New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1889-07-17
THE WORLD TO COME.
DR.. Talmage Describes the Figurative
Heaven and the Gathering of Friends
and Relatives There.

TIE HAMPTON, N Y, July THE Rev.
Z. Dewitt Talmage, D. D.. preached here to-
day on the subject 's0ur house on the Hills z
His text was John, xiv. 2-ssI my fathers
house are many rooms He said:
Here is bottle OF medicine that is a cure
all. The disciples were sad and Christ offered
heaven as an alternative, a stimu1ant, and
a tonic He shows them that their sorrows
are only dark background of q bright pic
ture OF CO ming felicity. He let's them know
that though now they live on the loWlands
they shall yet have house on the uplands.
Nearly all the bible descriptions of heaven
may be fgurative. lam not positive that
IN all heaven there Is aliteraI crown OF harp
or pearly gate or throne or chariot. They
may be only used to illustrate the glories
OF the place, but how well they do it The
favorite symbol by which the bible presents
celestial happiness is a house. Paul who
never owned house, although he hired one
for two years in Italy. speaks of heaven as a
Sshouse not made with hands" and Christ in
our text, the translation of which is a little
changed so as to give the more accurate
meaning, says: In my Fathers house are
many rooms"
This divineIy authorized comparison of
commodations propose to carry out In
some healthy neighborhood a man builds
very commodious habitat1on. He must
have room for all his children. The rooms
come to be called after the different mem bers
of the family. That is mothers room
That is Georges room. That is Henry's
room That is. Flora That is Maryts
room. And the house is all occupied. But
time goes by and the SONS go out into the
world and build their own homes and the
daughters are married or have talents
enough singly to go out and do a good work
in the world. After awhile the father and
mother are almost alone in the big house
and. seated by the evening stand they say:
We'll, our family is no larger now than
when We started together forty years ago"
But time go still further and some of the
children ARE unfortunate and return to the old
homestead to live, and the grandchildren
come with them, and perhaps great grand
children, and again the house is full. Many
millennia ago God built on the hills of heaven
a great homestead for a family innumerable
yet to be. At first he lived alone IN that
great house, but after awhile it was oc-
eupied by a very large family, cherubic. Sc
raph1c- angelic. The eternities passed on
and many of the inhabitants became way
ward and left never to return. And many of
the apartments were vacated. I refer to the
fallen angels. Now these apartments are
filing up again There are arrivals at the
old homestead OF Gods children every day
and the day will come when there will be no
unoeeupied room in all the house
As you and expect to enter it and make
there eternal residence, | thought you
would like to get some more particulars
about that many-roomed homestead. an
my Fathers house are many rooms" You
see the place is to be apportioned off into
apartments. We shall love all who are in
heaven, but there are some very good people
whom we would not want to live with in the
same room. They may be better than we
are, but they are OF a divergent tempera-
ment. We would like to meet with them on
the golden streets and worship with them in
the temple and walk with them on the river
banks, but I am glad to say that We shall
hive IN different apartments In my fathers
house are many rooms" You see heaven
will be SO large that if one want an entire
room to himself it can be afforded. An in
gen1ous statlstlclan, taking the statement
made in Revelation, xxi, that the heavenly
-
600 furiongs and that the length and height
and breadth oft are equal, says that would
make heaven in size 94S sextillion 9S3 quin-
tlll1on cubic feet, and then reserving certain
portion for the court of heaven and the
streets and estimating that the world may
last loo, 900 years. he eiphers out that there
are over five trillon rooms, each room II
feet wide, Is feet high. But have no faith
IN the accuracy of that calculation He
makes the rooms too small. From all I can
read the rooms will be palatial, and those
who have not had enough room In this world
will have plenty of room at the last The
fact is that most people in this world are
crowded, and though out on a vast prairie
or II mountain district people may have
more room than they want in most cases tits
built close to house, and the streets are
crowded. and the cradle is crowded by other
cradles. and the graves crowded in the GEM
etery by other graves, and one of the richest
Injuries of many people N getting out OF
this world will be the gaining of I'M
hindeTed and uncramped room. And
should not wonder if instead
of the room that the statiseian cihph-
cred out as only II feet by L., it should be
larger than any of the imperial rooms at
Berlin, st. James, or Winter palace. g In my
fathers house are my rooms Carrying out
still further the symbolism of the text let
us join hands and go up to this majestic
homestead and see for ourselves
As we ascend the golden steps an Invisible
gaurdsmau swings open the front door and
We are ushered to the rightinto the reception
room of the old homestead. This is the
place where we first meet the welcome of
heaven. There must be place where the de-
parted spirit enters and a place in which it
confronts the inhabitants celestial The re-
eeption-room of the newly arrived from this
worid-what scenes it must have witnessed
since the first guest arrived, the victim of the
first Fatricfde, pious Abel. In that room
Christ greeted all new eomers- He redeemed
them and he has the right to the first en-
brace on their arrival
What minute whenthe assembled spirit first
sees the Lordl
Better than all we ever read about him or
talked about him or sang about him in all
the churches and through all our earthIv life
time will be. just for one second,
to see him. The most rapt-
urous idea we ever had OF him on sacrament
al days or at the height of some great
revival or under the upIifted baton OF an
oratorio are a bankruptcy of thought COM
pared with the first fash of his appearance
in that reeeptionFoom- AT that moment
when you confront each other, Christ looking
upon you and you looking upon Christ,
u