Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-05-23

triumph, every covering OF the head q
coronation; every meal is a banquet; every
stroke from the tower Is q wedding bell;
every day is jubilee. every hour a rap
ture and every moment an ecstasy. "Eye
hath not seen It; ear hath not heard It,"
remark further we can get no Idea OF
the reunions OF heaven. II 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 brigh
city OF the Lord those from whom we have
long been separated. After we have been
away from our friends ten or fifteen yerrs
and We come upon them We see how dit.
ferently they look. Their hair has turned,
and wrinkles have come in their faces.
and We say, "How you have changedi"
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 exuitation we can
not now imagine, "How you have
changedv'
A little child's mother had died, and
they comforted her. They said: your
mother has gone to heaven. Don't cry"
Aud the next day they went to the grave
yard, and they laid the body Of the mother
down into the ground, and the little girl
came up to the verge of the grave and.
uOWu, tuIS u6hNtug No
have no idea whnt heaven is. 1t Is the
grave here, 1t is darkness here, but there Is
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
this is the throne OF the great
Jehovah; this is Jesus 81 am going to
see Jesus" said a dying boy; II am going
are sure you will see Him?' "Oh, yes;
hats what want to go to heaven for"
But" said the missionary, Suppose Jesus
should go away from heaven-what then?"
Il should follow him." said the dying boy.
But II Jesus went down to helf-what
:hen?" The dying boy thought for mo-
nent and then said, "Where Jesus Is there
.an be no hell!" oh, to stand In his pres.
snce! That will be heavenl Oh, to put our
1and into that hand which was wounded
'or US on the cross. to go around amid the
yronps OF the redeemed and shake hands
with the prophets and apostles and mar
yrs and with our own dear beloved onesi
That will be the great reunion. We cannot
imagine 1t now. Our loved ones seem so far
away. When we are In trouble and lone
some, they don't seem to come to US. We go
On to the banks Of the ordan and call across
20 them, but they do not seem to hear.
We say, sis 1t we'll with the child Is 1t
we'll with the loved ones?" and we listen to
hear II any voice comes back over the
watersi None, none! Unbelief says, "They
are dead, and they are annihilated," but,
blessed be God, We have Bible that tells
Is 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 onlv waiting for our coming and that
We shall join them on the other side OF the
river. Oh, glorious reunion, We cannot
grasp 1t 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 bel |
see every day profound mysteries of provt-
1ence. There Is no question we ask often
,r 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 idiotic and
insane, almshouses for the destitute and a
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
iilumined as plainly as though the an-
or sounded in the temple anthem. Bar
timeus will thank God that he was
blind and Joseph that he was cast into the
DIT and Daniel that he denned with the
Ions aud Paul that he WAS hump-hacked
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 hal such
bard work to earn bread for her children.
The song will be all the grander for earth's
| weeping eyes and aching heads and ex-
| hausted hands and scourged backs and
nartyred 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 songf There
| Is nothing more inspiring to me than a
/ uhoia onNpraOafion lfftad on ia wa n
| holy melody. When we sing some Of those
| lear 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 the music, voices none the
ess 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-
IL the whole continent lifts the Doxology
and the scepters Of eternity beat time In
| he music. Away then with your starvel-
| .ng tunes that chill the devotions OF the
| sanctuary and make the people sit silent
when Jesus is marching on to victory.
| When generals come back from victorious
| wars, do We not cheer them and shout,
| ''Huzza, huzza?" and when Jesus passes
| along In the conquest OF the earth shall
we not have for Him one loud, ringing
cheer!
All hail the power OF Jesus's namel
Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem
And crown Him Lord OF all.
But, my friends, II music on earth is sc
| sweet what will It be In heaven? They al.
| q II N a
OF all the ages will join 1t, choirs OF white
robed children, choirs OF patriarchs, choirs
of apostles. Morning stars clapping their
cymbals. Harpers with their harps. Great
anthems Of God roll on, roll on, other en-
pires joining the harmony till the thrones
are all full and the nations all saved.
Anthem shall touch anthem, chorus join
chorus, and all the sweet sounds OF earth
and heaven be poured Into the ear OF Christ.
David Of the harp will be there. Gabriel OF
the trumpet will be there. Germany, re-
deemed, will pour its deep, bass voice into
the song, and Africa will add to the music
| with her matchless voices. wish we could
anticipate that song. l wish in our
closing hymn to-day We might catch an
echo that slips from the gates. Who knows
but that when the heavenly door opens to-
day to let some soul through there may
come forth the strain of the jubilant
voices until we catch 1t? oh, that as the
song drops down from heaven 1t might
meet half way song coming up from
earthi
They rise for the doxology, all the multi
tude OF the blessed. Let Us rise with them,
and SO at this hour the joys OF the church
on earth and the Joys OF the church Ia
heaven will mingle their chalices, and the
dark apparel OF our mourning will seem TO
whiten into the spotless raiment OF the
skies. God grart that through the mercy
OF our Lord Jesus We may all get therei
On "a Large scale.