IZ mo 
 
 #53o 
 
 Home, sweet horn 
 Conf Pam 12mo #590 
 
No 74 
 
 " HOME, SWEET ' HOME/' 
 
 BV KEY". L. U. SHUCK, or N. C. 
 
 - ' % 
 
 My Soldier Friend: When I remem! thai 
 you have left behind the comforts of home and the" 
 society of loved ones, to defend our homes anu are- 
 sides from a cruel enemy, T cannot but cal! you fi 
 You have the warm regnrd of all true Christians and 
 patriots. 1 hope you will listen to a few thoughts 
 from one who loves your soul, and who would rejoice 
 to see it safe in the hands of Jesus, who died to save 
 it from everlasting death. The word home recalls to 
 your mind many sweet and delightful recollections. 
 You have, no doubt, often wished this distressing war 
 to end, that you might return to your home once more. 
 You have learned "now that, " be it ever so humble, 
 there's no place like home." Tn such times of reflec- 
 tions you have formed many good resolutions. You 
 may have been guilty of profane swearing, and you 
 have resolved to abandon the wicked practice, if you 
 should be spared to return home. You may have 
 been intemperaie, and you have determined never 
 again to pain the dear ones at home by the sinful and 
 immoderate use of ardent spirit?, in a word, you 
 
have resolved to lead a better life after this war, and 
 to avoid everything calculated to disturb the enjoy- 
 ments of home. Amid your daily hardships and the 
 dangers of the battle-field, it is sweet to know that 
 there is one place where you are remembered and 
 loved. Are youafati.er? Then be assured that 
 the wife and little ones are anxiously watching for 
 your return. The vacant seat at the table reminds 
 them constantly of the absent husband and father. — 
 Have you a mother there? No wonder, then, you 
 love to think of home^ Night and' morning, as she 
 thinks of her absent boy, she prays to God to protect 
 him, and to spare his precious life. And, while in* 
 the daily discharge of her domestic duties, the tear- 
 drops that glisten in her eye declare, more loudly 
 than words, that her thoughts are far away with her 
 dear beloved boy. Such thoughts have endeared 
 home to you more than ever before, and you long for 
 the time to come when our country shall secure her 
 independence, when our enemies shall be driven from 
 the land, and you shall be permitted to lay doWn your 
 arms and return home, to you, the dearest spot of all 
 the earth. Now, if an earthly home be so dear, far 
 dearer and more valuable is that home offered to you 
 in Christ. Jesus has died upon the cross for sinners. 
 He offers in himself a home of safety, rest, love and 
 eternal happiness, to all who will believe in Him. Home 
 is a place of safety. When the storm rises, and the 
 thunders roll, and the lightings flash, the children for- 
 sake their play and gather around their mother's 
 knees ; the ploughman leaves the field, and all seek 
 
the protection of home until the storm has passed. — « 
 There is a place of greater safety in Christ. u God 
 is angry with the wicked every day." '• The soul 
 that sinncth, it .shall die." [ l All we, like sheep, have 
 gone astray." Jesus has, however, " become the end 
 of the law for righteousness to every ono that be- 
 lieveth.'' 1I<3 is now the refuge of the soul from the 
 storms of divine vengeance. Though a poor lost aud 
 ruined sinner, if you are found in Christ, God will, 
 for His sake, forgive, sanctify and save you. He 
 o/onr can save you. His blood eleanseth from all 
 sin. Fly to Jesus for safety. Contess and forsake 
 your sins, believe in Him, and you shall be saved. — 
 me of the spul. Home is a place of 
 rest. The laborer, toiling in the heat and burden of 
 the day, thinks of the sweet rest he will enjoy at 
 night. Tlie soldier loves to think of the rest that, 
 remains for him at home when the war is over. — 
 Jesus alone can give true rest to the soul. The peace 
 that passe th all understanding belongs only to the 
 Christian. " There is no peace, saith the Lord, to 
 the wicked." "The wicked is like the troubled sea, 
 continually casting up mire and dirt." Men have 
 sought for rest, out of Christ, but have never found it. 
 Some have sought it in the pursuit of wealth, but its 
 golden key failed to disclose the much coveted treas- 
 ure. Some have sought it in earthly fame and re- 
 nown, but all the evergreen fame that humau glory 
 could bestow have failed to fill the aching void within 
 their hearts. Others" have sought it in the giddy 
 round of pleasure, but its fascinating and seductive 
 
charms could not relieve the famine of the soul. — 
 From the golden treasures of wealth, from the bloody 
 battle-fields of conquerors, and from the halls of 
 gayety and pleasure, conses the sad testimony / "van- 
 ity of vanities, all is vanity." Believe me, my dear 
 friend, when I tell you there is no true, solid peace 
 and satisfaction out of Christ, The soul, panting 
 after an immortality of bliss, cannot be satisfied with 
 the perishing objects of this earth. Its aspirations 
 teach us that it has a higher, purer and more exalted 
 destiny. The true Christian is the only happy man 
 on earth. Noah's dove wandered hither and thither, 
 but found mo place for the sole of her foot, and she 
 returned to the ark. You may go from one object to 
 another in search of rest, but you will not find it until 
 your soul reposes on Jesus. When He speaks for- 
 giveness to the weeping penitent, He gives rest from 
 the burden of sin, from the guilt of conscience, from 
 the threatening of God's broken law, and from the 
 terrors of the fiery judgment. Here is rest. Jesus 
 is the home of the soul. 
 
