Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1861-11-21
What and. Where. ts-Heayen..
- ether RefleCtfOns.k
SSmos 81 tls Rev E. f. Adanss. Paaor Of fNorth
Brood Street PFesbskeri6a Church

have been reserved with more general favor
than the Rev. E. E. Adams, pastor OF the NORTH
Broad Street Presbyterian Church. Mr.. Ad.
AIMS came to this city about two years ago, an q
the congregation over which he now pfesides
has been constituted as such since that time, al
though . large proportion Of its membership i,
composed Of persons previously connected witt
other churches. Their place Of worship is a
the ball. Thirteenth and Spring Garden street.
and viii be- until their church edi6ce is erected
for which, We understand, arrangements arr
now in progress.
A pulpit orator, Mr. Adams, who isa New
England man, ID above the average. His man.
ner OF reading, praying, and speaking is, how.
ever more similar throughout than these exer.
clses would seem to require, and little too con
vefsational for the best effect. He will pardon
u, also. for saying that his voice and elocu.
tionary power would be much improved by q
more iree and flexible use Of his mouth. He ut.
ten many Of his words almost without moving
his lips. and with his teeth imperceptibly sep
afsted; notwithstanding this, he arficulatea
with distinctness. He is of quick, nervous
temperament, and his speech, thought, and ac-
ton hnFe all this characteristic. He writes his
sGmons, but extemporizes with great facility
In his mode of presenting subject he has the
valuable faeulty Of saying old things in new
and attractive way, power which was peeu-
liariy' indicated in his sermon Of last Sunday
morning of which the following is briefabstraci:
The preacher read the whole of the 18th chap
ter of Second Corinthians, of which verses 2, 8,
and 4consfituted his ted, commenting as he pro-
eeeded- These expository Introductory read
ines, when done with ability, constitute most
profitable and important part of divine service,
and should be generally adopted. The words
ofhis text proper were as follows: Eff.
"1 knew a man above fourteen years ago,
whether in the body cannot tell; whether out
of the body cannot tell; God knoweth: such
an cne caught up TO the third heaven. And
knew such man, whether in the body, or out
Of the body, cannot tell; God knoweth: how
that he was caught up into Paradise. and heard
unspeakable words, which it is not law full for
man to utter." ~ N lslC A1-
M. Adams, in commencing, said he hoped
there would be something practicable in his
sermon, though there would be in it some spec
ulation. His purpose in selecting this theme
WIS to consider the abode of holiness in lie Jitre
1ye, and Tie obligations whieh Il saggssted to the
The frst division Of his subject was the fol-
lowing interrogatory:
WHAT AND WHERE Is HEAVEN?
In answering this he said it could not be de-
MED that our ideas in this matter were extreme
ly vague. There was nothing fixed in its con-
temptation; it was stretched out before the spir.
itual eye like lovely landscape, overshadowed
by mist of glory. This much, however, he
held to be demonstrable: that heaven was not
merely state, but place. In the philosophy
of the Jews there had been three heayens-to
winch Paul bad probably reference in the text.
The first was the surrounding atmosphere, in
which birds fly; the second was the sidereal
hesyen of heavens, the abode of the eternal.-
PzEsdise and the third heaven were the same,
the heaven where Jesus had assembled from the
cross. That it was locality, was established
by the words Of the Saviour to His disciples,
81 60 to prepare place for you," DC.
Again, the speaker argued that heaven was q
locality necessarily, from the fact that its in
habitants are to have bodies. He held, moreo-
yer, that the soul in its disembodied state.
even before the resurrection, could not be con-
tempiated in utter and complete isolation
from matter. Some persons. he knew. were
startled at the idea of the eternity of mat
tar. Yet ffght was material, and he.aven
was represented as illed Vii al light. Nor was
there single expression in the Scriptures to
prove the ncn-eternity of matter. Matter was
not necessarily contaminating. When Adam
was in his holy (innocent) state, the place If
his dwelling had been material
In the description of what heaven ia. and
what it is not, in its moral aspect, the speaker
was eloquent, evincing extraordinary imagina-
tive and lingual powers.
Having disposed of the uhat, be next proceed
ed to consider the uherc of the interrogatory
1t was, he said, natural for the mind to long TO
know rhikher departed friends and loved ones
had gone. Somehow or other, we were i'm
pressed by instinct and education that heaven
was hr oH-a place very remote from the earth;
and yet he did not doubt that if we had ewes to
see them, We should discover spiritual beings,
good and bad, mingling around US in proximi-
ty 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 TACT that dbose and 6slor, on this planet
or any other, are relative terms. By cup" vas
simply meant distance away fro : the earth on |
, hne dnwn from its centre; and by the word |
down va meant the exact opposite, or distance |
I3scarjs its centre.
The beautiful astronomical theory which is |
gradually approximating positive demonstra-
ion-that all the various systems of the mi
verse revolve around one common centre-was
Eaken up BY Mr.. Adams at this point, and pre-
,ented in Its peculiar bearing npon the subject |
under discussion. If it were true that the cen. 1
raj orb bore similar relation in magnitude to
III the bodies revolving aroupd it, which the
'un OF our system sustained to the planets and /
FIVE hundred times greater in
bulk than all the latter. combined-that great
;entrai lpmlnary would indeed constitute fit
ing world for the abode of the Eternal This
hought, he held, was one ofoverwhelmipg sub
Unity, and the discoveries of science tended to
confirm its truth. The motion of certain fixed
.tars, for example, could not be explained upon
my other grounds. The star Arcturus gbad |
within the last seventy years been found to va
y its position about three minutes and thirty |
ec0nds, and the noted variation of other bodies /
ended alike to show that there is a universal
notion OF the stars. So deeply was the preach
y Impressed with the correctness of the central
seaven idea as the capital Of tho maiuerse, that he
assumed it to have been tho heaven into which
he Apostle Paul had been mysteriously
'aught up when he heard those words which il
was not possible for man to utter.
onder the second head of bis discourse was
the blessedness of more distinct an.
prehension of heaven in this life.
The third part was devoted to an examination
d me Gsesfsene winch Christians need who en-
Ieftaih e Inc views OF the mission which awaits
hem. Paul, for example, after bavino h;s
mind enlightened in this matter by heavenIv
Fision. had given to him ga messenger of afii;c.
Iion." And the same discipline was necessary
or the Christian to-day. God carried the re-.
deemed soul along balancing it between the op-
pocites OF hope and adversely, for the wisest
md most benefcent purpose. Without this.
We should be rendered utterly unfit for cur
earthly duties.
IN the nextPlace. the preacher considered the
influence which such special views ought to
have upon the subsequent course of those who
receive tnem' In this life. Under this head the