Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1861-11-20

material, ana heaVeh was represented as !
filled with light. Nor was there single
expression in the Scriptures to prove the
non eternity Of mutter. Matter was not
necessarily contaminating When Adam
was in his holy Qnnocent) state, the place
of his dwelling had been material.
In the description Of what heaven is,
and what it is not, in its moral aspect, the
speaker was eloquent, evincng extraoIdin-
airy imaginative and lingual powers.
Having disposed of the uhat, he next
proceeded to consider the ochere of the in
terroe atory, 1t was, he said, natural for
the mind to long to kAoW rAider departed
friends and loved ones had gone Somehow
or other, we were impress-d d by INSTINCT
and education that heaven was far off-a
| place very remote from the earth and yet
! he did not doubt that if we had eyes to see
them, we should discover spiritual beings,
cd and bad, mingling around US in prox-
unity to those messengers Of love sent forth
to minister to those who are called to be
heirs Of salvation albeit, the heaven where
Christ dwells was doubtless the special
abode of the latter. This heaven We must
believe was above all other heavens. We
must of course keep in view the fact that
aboUe and beJo,g, on this planet, or any 9TH
er, ire relative terms By up was simply
meant distance away from the earth on
line drawn from its centre and by the
word down was meant the exact opposite, or
distance tooodrdS its centre.
The beautiful astronomical theory which
is gradually approximating positive demon
stration-that all the various systems of
the universe revolve around one common
centre-was taken up by Mr. Adams at
this point presented in its peculiar bear
ing upon the subject under discussion. If
it were true that the central orb bore a
similar relation liz magnitude to all the
bodies revolving around it, which the sun
of our system sustained to the planets and
atellites-being five hundred times great
er in bulk than all the latter combined
that great central lHminary would indeed
constitute a fitting world for the abode Of
the Eternal. This thought, he held, was
one Of overwhelming sublimity, and the
discoveries of science tended to confirm its
truth. The motion of certain fixed stars
for example, could not be explained upon
, any other grounds The star Arcturus had
within the last seventy years been found tc
vary its position about three minutes and
thirty seconds, and the noted variation oi
other bodies tended alike to show that there
$ is universe! motion of the stars. So deep
4 ly WAS the preacher impressed with the
correctness CT the ceatrGthcdUeR idea a!
= the c0yitoi Of the unjrcrSc, that lie assumed
it to have been the heaven into which the
Apostle Paul had been mysteriously caugh
J up when he heard those words which i
! was not possible for q man to utter.
Under the Sccond head of his discourse
was considered the blesSedness of Il more
distinct apprehension of heaven in this life
The third part was devoted to an exam
$ ination of the discipline which Christian
IT, need who entertain these views Of the mis-
!, sion which awaits them. Paul, for exam
! pie, after having his mind enlightened il
this matter by heavenly vision, had Civ
: en- to him a messenger of affiiction.' AM
! the same discipline was necessary for tn
wisest and most benefcent purpose. With
! out this, we should be rendered utterly un
= fit for our earthly duties.
In the next place, the preacher consid
cred the influence which such special view
/ ought to have upon the subsequent cours
to of those who receive them, in this life
ID Under this head the preacher administere
nj a severe rebuke to the pretensions of mod
ern spiritualism Paul bad not felt calle
le upon to boast of having received neV
lie revelation after his remarkable VISION
it Fourteen years had elapsed before be eve
t. mentioned it; and then it was not to prt
7e claim "a means of intercourse between tn
L. living and the dead On the other hanC
Of Paul had discountenanced the idea thf
any kind of minstration to his brethren
10 the body, after his own separation from i
was possible; hence his allegation that t
remain with you is more proGtab e. An
surely, if SO good man as Paul could nj
OF hold intercourse with the living, after h
re departure to anot or sphere, it was nj
I'd probable that others were admitted to sue
ut a privilege, and he, therefore, proclalme
d. boldly, that if there ,oaS any such conne'
J. tiQn between the living and the dead,
IS was internal, for it was by God forbidden
e, His final thought was, that by eontras
rs if heaven was a place, the abode OF the To-
,h must also be locality-in which sou
It. would not only be rendered wretched |
e, their own history and memories, bnt
d. their horrible surroundings. One was
nd palace, the other prison-a rayless toni
be in one the inhabitants rejoiced in the OF
he er they wept; in one there was endle
en- bliss; in the other sadness aDd woe unspea
$. able; above was heaven, below was hell
by All who heard him we're on their W
es, either to one of these or the other, and c
cry one carried in his own heart the anws
Nv to this momentous question: { Am |
act lever in Jesus as may Saviour, or am not
:. 1 L u, 49, ILL., 4