Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-02-05
HEAVENLY MUSIC.
The Songs Which the Ransomed
Z Sing Before the Throne.
The Raptureus Melodies That Forever
Break Forth From That Multitude
Which No Man Can
Number,
UNTO HIM BE GLORY AND DOMINION

1865:
Opening hymn:
"Come We disconsolate, where e'er We Ian.
guish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneeL"
Before the service DR.. Talmage read and
expounded q chapter from the Book OF
Revelation.
The annual report of the Church was
read, showing a state OF great financial
prosperity. --..r-
Text-Revelation vii. 9-10: After this
beheld, and 10, a great multitude which no
man could number, of all nations, and kin
dred and people, and tongues, stood before
the throne and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes, and palms in their hands
and cried with a loud voice, saying, Saliva
to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb"
Holiday In Heaven.
1t impossible to come in contact with
anything beautiful in art, nature or re-
ligion. without being protiited and elevated.
We 90 into the art gallery and our soul
meets the soul of the painter, and we hear
the hum of his forests and the clash OF his
conflicts, and see the cloud blossoming OF
the sky and the foam blOssoming OF the
ocean, and we come out from the gallery
into the the concert of music and are lifted
into enchantment; for days after our soul
seems to rock with very tumult OF Joy, as
the sea, after long stress OF weather, rolls
and rocks and sUrges great while betJre
i, comes back to its ordinary calm. On the
same principle it is profitable 10 think OF
heaven and look of upon that landscape OF
ioy and light which ST. John depicts, the
rivers of gladness, the trees OF life, the
thu ones OF power, the comminglinSs OF
everlasting love. / wish this morHing that
| could bring heaven from the list oi IN.
tappibles. aud make it seem to you rs 1t
really is-,he great fact in all history, the
depot of all ages, the parlOr OF Gods uni
verse. This account in my text gives
picture OF heaven as il is on a holiday.
New if a man came to New York for the
first time on the day that kossuth arrived
from Hungary and he saw the arches lifted
and the flowers flung, in the
streets snd heard the guns
booming he would have been ye-y iuolish
TO suppose that that was the ordinary
appearance OF the city. While, my
friends, heaven is always grand and always
besutiful, think my text speaks OF a gala
day in heaven. 1t is a time of great cele.
bration-perhaps of the birth or the resur-
rection Of Jesus; perhaps of the downfall
of some despotism; perhaps because of the
rushing in of the millennium. / know not
what; but it does seem to me in reading
this passage as il il were holiday in heaven:
after this | beheld, and 10. great multi
tude which no man could number OF all ma
tions and kindreds and people and tongues
stood before the throne and before the lamb,
clothed in white robes and palms in their
hands, and cried with loud voice saying:
salvation to our God which stteth upon
the throne aud unto the lamb" | sh.ll
speak to you OF the gloritied i'll heaven,
their number, their antecedcnts, their
dress, their symbols and their song.
Census Of Heaven.
But how shall begin by telling you OF
the numbers OF those in heaven? | have
no idea that its population !s to be made up
only or chiefly from this world but from
all worlds | have seen curious estimate
by an ingenious man who calculates
how long the world was CO.
ing to last and how many
people there are in each generation, and
then sums up the whole matter, and says
he thinks there will be 27,0O0 100000 OF
souls in glory. | have no faith in his esti.
mate | simply take the plain announce
ment Of the text-it is "a great multitude
which no man can number" Every few
years in this country We take a census of
the population, and it is very easy TO tell
how many people there are in city or in
a nation; but who shall give the census OF
the great nation to be saved? 1t is quite
easy TO tell how many people there are In
different denominations Of fChristians-how
many Bapt:sts and Methodists, and Epis-
copalisns, and Presbyterians of all the de.
nominations of Christians we could make
an estimate. Suppose they were gathered
in one great audience room; how over
whelming the spectacle! But it would
give no idea of the great audience room OF
heayen-ths multitudes that bow down and
that lift up their hosannas. Why, they
come from all the chspels, from all the
Cathedrals, from all sects, from all ages;
they who prayed in splendid liturgy and
those who in broken sentences uttered the
wish of broken hearts-from Grace Church
and sailors bethel, from under the shape
less rafters and from under high-sprung
arch-"a great multitude that no man eau
humber"
Nationality and Government.
But my subject advances and tells you
of their antecedents. "Uf all nations and
kindreds and tongues" Some of them
spoke Scotch, Irish, German, English, ltal-
ian, Spanish Tamil, ChOctaw, Burmese.
After men have been long in the land You
can tell by their accentuation from what
nationality they came; and | suppose in
the great throng around the throne it will
not be difficult TO tell from what part of the
earth they came. These reaped Sicilian
wheat fields and those picked cotton from
the pods. These under blistering skies
gathered tamarinds and yarns; those cross.
ed the desert on camels and those glanced
over the snow drawn by Siberian dogs.
And these milked the goats far up on the
Swiss crags. They fought the wolves and
white bear in regions OF everlasting snow;
and these heard the song of fiery winged
birds in African thickess. They were black,
they were red, they were copper-color.
From all lands, from all ages. They were
plunged into Austrian dungeons. They
passed through Spanish inquisitions.
They were confined in London
TowerB They fought with beasts
in the amphitheatre. They were Mo:avi-
ans. They were Waldenses. They were
Albigenses. They were Scotch coyenanters.
They were Sandwich islanders. In this
world men prefer different kinds Of gov
eTent kinds of government. The United
States wants a republic. The British gov.
eminent needs TO be q constitutional mon
archy. Austria wants absolutism. But
when they come up from earth from dif-
ferent nalionalities, they will prefer one
great monarchy-King Jesus ruler over it.
And If that monarchy were dsbinded, aud
it was submitted to all the hosts Of heaven
who should rule, then by the unanimous
sutfrages of all the redeemed Christ wonld
become the President of the whole uni
verse. Magma chartss, bills Of right, houses
Of burgesses, triumvirates, congresses, par
liamenrs, nothing in the presence OF
Christ's sceptre, swaying over all the peo-
pie WHO have entered upon that great
glory. Oh. can you imagine it? What a
strange cOmmingiiug OF tastes, OF histories,
of narionaiities, of all nations and kindreis
and people and tongues"
Palms OF Victory.
My subject advances and tells you OF the
symbols they carry. II my text had rep
resented the good in Heaven as carrying
cypress branches that would have meant
sorrow. II my text had represented the
good in Heaven as carrying nightsh iies,
that woald have meant sin. But il is a
they carry aud that is victory.
When the people came home from war in
olden times the conqueror rode az the
head of his troops and there were triumphal
arches and the people would coma out
with branches OF the palm tree and wave
them all along the hosts. What signifi-