St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-10-19
Heaven to be Desired.
A Sermon Preached at the North Congrega-
tionaI Church, Sept 80, 1888.


Ps. 16: lin thy presence is fulness Of Joy at
thy right band there pleasures forevermore.
a happy future for the good has
been Il hope if not Il belief of all nations.
Men have indeed differed respecting
what constitutes the requisite goodness
us well as respecting the nature of the
future Joy. 1t has remained for the
Divine Teacher in all this to bring life
and Immortality 10 light. His testi
mony and that of the Spirit-taught
apostles has rendered that Il convic-
tion which was formerly Il surmise,
and that Il power for sanctificatiOn
which before seems mostly specula-
tiOn.
There is power in Il true conception
of heaven, and we need, at times, the
stimulus of Il look upward.
Where our possessions lie"
| say we, and now. There may be
times when to forecast the future state
might not help the character or present
right living. 1t has been noticed with
surprise that the Old Testament scrip
lures contain comparatively few refer
enccs to the hereafter, and that even
the Ten Commandments appeal to
motives drawn from this world rather
than the next. And the explanation
has been given that the conceptions of
the invisible world, current III those
ages, were so gross and misleading
that they could hardly he trusted as
safe spiritual forces. They did not
tend to make better men and women.
1t was easier to drop them and Use
others than to rectify them. But the
Light has now come and has driven
away much of the darkness which
covered the world to which we hasten.
1t is our privilege to look up to its
heights and draw inspiration from
them as we tread these rough ways.
1t is much against us that we are sell
dom found anticipating heaven with
much satisfaction till something has
spoiled this world for us Surely there
is reason enough to long for that state
always. Ii is not only better than this
| life at its wOrst-it is better than this
life ut its best. The sentiment that is
coilcd in all our hearts us Il main spring
through childhood, youth, maturity
and should retain its tension in old age
is this alt is better farther on" The
| child is in haste to wear larger clothes
and engage in older sports. The youth
is impatient with the SLOW years that
are holding him back from manhood.
pursuits. 1t is no part of Gods plar
and the soul cease to reach forward
into the coming years of life or o
eternity with the same eagerness tha
has characterized its earlier ambitions
If old age cannot seem attractive fol
its own sake, it surely can for the rea-
son that it is one stage of our progres.
upward, whose discomforts may b,
made few and light by the presence o
! Christ, and that it is soon over Blu
heaven is a renewal of conscious anG
evident growth, stage after stage, lik
that which we experience in our earthl
. life, and it is contrary to the funda
mental law of our being that we do no
stretch ont our hands toward it as W
do in this life toward that which beck
ons from before.
Let us turn our thoughts that wa
; at this hour and see if there is No
some such response within us.
|. Personal elements that help t
constitute heaven.
/. First a body. The soul is to /
thus clothed in heaven, as it has bee
here. Now that revelation has taugl
$, us this we can almost say that it mu
2 he so. 1t is through this mechanics
that we receive impressions from al
outer world in which we may
placed, though its senses may diff
in number and character to suit di