The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-07-25
TALMAGH'S SERMON.
The Weekly Discourse Of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher
subject; "Our House ON the
haiias," preached at the
lhumptOns, Long
AsIuad.)

TEXT, I'm my Fathers house are many
rooms'-John xiv, 2.
Here is a bottle Of medicine that Is a cure
all. The disciples were sad and Christ of.
fered heaven as en- alternative, a stimulant
and "a tonic. He shows them that their sor-
rows are only dark background of bright
picture: of coming felicity, Ho lets
them know that though now they live
on tho lowlands they shall yet have a
house on the uplands. Nearly, all tho Bible
descriptions Of heaven may be figurativo
l am not positive that in all heaven there Is
q 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 favorito symbol by |
which the Bible presents celestial happiness |
is house. Paul, who never owned house,
although he hired one for two years In Italy,
speaks of heaven as "house not made with |
hands," and Christ in our text, the transla-
ton of which is a little changed so as to give
the more accurate meaning, says' SIN my
Fathers house arc many rooms"
This divinely authorized comparison of
heaven to great homestead of large accom-
modations propose to carry out. In some
healthy neighborhood man builds u
very commodious habitation. He must
have room for oil his children. The
rooms come to be called after tho
different members of the family. That is
mothers room. That is Georges room.
That is Henry's room. That is Floras
room. That is Mary's 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 daughters are married
or have talents enough singly to go out and
do good work in the world. After a while
the father and mother are almost alone in
the big house and, seated by the evening
stand, they say: SWELL our family is no
larger now than when we started together
forty years ago. But time goes still further
by and some Of the children arc unfortunate
and return to tho old homestead to live
and the grandchildren come with them, and
the house is full Many milennia ago
God built on the hills of heav-
en- great homestead for a family innumer-
able, yet to be. AT first He lived alone in
that great house, but after while it was
occupied by very large family, cherubic,
seraphic, angelic. The oternities passed on
and many of the inhabitants became way
ward and loft never to return And many
OF the apartments We're vacated. l 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, | thought you would
like to get some more particulars about that
many-roomed homestead "ln my Fathers
house are many rooms" You see the place
is to bo 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
2 may be better than we are, but they are
, Of a divergent temperament. 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
G banks, but l am glad to say that we shall
live in different apartments in my Fathers
house are many rooms" You see heaven will
be so large that if one wantan entire room to
himself or herself it can be afforded. An in
genious statistician taking the statement
made in Revelation twenty-iirst chapter, that
the heavenly Jerusalem was measured and
found to be twelve thousand furlongs and
. that the length and height and breadth
Of it are equal, says that would make
e quintillion cubic feet, and then reserving a
certain portion for the court of heaven and
the streets, and estimating that the world
P may last hundred thousand years, he ciphers
out that there are over five trillion rooms,
each room seventeen feet long, sixteen feet
c wide, fifteen feet high. But have no faith
in the accuracy of that calculation. He makes
the rooms two small. From all can read, the
) rooms will be paiatial, 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 q vast prairie or in a
i mountain district people may have more room
than they want, ia most cases tits house built
close to house. and the streets are crowded
and the cradle is crowded by other cradles,
n and the graves crowded in the cemetery by
:, other graves, and one of tho richest
Il luxuries of many people in getting
out Of this world will be the
er1i,,iper IF ,,pbipJora5 and mad
>, And l should not wonder if instead of the
II room that the statistician ciphered out as
only seventeen feet by sixteen, it should b.
larger than any of the imperial rooms at Der
D lin, ST. James or Winter Palace. in my
o Fathers house are many rooms" Carrying
out still further the symbolism of the textile
Us join hands and go up to this majestic
'e homestead and see for ourselves.
n As we ascend the golden steps, an invisible
guards1nan swings open the front door AM
we are ushered to the right into the recep
l. ton room Of the old homestead. That is tn
h place where we first meet the welcome 0
heaven. There must be place where tn
departed spirit enters and a place in which i
II confronts the inhabitants celestial. The re
a ceptfon room of the newly arrived from TIL
- world-what scenes it must have witnessed
II since the first guest arrived, the victim o
the first fratricide, pious Abel. In that room
- Christ lovingly greeted all new com
II right to the first embrace on their arrival
Is What minute when the assembled spirit frs
sees the Lord. Better than all we ever rea,
about Him or talked about Him or sam
p about Him in all the churches and through
re all our earthly lifetime will it be, just TO
&c one second to see Him. The most rapturou
70 idea we ever had of Him on sacramento
= days or at the height of some great reviva
or under the upiffted baton of an orators
are bankruptcy of thought compared witt
~ the first flash of His appearance in tina
,e reception room. At that moment when 20,
J. confront each other, Christ looking upon yol
:. and you looking upon Christ there will be al
% ecstatic thrill and surging of emotion tina
t. beggars all description. Look They nee
g; no Introduction. Long ago Christ chose tina
repentant sinner and that repentant SHINE
u, chose Christ. Mightiest moment of an i'm
n mortal history-the first kiss of heaven
n Jesus and the soul. The soul and Jesus
\ But now into that reception room pou
~ the glorified kinsfolk. Enough o
81 earthly retention to let you know them
but without their wounds or their sick
nesses or their troubles. See what heave
G. has done for them. So radiant, s
g gleeful, so transportingly lovely. They ca
=, ardor proportional to the anguish G
Us your parting and the length of your separa
~ ton. Father! Motherl There is your chile
he Sisters! Brothers! Friends! wish you JOY
is For years apart, together again in the recel
NJ ton room of the old homestead. You Sc
" they will know you are coming. There ar
so many immortals filling all the spaces b,
70 tween here and heaven that news like that flit
like lightning. They will be there in an il
d slant; though they were in some other worl
d. on errand from God signal would /
lie thrown that would fetch them. Though yo
va might at first feel dazed and overawed {
their supernal splendor, all that feelir
~ will be gone at their first touch of heavenl
Sc salutation, and we will say: 80 my lost boy
of go my lost companion, no my lost friend, a
we here togetherg' What scenes have BET
witnessed in the reception room of the o
Il. homestead There met Joseph and Jaco
nc finding it a brighter room than anything the
49, saw in Pharaoh's palace; David and the lit
:; child for whom he once tasted and wep
Il Mary and Lazarus after the heartbreak
st Bethany: Timothy and grandmother Loi
fe Isabella Graham and her sailor so
n Alfred and George Goodman, Il
!" mystery of the sea at last made NANTES
en- Luther and Msgdalene, the daughter he b
of moaned; John Howard and the prisone
whom he gospelized; and multitudes witho'
number who, once SO weary and so sa