The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-02-14

Wisdom is better than rubes'
To bring out a contrast that will illus
trate my text | put before you two last
earthly scenes. The one is in a room
with rubies. but no religion. and the
other i'm a room with religion. but no
rubies. You enter the first room, where
an affiuent and worldly man is about to
quit this life. There is a ruby on he
mantel. possibly among the vases. There
is a ruby in the hearddress of the queen
| ~ wife.
on the finger Of the dying man there is
| "A ruby. The presence Of these .Ubies
| implies opuence of all kinds The pic
| lures on the walls are heirlOomS or the
/ trophies OF European tran Il. The
/ tains are from foreign looms The rugs
are from Damascus or Cairo. The sofas
| are stuffed with ease and quietude. The
| rocking chairs roll backward and for
ward on lullabies. The pillows are ex-
! quisitely embroidered. All the appoint
nents Of the room are a peroration 70 a
successful commercial or professional
life. But the man has no religion. never
has had and never professed to have.
There is not a bible or one religious book
i'm the room.
The departing man feels that his earth
! ~ career is ended and nothing opens be-
yond. Where he will land stepping off
from this life is mystery. or whether
no will land at all. for II may be an
nihilation. He has no prayer TO offer.
and he does not KNOW how to pray. No
hope Of melting again i'm another state
Of existence He is through with this
lite and is sure of no other. The ruby
on the mantel and the ruby on the
wasted finger of the departing one say
nothing of the ransoming blood which
they SO nightly typify. So far as Civ
ing solace or Illumination to a departing
spirit they are dead failure. Midnight
of utter hopelessness drops on all the
scene.
An Idea of Heaven.
Another room Of moral exit. Religion
and no rubies. She never had money
enough to buy one of these exquisites.
Sometimes she stopped at a jewelers.
show window and saw a row of them
ncarnadining 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
others had rubies while she had none.
But she had richer treasure, and that
was the grace of God that had ComfOrted
! her along the way amid bereavements
and temptations and prosecutions and
sicknesses and priyations and trials of
all sorts. Now she is going out of life.
The room is bright-not with pictures
! or statues. not with upholstery, not with
! any Of the gems of mountain or If sea,
but there Is a strange and vivid glow in
the room-not the light Of chandelier,
/
that outshines all Of them. 1t must be
the presence of supernaturals From her
illuminated face / think she must hear
sweet voices Yea, she lOes hear sweet
| voices-voices Of departed kindred, voices
| apostolic and prophetic and eVangelic,
! but all Of them overpowered by the
| voice Of Christ. saying. Come. ye
blessed OF my father inherit the king
| DOM
From her illumined face 7 think she
must hear rapturous music. Yea. she
! does hear rapturOus music, now soft as
| solos now thunderous as orchestras
now sanity voice alone, now the hun
| dred and forty and four thousand in
| concert. From her illumined face /
] think she must breathe redolence. Yea,
| she does inhale aroma from eff the gar
| dens whose flowers never Nither, and
| from the blossoms or orchards every tree
! of which bears twelve manner OF fruit.
| From her illumined face I think she
| must see a glorious sight. Yes. she sees
] the wall that has jasper al the base,
| and amethyst at the top. and blood red
/ rubies between. Goodbye, sweet souIi
| Why should you longer stay Your
work all done; your burdens all carried {;
| your tears all wept. Forward into the
light Up into the joy! 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
1 that you have found to be gloTiOuslY
! true what thousands of years ago as
| serted in this mornings text. Wisdom
1 is better than rubies." In those FURNISH
/ ed palaces of our God may we all meet
! for'I confess to you that my chief desire
/ for heaven is not the radiance or to take
/ the suggestion of the text-not the
| rubescene of the scene. Ny one idea Of
] heaven is the place to meet old friends
/ God. our best friend. and our earthly
| friends already transported. Aye. to
/ meet the millions whom i have never
| SEEN but To whom / have administered
| journalism on both sides Of the sea. and
| throughout ChTistendom, and through
many lands Yet semi-barbaric.
| For the last twenty-three years every
! blast of injustice against me has multi
! piled my readers all the world over, and
| the present malignancy printed and ut
| tered because our church is in financial
] struggle after having two great struc-
| lures destroyed by fire and we COM
1 PEELED TO build three large churches-I
| say the present outrageous injustice in
| some quarters will multiply my audi
! ence in all lands il l can keep in good
/ humor and not fight back.
4 MIghty Audience.
A gentleman tapped me on the shoulder
summer before last on a street of Edin-
/ burgh and said, Il live in the Shetland
| islands. north Scotland, and l read your
| sermons every Sabbath to an audience Of
neighbors. and my brother lives i'm Cape
| Town and he reads them every Saba tn
| TO an audience of his neighbors." And
/ | here and now say 10 the 40.OOO.O00 Of
| the earth TO whose eyes these words will
| come that one of my dearest anticipa-
tons is TO meet them i'm heaven. All,
| that will be better than rubies,
/ Coming up from different continents,
| from different hemispheres, from oppo-
| site sides of the earth, 10 greet each
! other in holy love in the presence of the
| glorious Christ who made il possible for
] us 20 get there! Our sins all pardOned,
| our sorrows all banished, never TO weep.
| never to part. never to die, 1 tell YOU
| that will be better than rubias. Others
| may have the crowns. and the throne,
| and the scepters. Give us our old friend
| back again. Christ. THE friend who
| sticketh closer than brother and all
the kindred. who have gone up from our
| bereft households, and all our friends
| whom we have never yet seen, and you
may have all the rubies, for that win
| be better than rubies."
| Instead Of the dying kiss when they
! looked so pale and wan and sick. il will
! be the kiss of welcome on lips jubilant
| with song. while standing on floors paved
| with what exquisteness. under ceilings
| hung with what glory bounded by walls
| facing US with what spIendor amid glad
| ness rolling over VS. with what doxology.
| Far better. infinitely better everlasting
| ~ better than rubiesl
|
| where the Capital Has Been.