Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-03-09

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move away from us II we ipNc and trust
him Oh, If we could realize that accord
ing to my text we may be bound up with
that God, how indepcudent 1t would make
us of things that now harass and annoy
and dscompOse and torment us. Instead
of grnsshopper being burden world
of care would he rs light as feather, and
tombstones would be marble stairs to the
kings palace, and all the giants of opposi-
ton we would smite down hip and thigh
with great slaughter.
A God away up in the heavens Is not
much consolation to us when we get into
life's struggle. 1t is n God close by, as
near to us rs any two articles of apparel
We're near to each other in that bundle
that you sent the other day to that SILVER
ing home, through whose roof the snow
siftod and through whose broken window
pane the night winds howled. 1t was
sanctiAcd irony and holy sarcasm that
Elijah used when he told the idolnters of
Baal to pray louder, saying that their
god might be asleep or talking, or on
journey, or gone a-hunting, but our God
is always wide awake, and always hears,
and is always close by, and to him whis-
per of prayer is as loud as an archangel 8
trumpet, and a child's Now / lay me
down to sleep" is as easily heard by him
as the prayer of tho great Scotchman amid
the highlands when pursued by Lord
Claverhouse's miscreants. The Covenanter
said, 80 Lord, cast the lap of thy cloak
about these children of the covenant" and
a mountain fog instantly hid the pursued
from their bloOdthirsty pursucrs. l pro-
claim him a God close by. When we are
tempted to do wrong, when we have ques
tions of livelihood too much for US, when
we put our darlngs into the last sleep,
when we are overwhelmed with physical
distresses when we are perplexed about
what next 10 do, when we come into COM
bat with the king of terrors, we want q
God close by. How do you like the doc
trine of the text, Bound in the bundle of
life with the Lord thy Godf" Thank you,
Abigail, kneeling there at tho foot of the
mountain uttering consolation for all
0ges while addressing David. No wonder
that in after time he invited her to the
palace and put her upon the throne Of his
heart as we'll rs upon the throne of Judah
Will BE Welcomed In Heaven.
Know also that this bundle of life will
be gladly received when it comes to the
door OF the mansion for which 1t was
bound and plainly directed With what
alacrity and glee We Gwait some package
that has been foretold by letter; some holi
day presentation something that will en-
rich and ornament our home; some testi
mony of admiration and affection With
what glow Of expectation we unite the
knot and take off the cord that holds it to
gethor In safety, and with what glad ex
| clamation we uproll the covering and see
the gift or purchase in all its beauty Of
color and proportion Well, what day 1t
will be when your precious bundle of life
shall be opened in the "house of many
mansions" amid sanity and angelic anG
| divine inspection The bundle may be
| spotted with the marks Of much exposure
1t may bear inscription after inscription
to tell through what ordeal it has passed
| Perhaps splashed of wave and scorched Of
| fame, but all it has within unchanged of
| the journey. And with what shouts OF
| JOY the bundle of life will be greeted by
all the voices of the heavenly home circle
In our anxiety at last to reach heaven
we are apt to lose sight Of the glee or wei
| come that awaits us II we get in at all
We all have friends up there. They will
| somehow hear that we are coming Such
close and swift and constant communica-
|
these lowlands that we will not surprise
them by sudden arrival. If loved ones on
earth expect our coming visit and are at
the depot with carriage to meet us, surely
we will be met at the shining gate by old
! friends now sainted and kindred now glo-
rifled If there were no angel of God to
meet us and show us the palaces and guide
us to our everlasting residence these kin
dred would show US the way and point out
the splendors and guide us to our celestial
home, powered and fountained and arched
and illumined by q sun that never sets
| Will it not be glorious, the going in and
! the settling down after all the moving
about and upsettings of earthly experience
We will soon know all our neighbors,
kingly, queenly, prophetic apostolic, Sc
raphic, archangelic. The precious bundle
of life opened amid palaces and grand
marches and acclamations. They will all
be so glad we have got safely through
! They saw us down here in the struggle
They saw us when we lost our way. They
knew when VIC got off the right course
None of the 32 ships that We're overdue at
New York harbor in the storm of week
before last was greeted so heartily by
friends on the dock or the steam tugs that
went out to meet them at Sandy Hook as
VIC will be greeted in the heavenly world
If by the pardoning and protecting grace
of God we come to celestial wharfage. We
shall have to tell them Of the many wrecks
that we have passed on the way across
wild seas and amid Caribbean cyclones. 1t
will DO like Our arrival some years ago
from New Zealand at Sydney, people sur
prised that we got in at all, because we
were two days late, and some of the ships
expected had gone to the bottom, and we
had passed derelcts and abandoned craft.
all up and down that awful chameleon
arrival in heaven all the more rapturously
| welcomed because of the doubt as to
whether we would over get there at all
Bound Up with Gods Love.
Once there it will be found that tho safe
ty of that precious bundle of life was as