The Penn's Grove record., 1899-01-06

multitude Of their riches; Ione OF them
can, by any means, redeem l,is brother or
give to God a ransom for him that he
should not see corruption"
' But | remark, there are many-i visa
there were more-who estimate thotr life
by their moral and spiritual development.
1t is not sinful egotism Tor a Christian
man to say: 81 am purer than / used to
be. l am more consecrated to Christ than
l used to be. | have got over n great
many OF the bad habits in which I used to
indulge; l am Il great deal better man
than | used to be- Til ore is no sinful
egotism in that. 1t Is not base egotism for
a soldier to say, 81 know mtse about milii
tery tactics than | used to before | took Il
musket In my hand and learned to present
arms aud was d pest to the drill officer
1t is not base egotism for a sailor to say-"I
know better how to clew down the mlzzen
topsail than / used to before [ had ever
seen Il ship And there IS no sinful
egotism when a Christian man, fighting the
battles OF the Lord, or II you will have IT.
voyaging toward y haven of eternal rest,
says, II know more about spiritual tactics
and yoYagIng toward heaven than l used
to-"
Now, I do not know what your advan-
tages or disadvantages are. / do not know
what your tact or talent Is. I do not know
what may be the fascination of your man
ners or the responsiveness of them, but [
hhp" Ai1s hplU IL " NphF N L "
field to cultivate, q harvest to reap, q tear
to wipe away, a soul to save. If you have
worldly means, donsecratd them to Christi
II you have eloquence, use 1t on the side
that Paul and Wilberforee Used theirs. II
you have learning, put it all into the poor
box OF the worlds suffering: But il yot
have none OF these-neither wealth nor elo-
quence nor learning=you at any rate have
q smile with which you can encourage tho
dtsheartened, a frown with which you may
blast injustice, a voice with which you may
call the wanderer back to God. "0h, " you
say, that is a very sanctimonious view OF
lifel" 1t is not. 1t is the only bright
view OF life, and it is the only bright
view of death. Contrast the death sceue
of a man who has measured life by the
worldly standard with the death scene OF
a man who has measured life by the
Christian standard. Quin, the actor, in
his last moments said, II hope this tragic
scene will soon be over, and I hope to keep
my dignity to the last. Malesherbes caid
in his last moments to the confessor:
"Hold your tonguel Your miserable style
puts me out of conceit with heaven"
Lord Chesterfield in his last moments,
when he ought to have been praying for
his soul; bothered himself about the
proprieties Of the sick, room and said
"Give Dayboles a chair" Godfrey Kneller
spent his last hours on earth in drawing Il
diagram Of his W monument.
Compare the silly and horrible depar-
ture of such men with the seraphic glow
on the face Of Edward Payson as he said in
his last momen 1.-THE breezes of heaven
fan me. l float in a sea of glory" Or
with Paul the apostle, who said In bis last
hour: 81 am now ready to be offered up,
and the time of my departure is at band.
/ have fought the good fight, | have kept
the faith. Henceforth there IS laid up for
me O crown of righteousness which the
I Load tha rfrbfanf1a IttlDn will utvn mn "
Or compare it with the Christian deathbed
that you witnessed in yourown household,
Oh, my friends, this world is a false god.
1t will consume you with the blaze in
which 1T accepts your sacrifice, while the
righteous shall be held in everlasting re-
membrance, and when the thrones have
fallen and the monuments have crumble1
n the world has persisted they shall BAN
uuet with the conquerors of earth and the
hierarehs of heaven.
This is a good day in which to begin a
new style OF measurement. How old art
thou2 You see the Christian way Of
measuring life and the worldly way of
which is the wisest and best way. The
wheel of time has turned very swiftly,
and it has hurled us on. The old year
has gone. The new year Ihas come. For
what you and | have been launched up
on it God only knows. Now let me ask
I Otu hIls uuNo you IluLp any HANEuAhbAOA
for the future7 You have made prepara-
tion for time, my dear brother. Have
you made any preparation for eternity
Do you wonder hat when that man on
the Hudson River in Indignation tore up
the tract which was handed to him and
just one word landed on his coat sleeve,
the rest of the tract being pitched into the
river, that one word aroused his soul? 1t
was that one word. so long, so broad, so
high, so deep-"Eternity." A dying wom-
an, in her last moments, said, "Call 1t
back" They said "What do you wantf"
"Time," she said, "call it back" Oh, it
| cannot be called back. We might lose our
fortunes and call them back; we might lose
our health, and perhaps recover III; we
might lose our good name and get that
back. but time gone is gone forever.
Now, whom one can sooner get to the GEN.
ter of things is he not to be congratulated?
Does not our common sense teach us
that 1t is better to be at the center than to
be clear out on the rim Of the wheel. hold
ing ~nervously fast to the tire lest We be
| suddenly hurled into light and eternal
felicity Through all kinds Of optical in
struments trying to peer in through the
or icks and the keyholes OF heaven-afraid
that both doors of the celestial mansion
will be swung wide open before our en-
tranced vision-rushlng about among the
apothecary shops OF this world wondering
II this Is good for rheumatism and that is
good for neuralgia and something else Is
good for a bad cough, lest we be suddenly
ushered into a land OF everlasting health
wherethe% inhabitant never says, l am sickl
What fools we Hll are to prefer the cir
conference to the eenterl What a dread
full thing it would be II we should be sud-
denly ushered from this wintry world into
the May time orchards of heaven, and il
our pauperism of sin and sorrow should be
suddenly broken up by a presentation Of
an emperor's castle surrounded by parks
with springing fountains and paths, up
and down which angels OF God walk two
and twol
In 1885 the French resolved that at
Client they would have a kind of mu-
steal demonstration that had never been
heard of. 1t would be made up Of the chimes
Of bells and the discharge Of cannon. The
experiment was a perfect success. What
with the ringing of the bnlls and the report
of the ordnance the city trembled and the
hills shook with the telumphai march hat
was as strange as it was overwhelming.
With a most glorious accompaniment will
Gods dear children go Into their high
and the last day has e3pe. At the sig
nal given the bells 0 t4the towers, and
OF the lighthouses, and of the cities
will strike their sweetness into a last
chime that shall ring ins1 the heavens and
float off upon the sea, Joined by the boom
of bursting mine and magazine, augmented
by all the cathedral towers OF .heaven-the
harmonies of earth and the Symphonies of
the celestial realm making up one great
triumphal march, fit to celebrate the as
cent Of the redeemed to whore they shall
shine as the stars forever u ever.
e4NF.n@1 p a a - 49,