The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-11-30
THE SECRETS OF HEAVEN.
sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage Delivered at Athens.
what are Sccming Mysteries In the d.
vine Economy God will in Due Time
Explain and Man VIII Aoknowi-
edge His Wisdom.

ioiOWlnB sermon TO the AthonlanS,
from the texts:
Ego hath not seen nor ear heard.-I. Cor.
inthians, ii.,g
For now we see through a plaas darkIy,-'
i. Corinthians. Kill. 2.
Both these sentences were written by
tho o illustrious merely human be-
Ing the world over saw, ono who walked
these streets, and preached from yonder
pile OF rocks, Mars Hill. Though more
classic associations are connected with
this city than with any other city under
the sun, because her Socrates, and
Plato, and Aristotle, and Demosthenes,
and PericIes, and Horodotus, and Py-
thagoras. and Xenophon, and Praxiteles
wrote or chiSeled, or taught, or thun-
dered, or sung, yet In my mind all those
mon and their teachings were eclipsed
by Paul aud b Gospel he preached in
this city and the nearby city Of Cor
NTH. Standing On the old fortress
at Corinth, the Acro-Corinthus,
out from the ruins at its
base arose in my Imagination the old
city Just as Paul saw IL. have been
told that for splendor the world beholds
no such wonder to-day as that ancient
Corinth, standing on an isthmus washed
by two seas, tho n bringing the COM
merce of Europe, the other sea bringinS'
Sr-~commerce OF Asia%&From her
wharyes,> in the- construction of which
whole Kingdoms bad boon absorbed, war
galieys with three banks of oars pushed
out and confounded tho navy yards of
all the world. Huge-handed machinery,
such AS modern invention can not equal,
lifted ships from the sea on one side and
transported them on trucks across the
isthnus and set them down in the sea
on tho other sido. The revenue officers.
Of thec city ven down through the olive
groves that lined the beach to collect q
tariff from all nations. The mirth OF all
people sported in her isthmfan games,
and the beauty OF all lands sat in her
theatcrs. walked her porticos, and threw
itself on the altar of her stupe ndous dis
s~ipations.
Column, and statue, and temple be-
wildered the beholder. There were
white marble fountains into which, from
nperturcs at the side, there rushed wa
tors everywhere known for health-giv-
ing qualities. Around these basins,
twisted into wreaths of stone, there we're
all the beauties OF sculpture and archi-
lecture, while standing, as If to guard
the costly display, was a statue OF Her.
cules Of Furnished C~orinthian brass.
Vases of terra Gotta adorned the
cemeteries OF tho dead-vases so
costly that Julius Cpsar was not
satisfied until he had captured them
for Rome. Armed officials, the Corinth-
arii. paced up and down to see that no
statue was defaced, no pedestal over
thrown, no bas-relief touched. From
the edge OF the city the hill held its
magnificent burdens of columns, and
towers, and temples Ia thousand slaves
waiting at one shrine). and a citadel so
thoroughly i~mpregnable that Gibraltar
is q heap Of sand compared with 1t.
Amid all that strength and magnifcence
Corinth stood and defied the world. Oh!
it was not TO rustics who had never seer
any thing grand that Paul uttered one
of my texts. They had heard the best
music that had come from the best in
struments in all tho world; they had
heard songs floating from morning por-
sticos and melting in evening groves; they
had passed their whole lives among pict-
ures, and sculpture, and architecture,
and C%orinthian brass, which had beer
nodded and shaped until there was
chariot wheel in which it had not sped,
and no tower in which 1t had not gilt
-tered, and no gateway that 1t had not
adorned.
All, 1t was a bold thing for Paul to
stand there amid all that and say: "All
this is nothing. These sounds that
como from tho Temple Of Neptune are
not music compared with the harmonies
Of which l speak. These waters rush
ing in the basin of Pyrene are not pure.
These statues of Bacchus and Mercury
are not exquisite. Your citadel of Aero.
Corinthus is not strong compared with
that which / offer TO the poorest slave
that puts down his burden at the brazen
gate. You Corinthians think this is a
splendid city; you think you have
heard all sweet sounds and seen all
beautiful sights; but tell you eye hath
not seen nor ear heard, neither have zen
tered into the heart Of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that
love Him. Indeed, both my texts. the
one spoken by Paul and the one written
by Paul, show us that we have very i'm
perfect ~eyesight, and that our day Of
vision is yet TO come: For now we see
through a glass darkly, but then face TO
face.
So Paul takes the responsibility Of
saying that the Bible is an indistinct
mirror, and that its mission shall be
finally suspended. / think there may
be one Bible in Heaven fastened to the
throne. just as now, in a museum. we
have a lamp exhumed from Herculane-
um or Nineveh, and we look at it with
great interest and say: SLOW poor q
light it must have given compared with
our modern lamps" So l think that
this Bible, which. was a lamp to our feet
in this world, may lie near the throne
OF God, exciting our interest to all etcr-
nifty by the contrast between Its COM
paratively feeble light and the illumina-
tion Of Heaven. The Bible, now, is the
scaffolding to the rising temple, but
when the building is lone there will be
no use for the scaifolding. The idea !
shall develop to-day is, that in this
world our knowledge Is comparatively
dim and unsatisfactory, but neverthe-
less is Introductory to grander and more
complete vision. This is eminently
true in regard to our view of God. We
hear so much about God that we con-
clude that we understand Him. He is
represented as having the tenderness OF
a father, the firmness of a Judge, the
pomp Of a King and the love of a moth
err. We hear about Him, talk about
Him, write about Him. We lisp His
name in infancy, and it trembles on the
tongue of the ~octogenarian. We think
that we know very much about Him.
Take thsattribute of mercy. Do we
understandable The Bible blossoms all
ever Withstha word-mercy. 1t speaks
again ai71 lain of tho tender mercies
stood Of The sure mercies; of the great
mercies; Of the mercy that endureth for
ever; OF the multitude Of His mercies.
And yet ! know that the views we have
of this great Being are most indefinite. /
one-sided and incomplete. When. at
death. tho gates shall fly open, and we
shall look directly upon Him, how new
and surprisingl We see upon canvas a
picture Of the morning. We study the
cloud In the sky, the dew upon the grass
and the ~hnsbandmaD OF the way to the
field Beautiful picture Of the morn
ingi But we rise at daybreak, and go
upon a hill to see for ourselves that
which was represented to us. While we
look, he mountains are TRANSPORTED.
The Furnished gates Of Heaven swing
open and shut to let pass a host Of fiery
splendors. The clouds are all abloom
and hang pendent from arbors Of ala
ar.Nu. "a nA up.1Nk.-A rsl