The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-03-10

tnaE now lnhablt iHe cHfth. GafnDllug
saloons and rummeries. and places
where dissoluteness reigns supreme.
enough in number to go round and
round the earth. Discouragemen,s.
jeaousies, reyenges, Indebtedness. dis
appointments. swindles. arsons, confla-
grations and cruelties which make CON
tinued existence of the human race o
wonderment. Was any valuable bun
die ever so imperled as this bundle of
life? Oh, look at the address and get
that bundle going in the right way!
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and soul. and mind, and
strength" Heaven with its ~ gates
standing wide open with invitation. ALL
the forces of the Godhead pledged for
our heavenly arrival If we will do the
right thing. All angeldom ready for
our advance and guidance. All the
lightnings of Heaven so many drawn
swords for our protection. What a.
pity what an everlasting pity, If this
bundle of life. so well bound and so
plainly directed does not come out at
the right station, but becomes lost
bundle, cast out amid the rubbish of
the universal
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 pack
age that has been foretold by letter;
some holiday presentation; something.
that will enrich and ornament our
home; some testimony of admiration
and affection! With what glow of eX-
pectation we unite the knot and take Off
the cord that holds it together i'm safe
ty, and with what glad exclamation we
unroll the covering and see the gift OF
purchase in all its beauty of color and
proportion. Well. what dav il will
be when your precious bundle of life
shall be opened in the house of "many
mansions amid sanity aud angelic
and Divine Inspection The bundle may
be spotted with the marks of much ex-
posture. 1t may bear inscription after
inscription to tell through what ordeal
it has passed. Perhaps splashed of wave
and scorched of flame. 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
welcome that awaits us if 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 COM
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 COM
ing visit and are at the depot with car
rage to meet us, surely we will be met
at the shining gate by old friends now
sainted and kindred now glorified. 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 a sun that
never sets. viii 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 seraphc, archan-
gelic. The precious bundle of life
openedamid 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 % ships that were overdue.
at New York harbor in the storm Of
week before last was greeted so Eeart-
ny by friends on the dock or the steam
tugs that went out TO meet them at
Sandy Hook as we will be greeted i'm the.
heavenly world if by the pardoninp
and protecting grace Of God we c,.mc.
10 celestial Wharfage, We shall have
I" tell them of the many wrecks that we
have passed on the way across wild seas
and amid Caribbean cyclones. II will
he like our arrival some years ago from
New Zealand at Sydney. people sur
prlsed that we got in at all. because we
were two days late and some OF the
shlps expected had gone to the bottom
ana we had passed derelicts and aban-
doned crafts all up and down that aw-
the more rapturously welcomed be-
cause of the doubt as to whether we
would ever get there at all.
Once there it will be found that the
safety of that precious bundle of life
was assured because it was bound up
with the life of God in Jesus Christ.
Heaven could not afford to have that
bundle lost, because ii had been said in
regard to its transportation and safe
arrival; Kept by the power of God
through faith unto complete salvation"
The veracity of the heavens is involved
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 crumble, and infinite power
lies would dash down all the chalices
and close all the banqueting halls, and
the river of life would change its course,
sweeping eVerXt hinT with daSo1atio