Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-01-28


religious impressions from the ministry Of
John Vredenburgh- VIII that good Chris
tian man before the throne of God never
meet those souls brought TO Christ through
his instrumentality? Oh, Of course he will
know them. remember one Sabbath aft
ernoon, borne down with the sense of my
Iins and knowing not God, took up Dod-
bridges "Rise and Progress" Oh, what
dark afternoon it was, and I read the
chapters, and read the prayers, and 1
tried to make the prayers my own. oh,
must sec Philip Doddridge. A glorious
old book he wrotel 1t is cut of fashion
now.
There is a mother before the throne Of
God. You say her joy is full Is itp You
say there can. be no augmentation of it.
Cannot there be? Her son was a wanderer
and vagabond on the earth when that
good mother died. He broke her old heart.
She died leaving him in the wilderness Of
sin. She is bsfore the throne of God now.
Years pass, and that son repents of his
crimes and gives his heart to God and be-
comes useful Christian and dies and en-
ters the gates of heaven. You tell me that
that mothers joy cannot be augmented!
Let them confront each other, the son and
the mother. ''Oh," she says to the angels
of God, "rejoice with me! The dead is
alive again, and the lost is found Halle.
luiahl never expected to see this lost one
come back" The Bible says nations are
to be born in day. When China comes
to God, will it not know DR.. Abeel9 When
India comes, will it not know DIR. John
ScudderH When the Indians come to God,
will they not know David Brainerdp
Soul Modesty.
see a soul entering heaven at last, with
covered face at the idea that it has done so
little for Christ and feeling borne down
with unworthiness, and it says to itself,
81 have no right to be here.'' A voice
from throne says: "Oh, you forget that
Sunday school class you invited to Christ!
was one Of them" And another voice
says: "You forget that poor man to whom
you gave a loaf of bread and told of the
heavenly bread. was that man." And
another says: "You forget that sick one to
whom you gave medicine for the body and
the soul. was that one" And then
Christ, from throne overtopping all the
rest, will say, "Inasmuch as ye did it to
one of the least of these, you did it to me. I"
And then the seraphs will take their harps
from the side of the throne and cry, "What
song shall 1t be?" And Christ, bending
over the harpers, shall say, 1t shall be the
harvest homeP'
One more reason why am disposed to
accept this doctrine of future recognition
is that SO many in their last hour on earth
have confirmed this theory / speak not of
persons who have been delirious in their
last moment and knew not what they were
about, but of persons who died in calm
ness and placidity, and who were not nat
urally superstitious. Often the glories of
heaven have struck the dying pillow, and
the departing man has said he saw and
heard those who had gone away from him.
How often it is in the dying moments par
ents see their departed children and chill
dren see their departed parents! / came
down to the banks of the Mohawk river
1t was evening, and / wanted to go over
the river, and SO l waved my hat and
shouted, and after awhile I saw some one
waving on the opposite bank, and l heard
him shout, and the boat came across, and
got in and was transported And SO
life. We will come down to the river of
death and give signal to our friends on
the other shore, and they will give a signal
back to US, and the boat comes, and our
departed kindred are the oarsmen, the fires
of the setting day tinging the tops of the
paddles.
Oh, have You never sat by such death
beds In that hour you hear the departing
soul cry, "Hark Look!'' You hearkened
and you looked. A little child, pining
away because of the death of its mother,
getting weaker and weaker every day, was
taken into the room where hung the pic
ture of her mother She seemed to enjoy
looking at it, and then she was taken
away, and after awhile died. In the last
moment that wan and wasted little one
lifted her hands, while her face lighted up
with the glory of the next world and cried
ont, "MotherP' Do you tell me she did
not see her motherP She did. So in my
first settlement at Belleville a plain man
said to me: "What do you think I heard
last nightP l was in the room where one
of my neighbors was dying. He was a
good man, and he said he heard the angels
of God singing before the throne. haven't
much poetry about me, but listened and
l heard them too." Said /, ''I have no
doubt of it" Why, we are to be taken up
to heaven at last by ministering spirits.
Who are they to be? Souls that went up
from Madras, or Antioch, or jerusalem
Oh, no; our glorifed kindred are going to
troop around us!
An Idea of Heaven.
Heaven is not stately, formal place, as
l sometimes hear it described, very fri
gidity of splendor, where people stand on
cold formalities and go around about with
heavy crowns Of gold on their heads. No,
that is not my idea of heaven. My idea of
heaven is more like this: You are seated
in the evening tide by the fireplace, your
whole family there, or nearly all of them
there. While you are seated talking and
enjoying the evening hour there is a knock
at the door and the door opens, and there
comes in brother that has been long alb
sent. He has been absent, for years you
have not seen him, and no sooner do yor
make up your mind that it is certainly he
than you leap up, and the question is who
shall give him the first embrace That is
my iuGd VI u6uNeu--d RTeab nome circle
where they are waiting for US. Oh, viii
you not know your mothers voice theref
She who always called you by your first
namo long after Others had given you the
formal "mister!' You we're never any
thing but James, or John, or George or
Thomas, OF Mary, or Florence to her. Will
you not know your child's voiceP She of
the bright eye and the ruddy cheek and
the quiet step, who came in from play and
flung herself into your lap, very shower
of mirth and beauty? Why, the picture is
craven in your SOUL 1t cannot wear out.
II that little one should stand on the other
side of some heavenly hill and call to you,
you would hear her voice above the burst
of heaven's great orchestra. Know It'll
You could rot help but know it.
Now bring you this glorious consola-
tion of future recognition. If you could
get this theory into your heart, 1t would
lift a great many shadows that are stretch
ing across it. When was lad used to
RHEUMATISM CURED IN A DAY