Democratic messenger., 1894-02-17

sorts. Now she is going out of life.
The room is bright, not with pictures
or statues. not with upholstery. not with
any of In" gems of mountain or of sea.
but there is n strange and vivid glow in
the room. Not the light of chandelier
or star or MONDAY sun, hut something
that outshines all Of them. II must be
the presence If supernaturals. From
her illumincd face | think she must hear
sweet voices. Yea. she does hear sweet
voices Voices of departed kindred.
voices apostolic and prophetic and evan
gelic, but all of them overpowcred by
the Voice of Christ, saying. Come. We
blessed of my Father. inherit the king.
dom"
From her illumined face. think she
must hear rapturous music. Yea. she
does hear rapturous music. now soft as
solos. now thunderous rs orchcstras
now "A sanity voice alone. now the nun.
dred and forty and four thousand in con.
cert. From her ilumincd face. think
she must breathe redolcnce Yea. she
does inhale aroma from off the gardens
whose flowers never wither and from the
blossoms of orchards. every tree of which
bears IL manner of fruit. From her
illuminel face. think she must see
glorious sight. Yes, she sees the wall that
has jasper al the base and amethyst at
the top and blood red r'ubies between.
Goodhy. sweet soul! Why should vou
longer stay: Your work all done. your
burdens all carried your tears all wept.
Forward into the light. Up into the
joy. Ont into the grandeurs. And
after yon have saluted Christ and vour
kindred. search out him of the palaces
of Lebanon cedar and tell him tina; you
have found to be gloriously true what
thousands of years ago he asserted in
this mornings text, Wisdom is better
than ruhieS.'
In those FURNISHED palaces of our Col
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 trans
ported. Aye, To meet the millions whom
administered in the gospel week by week
through journalism on both sides of the
sea. and throughout Christendon. and
through many lands yet semibarbaric.
4 MIGHTY AUDIENCE.
For the last twentythree 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
PEELED to build three large churches i
gay the present outrageous injustice in
some quarters will multiply my audience
i'll all Lands if can keep in good humor
and not fight back.
y gentleman tapped me on the shoulder
summer before last on street of Elin-
burgh, Scotland. and said. Il live in the
Shetland islands. North Scotland. and
read your sermons every Sabbath to an
audience of neighbors and my brother
lives in Cape Town. South Africa. and
he reads them eve,y Sabbath Ia an audi
cnce of his neighhors." And hear and
now say to the forty millions of the earth
To whose eyes these words Will come. that
ono Of my dearest anticipations Is TO
meet them i'll heaven. All. that will be
better than rubies.
Coming up from different continents,
from different hcinispheres. from oppo-
site sides of the earth. 10 greet each oth-
or III holy love in the presence of the glo-
rious Christ who made il possible for us
to get there. Our sins all pardoned. our
sorrows all banished. never TO weep.
never TO part. never To die. tell you
that will he better than rubics. Others
may have the crowns, and the thrones.
and the scepters; give MS our old friends
back again. Christ. ''the friend who
s,icketh closer than brother" aud all
the kindred who have gone mp from our
bereft households. and all our friends
whom we have never Yet seen. AMI won
NAV have all the rubies. for that will bc
better than rubies."
Instead If the dying kiss when they
looked so pale and wan and sick. it
would he the kiss of welcome on lips ju-
bilHnt with song. while standing on
floors paved with what exquisiiencsS.
under ceilings hung with what glory,
bounded by walls facing us with what
splendor. amid gladness rolling over us
with what doxo,ogy-far better. infin-
itely better. everlastingly better than ru-
bies.