The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1900-06-16

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great procession OF the redeemed pa-sin.
| jesus, on n white horse, leads the mlrcn
! and all the armies Of heaven follow on
white horses. Infinite cavalcade passing,
naSsng; empires pressing into line: ages
| following ages: di-pensation trnmping
after dfspcns"tlon; glory in tho track OF
| glory; Europe, Aeia, Africa North ami
| South .nerica pressing into lines: islands
| of the sea shonlder 10 shoulder; genera
tione before the food following genera
| tions after the flood, and "a Jesus rises at
| the head IF that great hos. and waves
| His sword in signal oi victory ALI
crowns ara lifted and a.! eusicns
sWun: ont AMI all chimes runs ana "II
halteluah5 cHanted. and some cry.
"clory to God most hlgh!- ana some,
"Hosanna to the son OF David and
some. Worthy Is the Lamb that was
slain!' till all EXPLANATIONS of endearment
| and homage In the vocabulary of heaven
| are exhausted and there comes up surge
after surge OF "AmenI Amen! and Amen!
| Eye hath not seen 1t; ear hath not heard
| It," Skim from the summer waters the
brightest sparkles, and you will get no
| idoa OF the sheen OF tho everlasting sea.
| Pile up the splendors OF earthly cities, and
| they would not make Il stepping stone by
| which you might mount to the city OF God.
Every house is u palace; every house is q
| triumph; every covering OF the head
COEouhtlOUJ every lNtHl Is u DAuuueti every
| stroke from the tower Is a wedding bell;
every day Is jubilee, every hour Il rap
| ture and every mOment an ecstasy. Eye
| hath not seen 1t: ear hatn not heard it,
| remark further We can get no idea OF
! the reunions Of heaven. If you have ever
| been across the seas and met a friend. or
| even an acquaintance, in some strange
| land, you remember how your blood
thrilled and how glad you were to see him.
What will be our JOY after we have passed
the seas OF death, to meet In the bright
city OF the Lord those from whom we have
long been separated. After we have teen
away from cur friends ten or lfteen years
and We come upon them we see how dif-
ferentiy they look. Their hair has turned,
and wrinkles have como In their faces,
and we say, Glow you have chGnged!S
But, oh, when we stand before the throne,
all cares gone from the face, all MARKS OF
sorrow disappeared. and. feeling the joy
Of that blessed land. methinks We will say
to each other. with an exultation we cam
Lot now imagine. GLOW you have
changel!'
little chld's mother had died. and
they comtorted her. They said: Your
mother has gone to b ,aven. Don't cry"
And the next day they went to the grave
yard, and they laid tn ,'body Of the mother
down into the ground and the little girl
came up to the verge Of the grave and,
looking down, said: "ls this heaven" We
have no idea what heaven Is. 1t IS the
grave here, it is darkness here, but there is
merrymaking yOnder. Methinks when
soul arrives some angel takes 1t around to
show 1t the wonders OF that blessed place
The usher angel says to the newly arrived.
"These are the martyrs that perished at
Piedmont; these were torn to pieces at the
inquistion; this ID the throne OF the great
Jehovah; this is Jesus" II anu going to
l,,;r Nov, nt,,,,
to see Jesus" The missionary said: "YoL
are sure you will see Him?'' "Oh, yes;
that's what I want to go to heaven tor."
"But," said the missionary, suppose Jesus
should 20 away from heaven-What them"
81 should follow him." said the dying boy.
"But II Jesus went down to heli-what
then?" The dying boy thought for mo-
ment and then said. "Where Jesus is there
can be no HE'LL" Oh, to stand In his pres
ence! That will be heaven! Oh, to put our
hand into that hand which was wounded
for US on the cross, to go around amid the
groups OF the redeemed and shake hands
with the prophets and apostles and mar
tyrs and with our own dear beloved onesl
That will be the great reunion. We cannot
imagine 1t now. Our loved oues seem SO far
away. When we are In trouble and lone
some, they don't seem to come to us. We 90
on to the banks ofthe Jordan aud call across
to them, but they do not seem to hear.
We say. "L 1t well with the child, is 1t
we'll with the loved ones?" and we listen to
hear II any voice comes back over the
waters! None, none! Unbelief says, "They
are dead, and they are annihilated," but,
blessed be God, we have Bible that tells
US different. We open 1t, and we find they
are neither dead nor annihilated, that they
were never so much alive as now that they
are only waiting Tor our coming and that
we shall join them on the other side OF the
river. Oh, glorious reunion, we cannot
grasp it nowl Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart
OF man, the things which God hath pre-.
pared for them that love Him."
What place OF explanation 1t will b e! ]
see every day profound mysteries of provl-
dence. There is no question we ask often
or than why? There are hundreds OF
graves In Greenwood and Laurel Hill that
need to be explained. Hospitals for the
blind and lame, asylums for the idiottc and
insane, almshouses for the destitute and q
world OF pain and misfortune that demand
more than human solution. God will
clear 1t all up. In the light that pours
from the throne no dark mystery can live.
Things now utterly inscrutable will be
illumined as plainly as though the an
swer were written on the jasper wall
or sounded In the temple anthem. Bar
timeus will thank God that he was
Dlnd ana joseph tnat he was cast INTO the
pit and Daniel that he denned with the
lions and Paul that he was hump-backed
and David that he was driven from Jeru-
salem and that invalid that for twenty
years he could not lift his head from the
pillow, and that widow that she had such
hard work to earn bread for her children.
The song will be all the grander for earth's :
weeping eyes and aching heads ana ex-
hausted hands and scourgcd backs and
martyred agonies. But we can get no
idea OF that anthem here. We appreciate
the power OF secular music, but do We ap-
preciate the power OF sacred song? There
Is nothing moro inspiring to me than a
whole congregation lifted on the wave OF
holy melody. When we sing some OF those
dear old psalms and tunes, they rouse all
the memories OF the past Why, some OF
them were cradle songs IN our fathers
house. They are all sparkling with the
morning dew OF a thousand Christian Sab |
baths. They were sung by brothers and
sisters gone now, by voices that were aged
and broken in tho music, voices none the |
less sweet because they did tremble and
break.
When I hear these old songs sung, it |
seems as II all the old country meeting
houses joined In the chorus and city church |
and sailors bethel and western cabins un-
til the whole continent lifts the Doxoiogv
and the soepters Of eternity bent time in
the music. Away then with your staryel- |