The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-12-18

long in the stirrups. Not an eternity
of watching the river; that would be
too much of the picturesque. Not an
eternity of plucking fruits from the
tree of life; that would be too much of
the heavenly orchard. But all n
of varieties, and 1 will tell you of at
least u of those varieties: Joy of divine
worship; Joy over the victories of the
Lamb who vas slain; joy over the re-
pentant sinners; JOY of re%counting our
rescue; joy of embracing old friends;
JOY at recognition of ~patriarchs. apos-
ties, evangeiists and martyrs; joy
of ringing ~harmonies; JOY of re-
knitting broken friendships; joy
at the explanation of providen.
tial mysteries; joy at walking the
boulevards of gold; joy at looking at
walls green with emerald, and blue
with sapphire, and crimson with
Jasper, and adash with amethyst, en-
tered through swinging gates, their
posts, their hinges and their panels of
richest pear. Joy that there Is to be no
subsidence, no reaction, no terminus
to the felicity. All hat makes IL diff
ferent joys, IL manner of fruits. So
much for variety. But if you take
the other Interpretation, and say 1t
means 10 crops a year, 1 am with
you still, for that mean album
dance. That will be the first place
we never got into where there Is
enough of everything. Enough of
health, enough of light, enough of
supernal association, enough of love,
enough of knowledge, enough Of Joy.
The orchards of this lower world put
out all their energies for a few days
in autumn, and then, having yielded
N crop, their banners of foliage are
dropped out of the air, and all their
beauty is adjourned until the blossom
ing of the next May time. But IL
crops In the heavenly orchard during
that which on earth we call a year
means abundance perpetually.
While there is enough of the pomp
of the city about Heaven for those who
like the city best, I thank God there is
enough in the Bible about country
scenery in Heaven to please those. of
us who were born in the country and
never got over 1t. Now, you may have
the streets of gold in Heaven; give me
the orchards. with twelve manner of
fruits, and yielding their fruit every
month; and the leaves of the
trees are for "the healing of
the nations; and there shall be
no more curse, but the throne of God
and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His
servants shall serve Him; and they
shall see His face, and His name shall
be in their foreheads; and there shall
be no night there, and they need no
candle, neither light of the SUM-, for
the Lord God giveth them light; and
they shall reign forever and ever.'
But just think Of a place so brilliant
that the monday sun shall be removed
from the mantle of the sky because 1t
is too feeble a taperi Yet, most of all,
am 1 impressed with the fact that
1 am not yet At for that place, nor
you either. By the reconstructing and
sanctifying grace of Christ we need to
be made all over. And let us be get
ting our passports ready if we want to
get into that country. An earthly
passport is a personal matter, telling
our height, our girth, the color of our
hair, our features. our complexion,
and our age. 1 cannot get into a for.
eign port on your passport, nor a
you get in on mine. Each one of US
for himself needs a divine sigma
ture written by the wounded
hand of the Son of God, to get
into the heavenly orchard, under the
laden branches of which, in Gods good
time, we may meet the Adam of the
first orchard, and tho Solomon of the
second orchard, and the St. John OF
the last orchard, to sit down under the
tree of which the church in the Book
of Canticles speaks when 1t says
"AS the apple tree among the trees
of the wood, so is my beloved
among the sons. I sat down un.
der His shadow with great delight,
and His fruit was sweet to my taste;"
and there it may be found that to-day
learned the danger of laundering
after one thing more, and that religion
is a luxury. and that there is o divine
antidote for all poisons, and that we
had created in US an appetite for
Heaven, and that it was a wholesome
and saving thing for US to have dis
coursed on the pomology OF the Bible;
or God among the orchards.