Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1898-11-21

more than ALL thank thee for the up
per springs in heaven!
The Gates Ajar.
1t is very fortunate that we canot see
heaven until we get into it. 0 Chris
tian man, if you could see what place
it is we would never get you back again
to the Office, or store, or shop and the
duties you ought to perform would go
neglected lam glad shall not see that
world until I enter it. Suppose we
were allowed to go on an excursion in
to that good land with the idea of re-
turning. When we got there and heard
the song and looked at their raptured
faces and mingled in the supernal socie-
ty, we would cry out: "Let US stay!
We are coming here anyhow. Why take
the trouble Of going back again to that
old world? We are here now. Let US
stay!" And it would take angelic vio-
Ience to put US out Of that world if once
we got there, but as people who cannot
afford to pay for an entertainment some
times come around it and look through
the door ajar, Or through the openings
in the fence, so we come and look
through the crevices into that good land
w
can Just catch a glimpse of it. We come
near enough to hear the rumbling Of the
eternal orchestra, though not near
enough to know who blows the cornet
or who fingers the harp. My soul
spreads out both wings and claps them
in triumph at the thought Of those up
per springs. One Of them breaks from
beneath the throne. Another breaks
forth from beneath the altar of the tenn
pie. Another at the door of "the house
of many mansions" Upper springs Of
gladness! Upper springs of light! Up
per springs of Lowell It is 10 fancy Of
mine. .'The Lamb which is in the midst
Of the throne shall lead them to living
fountains of water -
O Saviour divine, roll in upon our
souls one of those anticipated raptures
Pour around the roots Of the parched
tongue one drop Of that liquid life!
Toss before our vision those fountains
of God, rainbowed with eternal victory
Hear it They are never sick there;
not so much as headache or twinge
rheumatic, or thrust neuralgia. The in
habitant never says, 81 am sick. " They
are never tired there. Flight to farthest
world is only the play of holiday. They
never sin there. 1t is as easy for them
to be holy as it is for US to sin. They
never die there. You might go through
all the outskirts of the great city and
find not one place where the ground
was broken for grave. The eyesight of
the redeemed is never blurred with
tears. There is health in every cheek.
There is spring in every foot. There is
majesty on every brow. There is joy in
every heart There is hosanna on every
lip. How they must pity us as they
look over and look down and see us and
say, "Poor things away down in that
worldp' And when some Christian is
hurled into fatal accident, they cry:
"Good He is comingp' And when we
stand around the couch of some loved
one whose strength is going away and
we shake our heads forebodingly they
cry: "I'm glad he is worse. He has
been down there long enough. There, he
is dead Come homel Come home"
Oh, if we could only get our ideas about
that future world UNFINISHED, our
thought of transfer from here to there
would be as pleasant to US as it was to
little child that was dying. She said,
"Papa, when will I go homer" And he
said, "Today, Florence. To-day? So
soon? I am SO glad!'
The Day of DeIiverance.
wish I could stimulate you vita
these thoughts, O Christian Iaan, to the
highest possible exhilaration The day
of your deliverance is coming-is COM
ing, rolling on with the shining wheels
Of the day, and the jet wheels of the
night. Every thump Of the heart is only
a hammer stroke striking off another
chain of clay. Better scOur the deck and
coil the rope, for harbor is only six
miles away. Jesus will come down the
Narrows to meet you. CHOW is your
salvation nearer than when you be-
lieved.''
Man of the world, will you not today
make a choice between these two por-
lions, between the ''south land'' of this
world, which slopes to the DESERT and
this glorious land which thy Father
offers thee, running with eternal water
courses? Why let your tongue be con-
sumed of thirst when there are the
neither springs and the upper springs
comfort here and glory hereafter?
You and [ need something better than
this world can give us. The fact is that
it cannot give US anything after awhile.
It is a changing world. Do you know
that even the mountains on the back Of
thousand streams are leaping into the
valley. The Alleghanies are dying. The
dews with crystalline mallet are ham
mering away the rocks. Frosts and
showers and lightnings are sculpturing
Mount Washington and the Catskills.
Niagara every year is digging for itself
a quicker plunge. The sea all around
the earth on it's shifting shores is max
ing mighty changes in bar and bay and
firth and promontory. Some of the old
seacoasts are midland now. Off Nan