The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-11-29

C"ii ) iip 'li.l rtt'i iiii iH'T tI!' YIN
bolism Of rlrrrNt let ns join Lands
and 20 NJ t. rl.i- majestic homestead
and ec 'r ourselves IS We ascend
the ani.'i -tep, an invisible guari-
intr r.ut plcn the front door, AMI
w' ~ n-hrrcl To the RICH. into the
A. iilen room Of lie Old homestead.
iA'i is ihc place where we ir-t meet
i'r welcome Of llcavcn. There must
i'ia place where the departed .ririt
rntcr> and Il place in which it con
front, the inhabitants celestial. The
reception room Of the newly arrived
from this world What scenes i. must
have witnessed since the first guest
arrived, the victim Of the first fratri-
eide, pious Abcll In that room
CHRIST lovingly rrccts all newcomers.
lie redeemed them, and He has the
right t" the first embrace on arrival.
What II minute when the asccndcd
spirit first sees the Lord Better
than all we ever read about Him or
talked abont Him or sang about Him
III all the churches and through all
our earthly lifetime will it be, Just
for one sccoul to sec Vim. The most
rhrturons idea We ever had Of Him on
sacralicntal days or at the height Of
some great revival Or under the uplift-
cd baton OF an 0ratorio is bankruptcy
OF thought compared with the first
Hash OF Ills appearance IN that rcccp-
tion room. At that moment when
you confront each other, Christ look
ing upon you and you looking upon
Christ, there will be an ccstatic thrill
and surging Of emotion that bcggar all
description. Look They need no
! introduction. Long ago Christ chose
F, that rcpcntant sinner, and that repent
ant sinner chose Christ. Mighticst
moment Of an immortal listory-thc
first kiss of heaven! Jesus and the
soul! The soul and Jesus
But now into that reception room
pour The glorificd kinsfolk, enough Of
earthly retention to let you know them,
but without their wounds or their
sickness or their troubles. See what
heaven has done for thcn-so radiant
SO gle :ful, so transportingly lovely!
They call you by name. They greet
you with an ardor proportoncd to the
anguish of your parting and thc
length OF your separation. Father!
Mother! There is your child. ST.
tcrs! Brothers! Friends! wish
you joy. For years apart, together
again III the reception room of the
old homestead. You see, they will
know you are coming. There arc SO
many immortals filling all the spaces
between here and heaven that news
like that flies like lightning. They
will be there i'll an instant. Though
they were in some other world on cr-
rand from God, Il signal would be
thrown that would fetch them.
Though you might at first feel dazcd
and ovcrawcd at their supcrnal splcn-
dor, Ill that feeling will be gone at
their first touch Of heavenly sa!uta-
ton, and We will say: ooh, my lost
boy! "Oh. my lost companion!'
'Oh, my lost friend! Are we here to-
gcthcr! What scenes in that recep-
tion room of the old homestead have
been witnessed! There met Joseph
and Jacob, finding it brighter room
than anything they saw in Pharaoh's
palac'; David and the little child for
"h"m T." once tasted and wept; Mary
and Lazarus after the hcartbreak of
Br'hany; Timothy and grandmother
l."l-; Isabella Graham and her sailor
sun; Alfred and George Goodman, the
III. >,cry "f the sea at last made mani
fest; Luther and Magdalene, the
daughter he bemoaned; John Howard
and the prisoners whom he gospelized,
aud multitudcs without number who.
once SO weary and so sad, parted on
earth, but gloriously met in heaven.
Among all the rooms Of that house
there is no one that more enraptures
my soul than that reception room.
I'm my Fathers house are many
rooms
Another room in our Fathers house
is the throne room. We belong to the
royal family. The blood of King
Jesus flows in our veins, so we have
a right to enter the throne room. It
is no easy thing on earth to get
through even the outside door of a
kings residence. During the Franco
German war, one eventide in the sum-
mer Of 1870, l stood studying the ex-
} quisitc sculpturing Of the gate of the
Tuilcries, Paris. Lost in admiration
of the wonderful art Of that gate, 1
knew not that 1 was exciting suspic-