Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-02-15

Infinite One-"the only wise God, our
Saviour" Let all hearts, all homes, all
times, all eternities bow low before himl
Let his banner be lifted in all our soulsl
AN ILLUSTRATING CONTRAST.
In olden times Scotland was disturbed by
freebooters and pirates. TO rid the seas
and ports of these desperadoes the hero
William Wallace fitted out a merchant
vessel, but filled it with armed men and
put ont to sea. The pirates, with their flag
Inscribed of a deaths head, thinking they
would get an easy prize, bore down upon
the Scottish merchantmen, when the armed
men of Wallace boarded the craft of the
pirates and put them in chains and then
sailed for port under the Scotch flag flying
And so our souls, assailed of sin and death
and hell, through Christ, are rescued and
the black flag of sin is torn down, and the
striped flag of the cross is hoisted. Blessed
be God for any sign, for any signal, for any
precious stone that brings to mind the price
paid Tor such rescued
like the coral, for it seems the solidified
foain of breakers, and like the Jasper, for
1t gathers II colOrs into its bosom, and
like the jet, for it congresses the shadows
of many midughts, and | like the chryso
prase because its purple is illumined with
D small heaven of stars, and | like the
ghrysolitc for IT'S waves of color, which
"eem on fire. But this morning nothing SO
impresses me as the ruby, for it depicts, it
tvpifcs it suggests the blood Of Jesus
Christ that clcanseth from all sin. - "With-
cut the shedding of blood there is no re
mission" Yea, solomon was right when
in my text he said, "N isdom is better than
rubies'
To bring out a contrast TINT will illustr rate
my text | put before you two last earthly
scenes. The one is in u room with rubics,
but no religion, and the other in II room
with rcl gion. but no rubes. You euterthe
first room, where an aliluent and worldly
man is about to quit this life. There is a
ruby on the mantcl, possibly among the
vases There is ruby in the beaddress OF
the queenly wife
On the finger of the dying man there is a
ruby. The presence Of these rubies implies
opulence OF all kinds. The pictures on the
walls are hcirlOOms or the trophies of En-
ropean travel. The curtains are from for
,igu looms. The rugs are from Damascus
Or Cairo. The sofa, are stuffed with ease
ard quetude. The rochuG chairs roll back
ward and forward on lullabics. The pillows
are eXquisitely embroidered All the ap.
pointmentS of the room are peroration
to Il successful commercial or professional
lie. Bu5 the man has no religion never
has had and never profc,scd to have. There
l. not Bible or one religious book in til
room.
The departing man feels that his earthly
career is tndcd and nothing opens beyond
" mere lie will land stepping of from thu
lie Is mystery, or whether he will land
at all, for it may be anuhilaton. He ha,
no prayer to offer, and he does not know
how to pray. No hope of meeting again in
another state of existence. lie is through
with this life and is sure of no other The
ruby on the mautel and the ruby on the
wasted finger of the departing one say
nothing of the ransoming blood which they
50 nightly typify. So far as giving solace
or illumination to a departing spirit they
are II dead failure Midnight of utter hope.
lcssness drops on all the scene.
An IDEA OF HEAVEN.
Another room of mortal exit. Religion
and no rubics. She never had money
enough to buy one Of these cXuusites.
Sometimes she stopped Mt a jewelers. show
window and saw a row of them ncarnadn-
ing the velvet. She had keen taste enough
to appreciate those gems, but she never
owned one of them. She was not Jealous
or unhappy because hers had rubies while
she had none But she had richer treas.
ulc, and that was the grace of God that had
comforted her along the way amid be.
reavements and temptations and persecll-
tons and sicknesses and privations and
trials Of all sorts Now she is going out Of
life.
The room il bright-not with pictures or
statues, not with upholstery, not with any
of the gems Of mountain or OF st l, but there
is n strange and vivid glow in the room
not the light of chandelier. or star. or noon
day sun, but something that uutshines all
of them. 1t must be the presence of super
n0turals. From her iilumined face think
She must hear sweet voices. Yea, she does
hear sweet Voices-voices Of departed kim
dred, voices apostolic and prophetic and
evaugelic, but all of them overpowcred by
the voice of Christ, saving, Come, yc
blessed of my father. inherit the Kingdom
From her illumined face think She
must hear papturouS music. Yea, she does
hear rapturous music, now soft as solos,
now thunderous as orchestras, now saint
~ voice alone, now the hundred and forty
and four thousand in concert. Fro.l her
illumincd face | think she must breathe
redOienCe. \ ga, she does lnhale aroma from
oil the gardens whose flowers never withcr,
and from the blossoms of orchards every
tree OF which bears twelve manner of fruit
From her illumined face think she must
see II glorious sight. les, she sees the wall
that has jasper at the base, and amethyst
at the top, and blood red rubies between
Goodby, sweet soul! Why should you long
er stay? Your work all done; your burdens
all carried; your tears all wcpt! Forward
into the light! Up into the joyl Out into
the grandeurs'
And after you have saluted Christ and
your kindred search out him of the palaces
Of Lebanon cedar and tell him that you
have found to be gloriously true what thou
sands Of years ago he asserted in hi, morn
ing's text. "Wisdom il better than rubies "
In those FURNISHED palaces of our God may
We all meet, for ! confess to you that my
chief desire for heaven is not the radiance
or to take the suggestion of the teXt--not
the rubescence of the scene. My one idea
Of heaven is the place to meet old friends
God, our best friend and our earthly
friends already transported. Aye, to meet