The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-07-19
THE HEAVENLY HOME.
The Joy of the Redeemed Pictured
By DR.. Talmage.
The Eternal Mansion In Which There ID
Room For All-The SplendOrs of the
Great Homestead Where the Re-
deemed Will Meet.

deemed Will Meet.
In a recent sermon Rev. 7. Dewitt Tai.
mage took for his subject "Our House on
the Hills" His text was from John xiv.
9: ''In nv Fathers house are many
rooms" He said:
Here is bottle of medicine that is q
cure-all. The disciples were sad and
Christ offered Heaven as an alternative, q
stimulsnt and a tonic. He shows them
| that their sorrows are only a dark back
ground of a bright picture of coming fell
| city. He let's them know that though now
they live on the lowlands they shall yet
| have a house on the uplands. Nearly all
of the Bible descriptions of Heaven may
be figurative. l am not positive that in
| all Heaven there is literal crown or 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 pre-
sents celestial happiness is a house. Paul,
who never owned a house, although he
hired one for two years in Italy, speaks of
Heaven as "a house not made with
hands," and Christ in our text, the trans
lation of which is little changed so as to
| give the more accurate meaning, says:
"In my Fathers house are many rooms"
This divinely authorized comparison of
Heaven to a great homestead of large &C.
commodations propose to carry out. In
some healthy neighborhood a man builds
q very commodious habitation. He must
have room for all his children. The rooms
must come to be called after different
members of the family. That is mothers
room. That is Georges room. That is
Henry's room. That is Flora's room.
That is Mary's room. Aud 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 to go out and do
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: ''Well, our family is no
larger now than when we started together
forty years ago" But time goes still
'prther by and some of the children are
Unfortunate and return to the old home
&ead to live, and the grandchildren, and
,rhaps the great-grand children, and
Jain the house is full.
Many millenia 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 a
while it was occupied by a very large
amily, cherubic, seraphic. angelic. The
te>. lities passed on and many of the in
habitants became Maynard and left never
to return. And many of the apartments
were vacated. refer to the fallen angels.
| Now these apartments are filling up
again. There are arrivals at the old
homestead Of Gods children every day,
and the day will come when there will be
no unoccupied room in all the house. As
you and expect to enter it and make
there eternal residence, l thought you
would like to get some more particulars
Nbout that many roomed homestead. "ID
ly Fathers house are many rooms" You
see the place ia to be apportioned of 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 q divergent temperament. We would
ike to meet them on the golden streets
and worship with them in the temple and
walk with them on the river banks, but
am glad to say that we shall live in differ.
ent apartments. SIN my Fathers house
are many rooms"
You see Heaven will be so large
hat IL one wants an entire room
to himself or herself it can be af.
forded. An ingenious statistician. taking
the statement made in Revelation. twenty.
first chapter, that the heavenly Jerusalem
was measured and found to be 1900 fur.
longs and that the length and height and
breadth of it are equal, says that would
make Heaven in size 94S sextillion SIS quin.
tillion cubic feet, and then. reserving q
certain portion for the Court of Heaven
and the streets, and estimating that the
world may last 100, 900 years, he ciphers
out that there are over five trillion rooms
each room II feet long, 16 feet wide, l:
feet high. But have no faith in the &C.
curacy of that calculation. He makes the
rooms too small. From all 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 people in this world are
crowded, and, though out on a vast prai.
rie or in a mountain district, people may
have more room than they want, in mos
cases il is house built close to house, and
the streets are crowded and the cradle i.
crowded by other cradles, and the graves
crowded in the cemetery by other graves
and one of the richest luxuries of many
people in getting out of this world will b.
the gaining of unhindered and uncrampeG
room. And should not wonder IL in.
stead of the room that the statisticiar
ciphered out as only seventeen feet by
sixteen, it should be larger than any OIL
the imperial rooms at Berlin, St James oil
Winter palace. "In my Fathers house
are many rooms"
Carrying out still further the symbolism
of the text let us join hands and 90 up tc
this ma jestic homestead and see for our.
selves. As we ascend the golden steps ar
invisible guardsman swings open the
front door and we are ushered to the RICH,
into the reception room of the old home.
stead. That is the place where we frs
meet the welcome of Heaven. There mus
be place where the departed spirit enters
and place in which it confronts the in.
habitants celestial. The reception room
Of the newly arrived from this world
what scenes it must have witnessed since
the first guest arrived, the victim of the
first fratricide, pious Abel. In thai
room Christ lovingly greeted all new
corners. He redeemed them and He ha:
the right to the first embrace on their ar.
rival. What a minute when the assembled
spirit first sees the Lord. Better than al
we ever read about Him or talked about
Him or sang about Him in all the churche.
and through all our earthly lifetime, viii
it be. just for one second to see Him. The
most rapturous idea we ever had of Him OF
sacramental days or at the height of some
great revival or under the uplifted bator
Of an oratorion bankruptcy Of thought:
compared with the first flash of His ap'
pearance in that reception room. At thai