The Penn's Grove record., 1899-03-10

bound in the bundle Of life with the Lord
thy God" And Abigail was right. We
may be bound up with a lowing and sympa-
thetic God. We may be AZ near to Him as
ever were emerald and ruby united In one
ring, as ever were two deeds In one pack
age, as ever were two vases on the same
shelf, ms ever were two '%valuables in the
same bundle. Together In time Of sorrow.
earth. Together in hspren. Close com.
partnership OF God. Hear Him, II Will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee" For
the mountains shall depart and the hills be
removed, but My kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant OF
My peace be removed, saith the Lord that
hath mercy on thee" And when those
Bible authors compared Gods friend.
ship to the mountains for height and
lrmness they knew what they were
writing about; for they well knew what
mountains are. All those lands are noun
famous. Mount Hermon, Mount Gilboe;
Mount Gerlzim, Mount Engedi, Mount
Horeb, Mount Nebo. Mount Plsgah, Mount
Olivet, Mount Zion, Mount Moriah, Mount
Lebanon, Mount Sinai, Mount Golgothe.
Yes, we have the divine promise that all
those mountains shall weigh their anchor
age of rocks and move away from the
earth before a loving and sympathetic God
will move away from us II we love n
trust Him. oh, II we could realize that
according to my text we may bound up
with that God, how independent 1t would
make us of things that now harass and an
noy and discompose and torment usl In
stead of a %grasshopper being a burden, q
world of care would he as light as q
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.
I-1nu nlzd thnt EbJ- 49, / ~ 1Fd WILL
be gladly received when 1t comes to the
door of the mansion for which 1t was bound
and plainly directed. With what alGcrity
and glee we await some package that has
been foretold by letter, some holiday pre-
sentatioD, something that will enrich n
ornament our home, some testimony of ad-
miratton and affectlonl With what glow
of expectation we unite the mot and take
of the cord that holds it together In safety,
and with what glad exclamation we I'M
roll the covering and see the gift or pur-
chase In all its beauty of color and proper
ton. Well, what n day 1t will be when
your precious bundle of life shall be opened
in the "house of many mansions" amid
sanity and angelic and divine inspectionl
The bundle may be spotted with this marks
OF much exposure, 1t may bear inscription
after inscription to tell through what or.
deal 1t has passed, perhaps splashed OF
wave and scorched Of flame, but all 1t 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 well
come that awaits us II we get In at all. We
all have friends up there. They will some
how hear that we are coming. Such close
and swift and constant communication is
there between those uplands and these
lowlands that we will not surprise them by
sudden arrival. If loved ones OF earth ex-
pect 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 nov glorihed. ii
there were no angel Of God to meet Us, n
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. VIII 1t not be glorious, the going in
and the settling down after all the moving
about and upsettings ofearthly experienced
We will soon know all our neighbors, king
ly, queenly, prophetic. apdstoiici seraphic,
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
we got off the right course. None OF the
thirty-two' 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 heavenly
world If. by the ~pardoning and pro-
tecting grace OF God we come to celestial
", ,bnl1 ha VA IN toll than ~
the many wrecks that we have passed on
the way across wild seas and amid Carib-
bear cyclones. II will be like our arrival
some years age from New Zealand at sgd
ney, people surprised that we got In at all,
because we were two days late, and some
of the ships expected had gone to the bot
tom, and we had passed derelicts an
abandoned crafts all up and down that W
full channel-our arrival in heaven all the
more rapturously welcomed because OF the
doubt as to whether We would ever get
there at all.
Once there 1t will be found tina the
safety of that precious bundle OF life was
assured because 1t was bound up with the
life Of God In Jesus Christ. Heaven could
not afford to have that bundle lost because
It had been said in regard to Its transporta-
tion and safe arrival, Kept by the power
of God through faithiuDto complete saliva
ton" The veracity Of the heavens is In
yolyed In its arrival. If God should fail
to keep His promise to Just one ransomed
soul, the pillars OF Jehovah's throne
would fall. and the foundations OF the
eternal city would crunble, and infinite
poyerties would dash down all the
chalices, and close all 1.-The banqueting halls.
and the river OF life would change Its
course, sweeping everything with desoIa-
ton, and frost would blast all the gardens,
and lmmeasurable sickness STAY the i'm
mortals, and the new Jerusalem become
an abandoned city, with no chariot wheel
on the streets and no worsh1ppers In the
temple-a dead Pompeii Of the skies, a
buried H%erculaneum Of the heavens. Lest
any one should doubt, the God who cannot
lie smites his omnipotent hand on the side
of his throne and takes affidavit, declaring,
Gas | live. saith the Lord God, | have
no pleasure In the death of him that dieth."
oh | cannot tell you how / feel about 1t,
the thought Is so glorious. Bound up with
God. Bound up with infinite mercy. Bound
up with infinite Joy. Bound up with In
inite purity. Bound up with infinite might.
That thought is more beautiful and glori-
Gus thar was the heroic Abigail, who at
the foot OF the crags uttered, Bound In
the bundle of life With the Lord thy Godl"
Now. nv hearer and reader, appreciate
the value OF that bundle. See that 1t is
bound up with nothing mean, but with the
unsullied and the IMMACULATE. Not witha
pebble of the shifting beach, out VIII the
kohinoor OF the palace; not with some
fading regalia OF earthly pomp. but with
the robe washed and made white In the