The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1901-05-23
NO. Is.

ulSnI llFe! oN, glorious grave. Ou,
what glorious thing it is to die!
Oh, the love of Christ, the love Of
Christi" What did Mr.. Toplady, the
great hymnmaker, say in his last
hour? "Who can measure the depth
of the third Heaven? Oh, the sun
shine that fills my soul! shall soon
be gone, fer surely no one can live
here after such glories as God has
manifested to my soul"
What did the dying Janeway say?
81 can as easily die as close my eyes
or turn my head in sleep. Before a
few hours have passed / shall stand
on Mount Zion with the one hum
dred and forty-four thousand 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" DR.. Tay-
lor, condemned to burn at the stake,
on his way thither broke away from
the guardsmen and went bounding
and leaping and jumping toward the
fire, glad to go to Jesus and to die
for Him. Sir Charles Hare in his
last moment had such rapturous vi
sion that he cried: "Upward, upward,
upward" And so great was the peace
of one of Christ's disciples that he
put his fingers upon the pulse in his
wrist and counted it and observed
it's halting beats until his life had
ended here to begin in Heaven. But
grander than that was the testimony
of the wornout missionary, when in
the Mamartine dungeon he cried: II
am now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at hand.
have fought the good fight, I have
| finished my course, I have kept the
| faith. Henceforward there is laid up
| for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will 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 in dying allevia-
! tions?
Toward the last hour of our earth
! 1y residence we are speeding. When
l see the spring blossoms scattered,
| l say: "Another season gone for
ever" When 1 close the Bible on
Sabbath night, L say: Another Sab
bath departed" When I bury
friend, say: Another earthly at
traction gone forever" What nimble
feet the years have! 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 I will sleep the
last sleep, and the men are now living
who will, with solemn tread, carry
us to our resting place. Brighter
than banqueting hall through which
the light feet of the dancers go up
and down to the sound of trumpeters
will be the sepulcher through whose
riffs the holy light of Heaven
streameth. God will watch you. He
will send His angels to guard your
slumbering ground until, at Christ's
behest, they shall roll away the stone.
So also Christ is above all in Heaven.
The Bible distinctly says that Christ is
| the chief theme of the Celestial ascrip-
ton, all the thrones facing his throne,
all the palms waved before lis face,
| all the crowns down at his feet. CEeru-
| bim to cherubim, seraphim to
seraphim, redeemed spirit to redeemed
spirit shall recite the Saviour's earth
ly sacrifice.
Stand on some high hill of Heaven,
and in all the radiant sweep the most
glorious object will be Jesus. Myriads
gazing first, afterward breaking forth
| Ill
the purer for the flame through which
they passed, will say: "This is Jesus,
for whom we died" The apostles, all
the happier for the ship wreck and the
scourging through which they went,
will say: "This is the Jesus whom we
preached at Corinth and in Cappa-
docia and at Antioch and at Jerusa-
lem" Little children clad in white will
say: "This is 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 multitudes of the bereft
will say: "This is the Jesus who COM
forted us when our heart broke"
Many who had wandered clear off from
God and plunged into vagabondism,
but were saved by grace, will say:
'"This is Jesus who pardoned us. We
were lost on the mountains, and he
brought us home. We were guilty, and
He made us white as snow. Mercy
boundless, grace unparalleled" And
then, after each one has recited his pc
culiar deliverances and peculiar
mercies, recited them as by solo, all the
voices will come together in a great
chorus which shall make the arches re-
echo with the eternal reverberation
of gladness and peace and triumph.
Edward /. was SO anxious 10 60 to
the Holy Land that when he was about
to expire he bequeathed $160,000 to
have his heart after his decease taken
and deposited in the Holy Land, and
his request was complied with. But
there are hundreds to-day whose
hearts are already in the holy land OF
Heaven. Where your treasures are
there are your hearts also. John Bun.
yam, of whom spoke at the opening