The record-union., 1899-06-26
LATE MRS. BEN R. CROKER.
Special Services ct the Congrega-
tional Church In Her Memory
Songs and Flowers.

Songs and Flowers.
There was large attendance at the
Congregational Church yesterday morn
ing. the occasion being memorial ser
vice in which special reference was
made to the late Mrs. Mary E. Croker,
wife OF Ben r.. Croker, who for twen-
ty-one years was member of the
church. The pulpit and platform were
beautifully wreathed with flowers and
offerings expressive of the high esteem
In which deceased was held by the con-
gregationL
The congregational and choir hymns
We're appropriate to the OCCASION and
the following sermon was preached by
Rev. j. B. Silcox:
And ! heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, write, blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord from hence
forth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors and their
works do follow them. Rev. IA, Ii.
This is benediction where mankind
is not accustomed to look for one II
Is a benediction, not on the cradle, but
on the coffin. It is benediction, not
on the living, but ON the dead. Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord. Sad
oftimes are the living, but blessed are
the dead. They have finished their task.
They have fulfilled their mission. They
rest from their labors. From the low
lands of earth they have risen to the
eternal hills of light. Their mortal
weakness has been exchanged for i'm
mortal power. They who once bore the
image of the earthly, now bear the
image of the heavenly. Blessed are the
dead
This passage teaches us to look upon
death not from the earthly, but from
the heavenly side. 1t was a voice from
heaven which said, BLESSED are the
dead who die in the Lord" When a
soul passes away from earth to heaven
men standing about the bier, weeping
say he is dead The angels, beholdins
the passing away of the soul, rejoice
and say, he Is born, he has come into
larger, fuller, diviner life. He has come
from where death reigns to where there
is no death. Death walls here are birth
songs yonder. Looked on from the
earthly side, death is a loss, misfor-
tune, a thing to grieve over. Men
speak of death as grim monster, a
black winged messenger, from whose
cruel clutch none can escape.
The conception of death that we get
from the Bible, and especially from the
New testament, changes all this. The
grave has been robbed of its terrors,
and death of its gloom, because of the
fact that Jesus died and rose again and
brought life and Immortality to light.
Where men before saw a grim monster
they now see angels in white. Instead
of looking downward into the tomb, we
are taught to look upward to the city OF
God, with gates of. pearl and streets OF
gold. where songs of joy abound and
where sorrow is unknown Death and
love" said Michael Angelo, ARE two
wings which bear men from earth te
heaven" Therefore. at the grave we
are enabled to look up and sing I know
that my Redeemer liveth. and because
He lives we shall live also
There is no death, what seems so is tran
sition,
This life of mortal breath. is but the SUI
burb of the life Elysian
Whose portals we call death.
When Paul knew that his earthly ca
reer was near its close he did not speak
of dying. He spoke of a desire to de-
part and be with Christ He did not
think of the coffin and the grave. His
eyes were fixed above on Jesus, into
whose presence this messenger from
God would bring him. AS he came neal
the confines of the eternal world the
realities and glories of heaven thrilled
his soul with ardent expectation He
would rather be absent from the body
to be present with the Lord. Therefore
he said, THE time of my departure is
at hand. l have finished my course
nceforth''-henceforth what? Grim
death and gloomy grave? No! No! He
bounded over these as though they die
not exist. In his mind they had no ex-
iStence, for Jesus Christ hath abolished
death. / have finished my course
.henceforth there is laid up for me g
croNu of righteousness which the Lord
the righteous judge, shall give me a.
that day." The day of death in his
mind was coronation day, the day ht
wouldI receive from the Lord the crown
of Righteousness. In his mind to dis
was to depart from this world in order
to be with Christ.
We need to educate ourselves in the
New Testament conception of death ant
the future life. We need to let Chris,
tian thoughts of death possess oul
minds, else we will lapse into dark
gloomy, pagan conceptions of death ans
the future. We need to Danish all has
and mist and uncertainty from oul
conceptions of the future state, anG
speak of the life beyond with lifted
brow and cheerful tone. as we would
talk of some great university int
which we were about to enter, or o.
some rich inheritance into which we ex
pected soon to come into possession
Think how positive and calm and as
sured are the affirmations of Jesus ant
the Apostles concerning the life beyond
They are as sure of the life to com,
as they are of the life that now is. The,
know that If the earthly house of tfei
tabernacle We're dissolved, they have
building of God, an house not mad,
with hands, eternal in the heavens. TIL
things they saw were temporal, tn,
unseen was eternal Therefore. the,
looked for city that had foundations
whose maker and builder is God
In harmony with the benediction o
the text is that beautiful passage il