heaven bathed from his soul the last
ache. From shipwreck, from dungeon,
from the biting pain Of the elmwood rods,
from the sharp sword OF the headsman, he
goes into the most brilliant assemblage Of
heaven, king among kings, multitudes
Of the sainthood rushing out and stretch
ing forth hands Of welcome, for do really
think that as on the right hand OF God is
Christ, so on the right hand Of Christ is
Paul, the second great in heaven.
HB CHANGED KINGS.
He changed kings likewise. Before the
hour Of death, and up to the last moment,
be was under Nero, the thick necked, the
cruel eyed, the filthy Tipped, the sculptured
features Of that man bringing down to us
to this very day the horrible possibilities
of his nature-seated as he was amid
pictured marbles of Egypt, under roof
adorned with mother-of-pearl, in dining
room which, by machinery, was kept
whirling day and night with most bewitch-
ing magnihcence, his horses standing in
stalls of solid gold, and the grounds around
his palace lighted at night by it's victims,
who had been bedaubed with tar and pitch
and then set on fire to illumine the dark
ness.
That was Paul's king. But the next
moment he goes into the realm of him
whose reign is love, and whose courts are
paved with love, and whose throne is set
on pillars of love, and whose scepter is
adorned with jewels of love, and whose
palace is lighted with love, and whose life
time is an eternity of love. When Paul
was leaving so much on this side the pillar
of martyrdom to gain so much on the other
side, do you wonder at the cheerful vale
dictory of the text, "The timeof my de-
parture is at hand"
Now, why cannot all the old people have
the same holy glee as that aged man had?
Charles /, when he was combing his head,
found a gray hair, and he sent it tothe
queen as great joke, but old age isreally
no joke at all. For the last forty years you
have been dreading that which ought to
have been an -exhilaration. You say you
most fear the struggle at the moment the
soul and body part. But millions have
endured that moment, and may not we as
we'll? They got through with it and SO
can we.
Besides this, all medical men agree in
saying that there is probably no struggle
at the last moment-not so much pain as
the prick of pin, the seeming signs of
distress being altogether involuntary. But
you say, "It is the uncertainty of the fu-
ture." Now, child of God, do not play the
infidel. After God has filled the Bible till
it can hold no more with stories of the
good things ahead, better not talk about
uncertainties.
But you say, II cannot bear to think of
parting from friends here" If you are
old, you have more friends in heaven than
here. Just take the census. Take some
large sheet of paper and begin to record
the names of those who have emigrated to
the other shore; the companions of your
school days, your early business associates,
the friends of midlife and those who more
recently went away. Can it be that they
have been gone SO long you do not care
any more about them, and you do not want
their society? Oh, no. There have been
days when you have felt that you could
not endure another moment away from
their blessed companionship They have
gone, You say you would not like to bring
them back to this world of trouble, even if
you had the power. 1t would not do to
trust you. God would not give you resur.
rection power.
Before tomorrow morning you would be
rattling at the gates of the cemetery, crying
to the departed: "Come back to the cradle
where you sleptl Come back to the hall
where you used to play! Come back to the
table where you used to sitp' And there
would be great burglary in heaven. No
no. God will not trust you with resurrec-
tion power, but he compromises the mat
ter and says, "You cannot bring them
where you are, but you can go where they
are" They are more lovely now than
ever. Were they beautiful here, they are
more beautiful there.
A PLACE OF REMUNERATION.
Besides that, it is more healthy there for
you than here, aged man; better climate
here than these hot summers and cold
winters and late springs; better hearing,
better eyesight; more tonic in the air;
more perfume in the bloom; more sweetness
in the song. Do you not feel, aged man,
sometimes as though you would like to get
your arm and foot free2 Do you not feel
as though you would like to throw away
spectacles and canes and crutches? Would
you not like to feel the spring and elastic,
ity and mirth of an eternal boyhood:
When the point at which you start from
this world is old age, and the point tc
which you go is eternal juvenescence, aged
man, clap your hands at the anticipation,
and say, in perfect rapture of soul, ''The
time of my departure is at hand"
remark again, all those ought to feel
this joy of the text who have holy curios-
ity to know what is beyond this earthly
terminus. And who has not any curiosity
about it? Paul, / suppose, had the most
satisfactory view of heaven, and he says
ut doth not yet appear what we shall be. y
1t is like looking through broken tele
scope snow we see through aglass dark,
ly." Can you tell me anything about that
heavenly place? You ask me Thousand
questions about it that cannot answer
ask you thousand questions about il
that you cannot answer. And do you won
der that Paul was SO glad when martyr
dom 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; butnot now
No we'll man, no prospered mani think
wants to go now. But the time will come
think, when shall go over. want tc
see what they do there, and want to see
how they do it. do not want to be look
ing through the gates ajar forever. want
them to swing wide open There are ter
Thousand things want explained-about
you about myself. about the government
of this world, about God, about everything
We start in plain path of what We
know, and in a minute come up against 8
high wall of what we do not know. Iwon
der how it looks over there. Somebody
tells me it is like paved city paved witt
gold; and another man tells me it is like 4
fountain, and it is like tree, and it is like
triumphal procession; and the next mar
Iiueet tells nett is all fgurative, really
want to know. after the body is resurrect
ed, what they wear and what they cat, and
/ have an Unreasonable curiosity to know
what it is, and how it is, and where it is.
Columbus risked his life to find this con-