The Grenada sentinel., 1899-11-11

OIL klCUvCus 1uC1S A0Oev W X~~~
where the departed spirit enters, and
place in which it confronts the inhao- |:
jtants celestial. The reception room
of the newly arrived from this world
what scenes it must have witnessed
since the first guest arrived. the VIC
tim of the first fraticide. pious Abel!
In that room Christ lovingly greets all
newcomers. He redeemed them, and
lie has the right to the first embrace on
arrival. What n minute when the
ascended spirit first sees the Lord: Bet
ter than all we eyer read about Him or
talked about Him or sang about Him in
all the churches and through all our
earthly lifetime will it be. just for one
second, to see Him. The most raptur-
ous idea we ever had of Him on sacra-
mental days or ut the height Of some
great revival or under the uplifted
baton of an oratorio is a bankruptcy Of
thought compared with the first flash
of His appearance in that reception
room. At that moment when you con-
front each other. Christ looking upon
you and you looking upon Christ. there
will be an ecstatic thrill and surging of
emotion that beggar all description.
Look! They need no introduction.
Long ago Christ chose that repentant
sinner, and that repentont sinner chose
Christ. Mightiest moment OF an i'm
mortal history-the first kiss of Heav-
en-! Jesus and the soul! The soul and
Jesus!
But now into that reception room
pour the glorifed kinsfolk, enough OF
earthly retention to let you know them,
but without their wounds or sicknesses
or their troubles-see what Heaven has
done for them!-so radiant. SO gleeful,
so transportingly lovely! They call you
by name. They greet you with an ar
dor proportioned to the anguish Of your
parting and the length of your separa-
ton. Father! Mother! There is your
child. Sisters! Brothers! Friends! I
wish you joy. For years apart. togeth-
cr again in the reception room of the
old homestead. You see, they will know
you are coming. There are SO many
immortals filling all the spaces between
here and Heaven that news like that
flies like lightning. They will be there
in an instant. Though they were in
some other world on errand from God,
signal would be thrown out that
would fetch them. Thoughyou might
at first feel dazed and overawed at
their supernal splendor, all that feel
ing will be gone at their first touch
of Heavenly salutation, and we will say:
"Oh, my lost boy!" "Oh, my lost COM
panion!" "Oh, my lost friend! Are we
here together?" What scenes in that
reception room of the old homestead
have been witnessed! There met Jo-
seph and Jacob. finding it brighter
room than anything they saw in Pha-
raoh's palace; David and the little child
for whom he once tasted and wept;
Mary and Lazarus after the heart
break of Bethany; Timothy and grand
mother Lois; Isabella Graham and her
sailor son; Alfred and George Cook
man, the mystery Of the sea at last
made manifest; Luther and Magdalene,
the daughter he bemoaned; John How
ard and the prisoners whom he gospel.
lied, and multitudes 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 music room. St. John and ether
Bible writer's talk so much about the
music OF Heaven that there must be
. music there, perhaps not SO much Al
on earth was thrummed from trem
bling string or evoked by touch of ivory
| key, but if not that, then something
better. There are so many Christian
harpists and Christian composers ant
Christian organists and Christian chor
isters and Christian hymnologists tina
have gone up from earth, there mus
be for them some place of especial de
, lectation. Shall we have music in thi
, world OF discords and no music in tn
! land Of complete harmony? l canno
t give you the notes of the first bar o
e the new song that is sung in Heaven
| l cannot imagine either the solo or tn
e doxology. But Heaven means music
: and can mean nothing else. Occasional
ly that music has escaped the gate
e Dr.. Fuller, dying at Beaufort, s. G.
: said: do you not hear?'' "Hea
: what?" exclaimed the bystanders. "TG
e music! Lift me up! Open the win
! dows!"
S In that music room OF our Father
s house you will some day meet the oil
i masters. Mozart and Handel and Mer
r delssohn and Beethoven and Doddridg'
d whose sacred poetry was as remark
q able as his sacred prose, and jaime
t Montgomery, and William Cowper, a
&c last got rid Of his spiritual melancholy
t and Bishop Heber, who sang of ''Greer
b lands icy mountains and India's cors
!. strand" and DR.. Raff]es. who wrote {
n "lIigh in yonder realms Of light" an
l. Isaac Watts, who went to visit 81
h Thomas Abney and wife for a week, br
# proved himself so agreeable gue'
It that they made him stay 36 years. an
I, side by side Augustus Toplady. who hi