The free press., 1894-03-01

Gooraerkis ended. and nothing opens sDeyond.
|tWhereshe will land stepping on fromt tnis liIo IN
eis a mystery, or whether he Will Iano q. az,
I:for it may be annihilafion. ne nae 20 20
tnravertto offer, and he does not know now W
nray. No hope of meeting again IN anotner l:r
State of,existence, He is through with this
l;Iife andtis sure of no other. The ruby Oh
1.-The mantel and the ruby on the Wasteu M M
ger of the departing one say notnin9 ol LII, tmo
ransoming blood which they 80 .i1.i misHy
tvnify. So far as giving solace or niumina,
zion to a.departing spirit, they are deau
.failure. Midnight of utter hopelessheeS
kdrops on,all the scene. n.,....
hand no rubjes. She never had money enough
Eto buy one of these exquisites Sometimes
she stopped at jewellers snow winuow @ WI an
saw "A row of them incarnad1nlng the VelVet'
| She had keen taste to appreciate those gems,
| but sire never owned one of them. She was
not Jealous or unhappy because otners h'tu
| rubies while she had none. But she hau q
! richer treasurer. and that was the grace Vi
! cod tlrat had comforted her along the way
amid bereavements and temptations ana per-
secutions and sickness and privations iinl
| trials of.all sorts. Now she is going out OF
! life. , -
The reom is bright, not with pictures or
statues not with upholstery, not with any Oh
the gems .of mountain or OF sea, put there Is
a strange and vivid glow in the room. NOT
the light of the chandelier or star or noon
day sun but something that outshines all OF
them 1t must be the presence OF super
naturals. From her illumined face tnlnk
she must hear sweet voices. Yea, Sne ooes
hear sweet vcsices-voices off departed KIN
dred. voices apostolic and prophetic ana
evangelic. but all of them overpowered by
the voice of Christ, saying, "Come, ye blessed
of NV Father inherit the Kingdom.
From her illumined face, L 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 hundred and forty ana
four Thousand in concert From her 1iiu-
mined face. Il think she must oreathe reooi.
ence Yea she does inhale ;rroma from OH
the gardens .whose,tiowers never winner anu
from the blossomstof orch"rcs, every tIae Oh
which bears tweive manner OF 1ruit. FROM
her iilumined face think she must see a
Glorious sight Yea. she sees the wall tnaC
has jusper at the'base and amethyst at tho
top and blood red rubies between. Goodby,
sweet SOUL Why should you longer stay!
Your work all done. yourinurdenS all carried,
your tears all wept! Forward into the
light Up into the joy! Out into the
crandeurs And after you have saluted
Christ ana your kindred. search out him OF
the palaces of Lebanon cellar and tell him
that you nave found to be. giorouSly true
what thousands OF years acro he asserted in
this mornings text, ''Wisdom is better than
rubies.
In those FURNISHED palaces. of our God may
we ali meet. For l confess 20 you that my
cfiet desire for heaven is not the radiance,
or. to take the.sug ggestion ol'the text. not the
rubescence OF the scene. My one idea OF
heaven is the place TO meet O.d friends, God,
our best friend. and our earthly friends al
ready transported. Aye. toGneet thefmillions
whom have never seen, but 10 whom l
have administered in 1he gospel week by
weel, by journalism on both sides OF the sea-
and throughout Christendom ,and through
many lands yet semiharbaric.
For the last twenty-three yers every blast
of injustice against me has multiplied my
readers all the world over. and the present
malicnancy printed and uttered becaue our
church is in financial struggle after having
two great structures destroyed by fire and
we compelled to build three large churches
i say the present outrageous injustice in
some quarters will multiply my audience in
all lands if 1 can keep in good humor and
not fight back.
A gentleman tapped me on: the shoulder
summer before last ona streettof Edinburgh,
Scotland. and said. II live in the Shetland
Islands. North Scotland. and read your SER
mons every Sabbath TO an audience of neigh
bors and my brother lives in Cape Town,
South Africa. and he reads them every Sab
oath to an audience of his neighbors. And
hear and now say to the forty millions of
come, that one of my dearest anticipations
is TO meet them in heaven. All, that will be
Dett er than rubieS.
Coming up from different continents, from
different hemispheres, from opposite sides
of the earth, to greet each other in holy love
in the presence of the1 glorious Christ who
made it possible for us to get there. Our
sins all pardoned, our sorrows all
banished, never to weep, never to
part. never to die! l tell you
that will be better than rubies Others may
haveuhe crowns. and the thrones, and the
scepters give us our old friends back again,
Christ, 1.-the friend who sticketh closer than
a brother" and all the kindredwho have got
up from our bereft households, and all our
friends whom we have never yet seen, and
you may have all TIE rubies, for that will be
'better than rubies.
Instead of the dying kiss when they looked
so pale and wan and sick it would be the
kiss of welcome on lips iubilant with song,
while standing on floors paved with what OK
quisiteness, under ceilings hung with what
glory. bounded by walls facing us with what
splendor, amid gladness rolling over us with
what doxology-far better. infinitely better.
everastingly better than rubies