Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1878-05-04

D
There i not enough N the bible about
heaven 10 satisfy our curiosity but
there Is enough to satisfy q reasonable
faith. 1t is certainly more than q happy
condition of glorifed spirits. 1t is &
holy place. Such expressions as city
with foundations" a building or
structure of God and a habitation
naint to A definite locality. Certain
characteristic of the abode of the blest
are clearly indicated. 1t is a rest that
remaineth for the people of God. No
sin can penetrate it. Neither shall any
of its inhabitants suffer from sickness or
pain. knowledge shall be c2mmensut t5
with the enlarged powers OF the glorihed
soul, We shall know even as we are
known. Companionship with the spirits
of the lust made perfect will furnish
endless variety and unbroken harmony
Of social intercourse. Above all, we
shall see God, and not die,
THESE are among the most distant
truths which the scripture reveal con"
corning that jerusalem the Golden, whose
walls are like unto precious stones and
whose gates to orient perals. For whom
is this celestial habitation prepared
For beings of other worlds, or for those
occupants of this globe whom Jesus
hath redeemed unto Himself? Certainly
the latter. Christ says to His disciples:
81 90 to prepare a place for you"
Where He is, He desires that His own
shall be also. The occupants OF heaven
shall e those who were once occupants
of this sinful earth. The transfer from
earth to heaven does not according to
the only book which reveals h%eayen)
DESTROY personal identity. On the con-
trary. Gods word assumes continual
that this identity will be preserved.
The same living organism, tn same
characteristics which made the Patriarch
Abraham a different man from everybody
eIse in Chaldea will make Abraham a
different person from anyone else IN
heaven. These physical and mental
traits enabled his ~neighbors in "Ur, to
recognize him. He has carried with him
to The eternal world also such personal
characteristics that he is recognizable
there. According to ChrisEs statement,
: the rich man " saw Lazarus in Abraham
: bosom" He also declared that the
righteous will yet sit down with Abra'
ham, Isaac and Jacob in that ceiestla
i. kingdom. 1t is prepOsterous to imagine
{ that these three persons are some othe'
/. persons than those who passed by thos'
n rnomas n Garth. Nomatter what chang
death and the resurrection may produce
on the forms or organisms known a
Abraham, Isacc and Jacob. The bod,
here changes by chemical processes, S
n that there are entirely new particles /
nv physical form from what were ther
six or seven years ago. Yet am tn
same person. Ny individuality IS nc
changed in the slightest degree. Lincoln
the nursing infant, and Lincoln, tn
president, were the same individual,
In like manner, Paul before the thror
"a il and inevitably must Oe the identities
W Paul who preached at athens and WI
~ martyred at Rome. When he longed
10 " denart and to be with Christ" /
u, expected to benot somebody else but Il
d. . same individual. Moses died tltet
q, centuries before the advent OF Jesl
" Christ. Yet there was a personality st
a. existing, who appeared at the time
- Cnrist's TRANSPORTATION on the mouI
and who was addressed by Him as Moss
~ The Prophet Elijah, who had died sew
~ hundred years before, was there ali
When the great apostle speaks OF l
a Thessalonian converts as his glory a
Ia !; 10Y in the appearance Of the Lord Jes
u Christ he assuredly expected to mt
" the same person in Thessalonica.
ie- they were not the same people and It
could not meet them there, how col
they be to Him a " crown " or a " Joy
il This point is clearly in accordar
nj with scripture and with common sen
cir Whatever change may be produced
it. death, personal identity will not
its altered by one jot or little. Witht
this preservation Of perfect identity
as whole idea of future rewards and pun
Tog ments would be an absurd impossible
If identity is preserved in eternI
emit will the faculty OF memory also surv
ow- the grave9 Undoubtedly it will. :
OF obliteration of memory would amount
led a partial destruction of the individl
ler, 1t would remove some of heavens rlcl
ere. enioyments. If | car not remem
to what my Redeemer has done and sutit
on, for me, how can l Join in the eve "
lood song" OF grateful! praise before
nan throne7
IN Put now together these two facts:
Personal identity is not lost in eterr
and (2) memory remains also uninpa
It follows inevitably that we 8
vice know each other in heaven. "
and David cried out, Over the dead boy,
ark. shall 90 to him but he shall not rel
,ain, 10 me " that bereaVed father eXpe
sven to meet again the child whose spirit
- -Gazkainlu ma ,