ces so sweet and tender, and true, who are calling us away to join
the holy ones, that no man can number, who stand around the throne
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. The angels beckon
us away to join their ranks. Truly blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord.

In the Treasury Hymnal there is a Pilgrim Song by Dr. Horatius Bonar,
and the music is from Beethoven; it is very sweet and cheering in this
connection:

A few more years shall roll, a few more seasons come,
And we shall be with those that rest asleep within the tomb.
Then, oh, my Lord, prepare my soul for that great day,
Oh, wash me in my Saviour's blood, and take my sins away.

We truly spend our years as a tale that is told. But in heavenly love
abiding, no change my heart shall fear. How precious is this thought;
though friend after friend depart, "For who has not lost a friend?"
What though the storm of bereavement and affliction howl without?
Still, amid it all, the unbounded, uncomprehended love of God changeth
never.

Though our days are determined, and the number of our months are with
God; "though He hath appointed the bounds that He cannot pass, yet He
will hide us in the grave; He will keep us secret until His wrath upon
the ungodly is past." We read, however, His power to redeem and deliver
His elect, even amid the wreck and ruin of years and the gloom of the
grave, for Christ is the resurrection and the life.

There is rest, yonder; only just across the river. It is only a narrow
stream. "This is not my place of resting; mine's a city yet to come;
onward to it I am hastening; on to my eternal home." "I go to prepare a
place for you," said Jesus. No threatening danger or death there. It is
no desert dreary. It is freedom from pain and weariness, from sin and
sadness, in the dominions of the Bridegroom. For He says, "I have
betrothed thee unto me forever; I have betrothed thee in righteousness,
in the judgment, in loving kindness, and in mercy, and in
faithfulness."

"_In the Lord._" How significant the words. It is to have the infinite
arms of love and power encircling us. It is not to receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear. It is to rise above the uncertainties of this
life to the realities of that land where congregations ne'er break up,
and Sabbaths have no end. Linked to the eternal, never broken chain of
God's goodness, what can affright? Can the consolation of God be small
with those who are His,