The Penn's Grove record., 1901-04-26
in drinr allerintinns. l have moi nnr sym.

pie arranged that on the day of his coron.
nation the stonemason should come and
consult him about his tombstone that after
a while he would need, and there are men
who are monomanical on the subject OF
departure from this life by death, and the
more they think of it the less prepared
are they to go. This is an unmanliness
not worthy of you, nor worthy of me.
Saladin. the greatest conqueror of his
day. while diving ordered the tunic he had
on him to be carried after his death on a
spear at the head OF his army, and then
the soldier ever and anon should stop and
say: Behold all that is left of Saladin, the
emperor and ~conquerori OF all the states
he conquered, of all the wealth he accumu-
lated, nothing did he retain but this
shroudl"
l have no sympathy with such behavior
or such absurd demonstration, or with
much that we hear uttered in regard to de-
parture from this life to the next. There
is a common-sensical idea on this subject
that you and | need to consider - that
there are only two styles of departure.
A thousand feet under ground, by light
of torch toiling in a miners shaft, a ledge
of rock may fall upon US, and we may die
a miners death. Far out at sea, falling
from the slippery ~ratlines and broken on
the halyards, we may die a sailors death.
On mission Of mercy in hospital, amid bro
ken bones and reeling leprosies and raging
%fevers, we may die a phllanthropists
death.
On the field of battle, serving God and
our country, slugs through the heart, the
gun carriage may roll over us. and we may
die a patriots death. But. after all, there
are only two styles of departure-the death
Of the righteous and of the wicked, and
we all want to die the former.
God grant that when the hour comes
you may be at homel You want the hand
of your kindred in your hand. You want
your children to surround you. You want
the light on your pillow from eyes that
have long reflected your love. You want
the room still. You do not want any GU
rious strangers standing around watching
you. Yon want your kindred from afar to
hear your last prayer. l think that is the
wish of all of us. But is that all? Can
earthly friends hold us when the pillows
of death come up to the girdle? Can hui
man voice charm open heavens. gate? Can
human hands pilot us through the mar
rows of death into heavens harbor? Can
an earthly friendship shield us from the
arrows of death and in the hour when
Satan shall practice upon us his internal
archery? No, no! Alas. poor soul, if that
is ALI Better die in the wilderness, far
from tree shadow and far from fountain.
alone, v~ultures cireling through the air
waiting lOI uuE bOuN. utihipMh w men
and to have no burial if only Christ would
say through the solitudes, Il will never
leave thee; | will never forsake thee"
From that pillow of stone a ladder would
soar heavenward, angels coming and going,
and across the solitude and the barrenness
would come the sweet notes of heavenly
minstrelsy,
Gordon Hall, far from lone, dying in
the door Of a heather temple, said, Glory
10 Thaa n Ga1fD What did DIVING Will
berfore say to his wife? Come and sit
beside me and let us talk Of heaven.
never knew what happiness was until |
found Christ" What did dying Hannah
More say? "To go to heaven, think what
that is! To go to Christ, who died that l
might live! Oh, glorious grave! Oh, what
a glorious thing it is to die! Oh, the love
of Christ, the love of Christ"
What did Mr.. Toplady, the great hymn
maker, say in his last hour? "Who can
measure the depth of the third heaven?
Oh, the sunshine hat fills my soul! / shall
soon be gone, for surely no one can hive
here after such glories as God has mani
tested to my soul"
What did the dying Janeway say? Il
can as easily die as close nv eyes or turn
my head in sleep. Before a few hours have
passed / shall stand on Mount Zion with
the one hundred and forty and four thou
sand and with the just men made perfect,
and we shall ascribe riches and honor and
glory and majesty and dominion unto God
and the Lamb" DIR. Taylor, condemned
to burn at the stake, or his way thlther
broke away from the guardsmen and went
bounding and leaping and jumping toward
the fire; glad to go to Jesus and to die 1ot
Him. Sir Charles Hare in his last moment
had such rapturous vision that he CRED,
Upward, upward, upward!" And so
great was the peace of one of Christ DIS
ciples that he put his finger upon the
pulse in his wrist and counted it and OBJ,
served its hating beats until his life had
ended here to begin in heaven. But
grander than that was the testimony OF
the WORKOUT first missionary when in the
Mamartine dungeon he cried: Il am now
ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand! | have fought the
good fight. | have finished my course. L
have kept the faith. Henceforth there IS
laid up for me a crown OF righteousness;
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, VIII
give me in that day, and not to me only;
but to all them that love His appearing!
Do you not see that christ Is ABOVE all III
diving alterations? =,
Toward the last hour of our earthly resi-
dence we are speeding. When see the
snrinp blossoms scattered, / say, another
season gone forever" When l close; the
Bible on Sabbath night, / say, Another
Sabbath departed" When l bury a friend,
| saw. Another earthly attraction gone
forever" What nimble feet the years
havei
The roebucks and the lightnings run not
so fast. From decade to decade, from sky
to sky, they go at a bound. There is a
place for us, whether marked or not, where
YOU and | viii sleep the last sleep: and the
men are now living who will with solemn
tread carry us to our resting place.
Brighter than a banduetlng hall through
which the light feet Of the dancers go up
and down to the sound of trumpeters VIII
be the sepulcher through whose riffs the
holy light Of heaven streameth. God VIII
watch YOU. He will send His angels to
guard your ~slumbering ground until, at
Christ's behest, they shall roll away the
stone.
The Bible distinctly says that Chrlst is
fine chief theme of the celestial absorption,
all the thrones facing His throne, All the
palms waved before His face, all the
crowns down at His feet. Cheruolm TO
cherubim, seraphim to seraphim, redeemed
spirit to redeemed spirit, shall recite the
Saviour's earthly sacrifice.
Stand on some high hill of heaven, and
in all the radiant sweep the most glorious
oh;ect will be Jesus. Myriads gazing on
the scars of His suffering, in silence first,
afterward breaking forth into reclamation.
The martyrs. ali the purer for the fame
through which they passed, vii say, .Ihis
;s ,Jesus. for whom we died" The apos,
Ties, ali the happier for the shipwreck and
the scourging through which they went,
will say, This is the Jesus whom We
preached at Corinth, and in Cappadoe!a'
and 81 Antioslh IA and N ,s at JeT Tii1 sn1, .T III,
il the Jesus who took us in His arms and
blessed us, and when the storms OF the
world were too cold and loud brought us
into this beautiful place" The mpltitudes
Of the bereft will say. This is the Jesus
who comforted us when our heart broke.
MANY who had wandered clear OH from
God and plunged into vagabondlsm, put
,Jesus who pardoned us. We were lost on
Tie mountains, and He brought us home.
We were guilty and He made us white as
snow" Mercy boundless, grace unparal,
leIed. And then, after each one has reeited
his peculiar deliverances and peculiar mer-
cies, recited them as by solo, all the voices
will come together in a great chorus
which shall make the arches re-eeho with
the eternal reverberation of gladness and