Connecticut western news., 1899-03-09

hath mercy oh thee And when those Bible authors compared Gods friend
 ship to the mountains for height and firmness they knew what they were writing about, for they well knew what mountains are All these lands are mountainous Mount Hermon, Mount | Gilboa, Mount Gerizim, Mount Engedi. Mount Horeb, Mount Nebo Mount Pis- gah, Mount Olivet, Mount Zion, Mount Moriah, Mount Lebanon. Mount Sinai
 Mount Golgotha Yes we have the di- vine promise that all those mountains shall weigh their anchorage of rocks and move away from the earth before loving and sympathetic God will move away from us if we love and trust him Oh, if we could realize that according to my text we may be bound up with that God, how independent it would make us of things that now harass and annoy and discompose and torment usl Instead of a grasshopper being a bur den, a world of care would be as light | as feather, and tombstones would be marble stairs to the Kings palace, and all the giants of opposition we would smite down hip and thigh with great slaughter
 | God Is Near.
 A God away up in the heavens is not much consolation to us when we get in | to life's struggle 1t is God close by. as near to us as any two articles of ap- parel were near to each other in that l bundle that you sent the other day to 1 that shivering home. through whose roof the snow sifted and through whose broken window pane the night winds | howled. It was sanctified irony and holy sarcasm that Elijah used when he told the idolaters of Baal to pray louder, saying that their god might be asleep or talking or on 8 journey or gone a-hunt- ing. But our God is always wide awake and always hears and is always close by and to him whisper of prayer is as | loud as an archangePs trumpet, and child "Now lay me down to sleep | is as easily heard by him as the prayer | of the great Scotchman amid the high | lands when pursued by Lord Claver | houses miscreants- The Covenanter said, 70 Lord, cast the lap of thy cloak about these children of the cove nant " and mountain fog instantly hid the pursued from their bloodthirsty pur- suers- I proclaim him God close by When we are tempted to do wrong when we have questions of livelihood too much for us, when we put our dar- lings into the last sleep, when we are overwhelmed with physical distresses, when we are perplexed about what next to do, when we come into combat with the king of terrors, we want God close by How do you like the doctrine of the text, Bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy Godf' Thank you. Abigail. kneeling there at the foot of the mountain, uttering consolation for all ages. 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 well as upon the throne of Judah.
 Know, also, that this bundle of life will be gladly received when it comes to the door of the mansion for which it was bound and plainly directed. With what alacrity and glee we await some package that has been foretold by letter, some holiday presentation, something that will enrich and ornament our home some testimony of admiration and affec- tion With what glow of expectation we unite the knot and take off the cord that holds it together in safety. and with what glad exclamation we unroD the covering and see the gift or pur- chase in all it's beauty of color and pro- portion. We'll what day it will be when your precious bundle of life shall be opened in the "house of many man. sions, " amid saintly and angelic and 1ivine inspectionI The bundle may be lpotted with the marks of much ex- posture, it may bear inscription after in- scription to tell through what ordeal it has passed, perhaps splashed of wave and scorched of flame, but all it has within undamaged of the journey And with what shouts of joy the bundle of life will be greeted by all the voices of the heavenly >home circlel
 Welcome Awaits.
 In our anxiety at last to reach heaven we are apt to lose sight of the glee or welcome that awaits us if we get in at all We all have friends up there. They will somehow hear that we are coming
 
 munication is there between those up lands and 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 met us, surely we will be met at the shining gate by old friends now sainted and kindred now glorifed. If there were no angel of God to meet us and show us the palaces and guide us to our everlasting residence, these kindred would show us the way and point out the splendors and guide us to our celes- tial home, powered and fountained and arched and illumined by a 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 experiencef We will soon know all our neighbors, kingly, queenly, pro- phetic, apostolic. seraphic, archangelic. The precious bundle of life opened amid palaces and grand marches and accla- nations 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 we got off the right course None of the 32 ships that were 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 we will be greeted in the heav enly world if by the pardoning and pro tecting grace of God we come to celes- tial 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. It will be 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 chips expected had gone to the bottom. and had raaaoad dorolinfn and han