 " cease my wandering soul, 
 
 On restless wings to roam, 
 All this wide world to either pole, 
 
 Has not for Thee a home. 
 Behold the Ark of God, 
 
 Behold the open door, 
 haste to gain that blest abode, 
 
 And rove my soul no more." 
 
 Home is the place of true- affection. You will be 
 loved there, even if all others forsake you. When 
 
adversity corner upon you, and your summer friends 
 desert you, you can '• ; ■ to one place where you 
 are loved, e u home. . But the love that 
 
 Jesus offers you, in himself, is superior to all earthly 
 love, Be has shovi i it in coming to this earth to be 
 subjected to a life i id persecution, in being 
 
 despised and. rejected of men, and in the bleeding 
 sacrifice on Halvary. Who can doubt II is love? But 
 Elis love ia especially tender and touching to (hose 
 who love Him. [f i be even greater than a 
 
 mother's love. earth* 
 
 is that of the mother. Who can sound the depths 
 of a m >ther's love! I. see it in the - i drop 
 
 upon the coffin as she lays her little babe in the grave. 
 Is^ee it in the burning anguish of hi weeps 
 
 over the conduct oi , . 1 see it in 
 
 ten thousand acts of kindness and affection which she 
 performs, to sweeten the ; life. Can 
 
 there be greater love than Ihii > will love 
 
 you more than a toother. The j aiah tells 
 
 us that the mother et her tend** offspring, 
 
 but Jesus will nut forget you. 0, what love! O, 
 the depths of that amazing love that can be extended 
 tc- a wretch like me ! JBti at. with us. 
 
 When friends forsake, Jesus is near. Lie will never 
 leave you nor forsake you, for lie is a friend that 
 sticketh closer than a brother. He entered Bedford 
 jail with Euuyau and comforted his heart. He ena- 
 bled Paul and Silas to sing his praises at the mid- 
 night hour, though their feet were fast in the stocks. 
 He tempered the flames that consumed the martyrs, 
 
and their seuls ascended to heaven in a blaze of glory. 
 His love can overleap all the barriers of afflictions, 
 persecutions, circumstances of poverty and distress, 
 and in the dark hours of our life, will be present to 
 cheer and illume the midnight of the soul. Jesus, 
 precious Saviour, thou art the home of the soul. To 
 all who love Him, he has promised an everlasting 
 home in heaven. The homes we have here are very 
 dear, but they cannot last forever. The happy ones, 
 that now, by their presence, make home the scene of 
 every joy, will soon be tenants of the grave, and we 
 shall have a home no longer. But the home on high 
 abides forever. Sickness and. death cannot enter 
 there. The joys hud up in heaven will never be in- 
 terrupted by the ravages of sin. Our earthly abodes 
 must soon decay and crumble into dust, but that 
 better home shall never fail, for it is not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens. . 
 
 "Eye hath not seen its sweet :- employ, 
 Ear hath not heard its-sweet sounds of joy. 
 Earth cannot picture a world so fair, 
 Sorrow and death cannot" enter there ; 
 Time does not breathe on Its fadeless hloo*i. 
 Beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb. 
 Is Heaven with all its ,j< 
 
 Is not such a home desirable ? But, my impeni- 
 tent friend, you have no such home as this. You 
 may have a comfortable earthly home and affectionate 
 loved ones there, but if you have not a home in 
 Christ you are a homeless wanderer and a lone orphan 
 in this world. You cannot say, "Our Father/' for 
 you have not given Him your heart. You cannot 
 
sing, " Jesua, Refuge of my soul/' for you have not 
 yet fled to Him for safely and protection. If you are 
 
 yet in your sins Je us is not your portion. Poor 
 sinner, thou art without a home. 
 
 mist be his 
 Hifl way, how ■ pr, 
 
 Wb eye may I 
 
 The Htar above the manger." 
 
 Seek a home in Christ. Give your heart to Jesus. 
 He says, " him that cometh to me 1 will in no wise east 
 .out." • ll He is rich in merey toward all that call upon 
 Him.'" There yet ia merey for you. 0, seek his 
 face witnoi.it delay. A time may coiTfc when you 
 would seek Him, but He will net be found. 
 God forbid that any one who reads lines, shall 
 
 be -heard at the great day of judgment, calling 
 upon the rocks and mountains to fall upon him and 
 hide him from the face of ilim that sitteth upon the 
 throne; but may the spirit lead you to Jesus now, 
 that at that day, He may place upon your head a 
 crown of gold, and in your hands a harp, tuned to 
 the melodious anthems of the blest. Some of us are 
 almost home. When the pious Baxter lay upon his 
 dying bed., a friend asked him how he felt; he replied. 
 ** nearly well, and almost home." Some of us will 
 soon be there. A few more pulsations oT our hearts, 
 and they shall beat no more. The heavenly Canaan 
 is jo- Soon the last battle will be fought, 
 
 and the Christian soldier shall lay down his arms, and 
 go to that home* where the wicked cease from trou- 
 bling and the weary are at ] 
 
My soidier fri end, will you be there t A re you te-day 
 
 clothed in the garment of & Savour's righteousness? 
 
 Do you hope* tor- pardon trough his atoning blood F 
 
 ^"lf- so,', all- wili be well? If not, seek the Saviour 
 
 ™ without delay. Rest not another night until *you 
 
 have made your pence with Iliiu. Throw yourself 
 
 upon the kind arms of Jesus. 
 
 Jie will save you. 
 
 " 0, he fa full of grace, , 
 
 Aud he will ne'er permit. 
 The soul that fain would seek kis fase, 
 To perish at his feet.''' 
 
 May God bless those #ords to the saving of your 
 • souls, is my prayer, for His name's sake. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
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