Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-03-24

an awful thing to make shipwrecks on the
rock OF ruin-masts falling. hurricanes
nying, death coming. groanings in the
the sky, while God, with the finger Of light
ming, writes all over the sky, 81 will tread
them in Ny wrath, and | will trampls them
In My fury"
The Christian comes down to this raging
| torrent and he knows he must pass out. and
as he comes toward the time bis breath gets
shorter, and his last breath leaves him as he
steps into the stream, and no sooner does he
touch the stream than it Is parted, and he
goes through dry shod, while all the waters
wave their plumes, crying: 20 death, where
is thy sting, o grave, where is thy victoryi"
God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes, and there shall be no more weeping,
and there shall be no more death.
Some of your children have already gone
up the other bank. You let them down on
this side OF the bank; they will be on the
ural strength. The other morning at my
table, all my family present l thought to
myself how pleasant it would be IL | could
put all in a boat and then go in with them,
and we could pull across the river to the
next world and be there altogether. No
family parting, no gloomy obsequies 1t
wouldn't take Ave minutes to go from bank
W Dduk, auu tu6u III IudJ DStDtT WOIlu 70 10
together forever. Wouldn't it be pleasant
for you to take all your family into that
blessed country If you could all go togetherp
remember my mother in her dying hour
said to my father, "Father, wouldn't 1t be
pleasant IL we could all go togsthery But
we cannot all 60 together. We must 60 one
by one, and we must be grateful IL we get
there at all. What a heaven it will be if
we have all our families there to look
nd and all tho ~h itdran y,roaoptI
You would rather have them all th ere, and
you 60 with bare brow forever. than that
one should be missing to complete the gar
lands Of heaven for your coronal The Lord
God Of Joshua gave them a safe Jordanio
passage.
Even children will go through dry shod.
Those Of US who were brought up In the
coming on In our boyhood dayS We always
longed for the day whAn We were to go
barefooted, and after teasing our mothers
in regard TO 1t for . good while, and they
consented, We remember the delicious sousa-
ton OF the cool grass when we put our un.
covered foot on 1t.
And the time will come whsn these shoes
we wear now, lest We be cut OF the sharp
r.aces Of this world, shall be taken OF, and
with unsandied foot we will step into the
bed OF the river; with feet untrammeled,
free from pain and fatigue, We will gain
that last journey, when, with ono foot in
the bed OF the river and the other foot on
the other bank, we struggle upward. That
will be heaven. Oh. pray for all my dear
people a safe Jordanic passagei That In
what the dying Christian husband felt when
he said: "How the candle fickers Nelliei
Put it out shall sleep well tonight and
wake in the morning."
One word Of comfort on this subject for
all the bereaved. You see, our departed
friends have not been submerged, have not
been swamped In the waters. They have
only crossed over. These Israelites were
just as thoroughly alive on the western
banks of the Jordan as they had been on tho
eastern banks Of the Jordan, and our de.
parted Christian friends have only crossed ,
over-not sick, not dead, not exhausted, not
sxtinguished, not blotted out but with
healthier respiration, and stouter pulses, and
keener syesigbt and better prospects,
crossed over. their sins, their physical and
mental di;quiet all left clear this side, an
eternallY flowing, impossible obstacle be-
tween them aud all human and satanic pur-
suit. Crossed overI On, shake hands Of
congratulation with all the bereayed in the
consideration that our departed Christian
friends are safel
Why was there so much Joy In certain
circles in New York when people heard
from the friends who were on board that
belated steamer 1t was feared that vessel
had gone to the bottom Of the sea, and when
the friends on this side heard that the
steamer had arrived safely In Liverpool, had
New York that their friends had got safely
acrosss And is It not right this morning
that congratulate you that your departed
friends are safe on the shore Of heavens
Would you have them back againi Would
you have those old parents back againf You
know how hard it was sometimes for them to
get their breath in the stided atm osphere OF
the summer. Would you have them back in
this weather. Didn't they use their brain
dren back againi Would you have them
take the risks of temptation which throng
every human pathway Would you have
them cross the jordan three timesf In ad-
dition to crossing 1t already, cross 1t again
to greet you now and then cross back after
warji For certrinlY you would not want to
keep them forever out Of heaven.
Pause and weep, not for the freed from pam.
But that the sign Of love would bring them bacs
again
ask question, and there seems to como
will you never bs sick againr Never
sick-again. What will you never be
tired again'' Never - tired again"
What will you never weep againY "Never
-weep-agsin." What, will you never
die again7' "Never-die-again.n
oh, ye army of departed kindred, we hail
you from bank to banki Wait for US when
the Jordan Of death shall part for US Come
down and meet US half way between the
widowed banks OF earth and the palm groves
of heaven. May our great High Priest 60
ahead of us and with bruised feet touch tho
water, and then shall be fulfilled the words
of my text "Au Israel went over on dry
ground until all the people were gone clear
through Jordan"
II ask you what shall be the glad hymn
Of this morning, / think there would
be thousand voices that would choose the
same hymn-the hymn that illumines 50
many death chambers-the hymn that has
been the parting hymn In many an instance
the old hymn:
On Jordans stormy banks stand
And cast q wistfu eye
To Canasn's far aud happy land,
Where my possessions liza
Oh. the transporting. fapturous scene
That rises on my sight
Sweet fields arrayed In living green.
And rvers Of delight