The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-03-10

shsn applied 10 ~ sajoymsnts Of -
righteous in heaven. I think ws haze
,ut little idea Of the number OF tie
righteous In heaven. Inndeh ~.
Your heaven will be q very smtll
place compared with the world Of ~
.ost: for. according to your teaching.
he majority of men will. be destroyed"
[ deny the charge. ! suppose. that the
multitude OF the finally lost, as cont
pared with the multitude Of the finally
saved, will be a handful. ! suppose
that the few sick people in'the hospi-
tai to-day, as compared with the hum
ireds of thousands Of well people ~
the city, would not be smaller than
the number Of those who shall be cast
out In suffering. compared with those
who shall have upon them the health
Of heaven. For we are to remember
that we are living in comparatively
the beginning Of the Christian dispen-
sation and that this world is to be pop
ulated and redeemed and that ages. OF
light and love are to now on. II this
be 80. the multitudss Of the saved will
be In vast majority.
Take all the congregations that have
today assembled for worship. Put them
together and they would make but d
small audience compared with the
thousands and tens of thousands
and ten thousand times ten thou
sand, and the hundred and forty
and four thousand that shall stand
around the throne. Those flashed up
to heaven in martyr fires, those tossed
for many years upon the invalid couch.
those fought In the armies OF liberty
and rose as they fell, those tunbled
from high scaffoldings or slipped from
the mast or were washed OF into the
sea. They came up from Corinth, from
Laodicea, from the Red Sea bank and
Gennesaret's wave, from Egyptian
brickyards, and Gideon's thrashins
floor. Those thousands Of years ago
slept the last sleep. and these are this
moment having their eyes closed, and
their limbs stretched out for the sep
ulcher.
A general expecting an attack from
the enemy stands on hill and looks
through a field glass and sees In the
great distance multitudes approaching,
but has no idea of their numbers. He
says: Il cannot tell anything about
them. I merely know that there are
great number" And SO John, with
out attempting to count, says: "A great
multitude that no man can number"
We are told that heaven Is q place OF
happiness, but what do we know about
happiness? Happiness in this world
Is only half fledged thing-a Howery
path, with a serpent kissing across 1t;
a broken pitcher, from which the water
has dropped before we could drink It;
a thrill OF exhilaratiou, followed by dis.
astrous reactions. To help us under
stand the Joy Of heaven. the Bible takes
us to a river. We stand on the grassy
bank. We see the waters flow on with
ceaseless wave. But the filth Of the
cities are emptied into 1t, and the
banks are torn, and unhealthy exhala-
tions spring up from 1t, and we fail to
get an idea OF the river OF life In heav-
EN-.
We get very imperfect ideas Of the
reunions Of heaven. We think Of some
festal day on earth, when father and
mother we're yet living, and the chill
dren came home. A good time that!
But 1t had this drawback-all were not
there. That brother went Off to sea
and never was heard from. That sister
did we not lay her away in the fresh
ness of her young life, never more in
this world to look upon her? All, there
was a skeleton at the feast, and tears
mingled with our laughter on that
Christmas day. Not so with heavens
reunions. 1t will be an uninterrupted
gladness. Many a Christian parent will
look around and find all his children
there. "Ah!" he says, "can 1t be pos
blUlc tudl We dlc Ill uclc-lilCS . pci ZIG
over? The Jordan passed, and not one
wanting? Why, even the prodigal is
here. almost gave him up. How long
he despised my counsels, but grace
hath triumphed. All here, all here!
Tell the mighty Joy through the city.
Let the bells ring, and the angels men
tion 1t in their song. Wave 1t from
the top of the walls. All here!"
No more breaking Of heartstrings
but face to face. The orphans tina,
were left poor and in q merciless world
kicked and cuffed of many hardships
shall join their parents, over whose
graves they so long wspt and gaze into
their glorified countenances forever
face to face. We may come up from
different parts Of the world, one from
the land and another from the depths
OF the sea; from lives anuent and pros
porous, or from scenes Of ragged dis.
tress, but we shall al meet In rapture
and jubilee, face to face.
Many OF our friends have entered up
on that tov A few daya a4o they "A