The Penn's Grove record., 1900-05-18
XXI. PENIS GROVE, N. j., FRIDAY, NAY IS, 1900.

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 q how glad you were to see him.
What Will be our Joy, after WI 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 been
away from our friends ten or fifteen years
and VIC come upon them we see how DIFF.
ferently they look. Their hair has turned,
and wrinkles have come in their faces,
and we say, chow you have ~changedl'
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 exultatlon we can
not Q imagine, "How you have
changedl"
In this world we only meet to part. II
r. goodby, goodby; farewells floating in the
air. We hear 1t at the rail car window and
at the steamboat wharf-goodby. Chill
dren lisp It and old age answers 1t. Some
times we say 1t In q light way-'sgoodby"
and sometimes with anguish In which the
soul breaks down. Goodbyl All, that is
the word that ends the Thanksgiving ban-
quetsl That is the word that comes in to
close the Christmas chant. Goodby. good
byl But not so In heaven. Welcomes In
the air, welcomes at the gates, Welcomes
at the house OF many mansions, but no
goodby. That group is constantly be-
ing augmented. They are going up from
our circles OF earth to join tilt
tie voices to join the anthem, little
hands to take hold In the great home
circle, little feet to dance IN the eternal
Rlee, little crowns to be cast down before
the feet OF Jesus. Our friends are In two
groups-a group this side OF the river and
4 group on the other side OF the river. Now
there goes one from this to that and an
other from this to that. and soon we will
all be gone over. How many Of your loved
ones have already entered upon that
pencil, do you think I could put them all
down? All, my friends. the waves Of Jor-
dan roar 80 hoarsely we cannot hear the
Joy on the other side when that group Is
augmented
a little child's mother had died, and
they comforted her. They said: ssYour
mother has gone to heaven. Don't cry"
And 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.
looking down, said: sIs this heaven?" We
have no idea what heaven Is. It Is the
grave here, 1t Is darkness here, but there is
merrymaking yonder. Methinks when a
soul arrives some angel takes 1t around to
show 1t the wonders of that blessed place.
The usher angel says to the newly arrived:
'sThese are the martyrs that persisted at
Piedmont; these were torn to pieces at the
inquisition; this is the throne OF the great
Jehovah; this is Jesus II am going to
see Jesus, said q dying boy; II am going
to see Jesus" The missionary said: "You
are sure you will see Him2'' sob, yes;
that's what I want to 90 to heaven for =
"But," said the missionary, suppose Jesus
should go away from heaven-what then?''
II should follow him. p said b hedging boy.
.But II Jesus went down to hell-what
then?" The dying boy thought for q mo-
ment and then said, "Where Jesus is there
can be nc hell" oh. to stand in his pres
ence! That will be heavenl Oh, to put our
hand into that hand which was wounded
Tor 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 Onesi
That will be the great reunion. We cannot
imagine it now. Our loved ones seem so far
away. When we are in trouble and lone
some, they don't seem to come to US. WeRo
on 10th banks of the Jordan and call across
to them, but they do not seem to hear.
We say, "Is It 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
watersl None, nonel Unbelief says, ssThey
are dead, and they are annihilated," bur,
blessed be God, we have q 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 onlv waiting for our coming and thai
we shall join them on the other side ofthe
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.
Whit q n1uao ~ avp1onokin - It'll = ~ r
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 idfotic 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
fllumined 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
blind and Joseph that 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 ali the grander for earth's
weeping eyes and aching heads n ex-
hausted hands and sconrged 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-
p~recIate the power OF sacred sOng2 There
is nothing more inspiring to me than q
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 the music, voices none the
less sweet because they did tremble and
break.
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 Doxofogy
and the scepters OF eternity beat time In
the music. Away then with your starvel-
ing 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
cheer1
All hail the power OF Jesus's nameI
Let angels PROSTATE fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem
And crown Him Lord OF all.
But, my friends, II music on earth is SO
sweet what will 1t be in heaven2 They all
know the tune there. All the best singers
OF all the ages will join it, choirs OF white
robed children, choirs of patriarchs, chofrs
Of apostles. Morning stars ~clapping their