The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-09-18
MEETING IN HEAVEN.
Discourse by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage at Waseca, MINI.
The Array Of Argument In Support of the
Worlds Expectancy of the Meetings
and Mutual Recognitions Be-
yOnd the Grave.


taking for his text:
/ shall go to him.-II. Sam, xii, %.
There is a very sick child in the
abode of David the King. Disease,
which stalks up the dark lane of the
poor and puts its smothering hand on
the nostril of the wan and wasted, also
mounts the palace-stairs, and bending
over the pillow blows into the face of
q young Prince the frosts of pain and
death Tears are wine to the King of
Terrors. Alas! for David the King. He
can neither sleep no eat. and lies pros
trate on his face, weeping and wailing
until the palace rings with the cutlery
of woe.
What are courtly attendants, or vic
torious armies, or conquered provinces,
under such circumstances? What to
any parent are splendid surroundings
when his child is sick? Seven days
house, two eyelids are gently closed,
two little hands folded, two lit
tie feet quiet, one heart still.
The servants come to bear the
tidings to the King, but they can
not make up their minds to tell him,
and they stand at the door whispering
about the matter, and David heard them
and he looks up and says to them: is
the child dead?" Eyes, he is dead"
David rcuses himself up, washes him.
self, puts on new apparel, and sits
down to food. What power
hushed that tempest? What one
strength was it that lifted up that
King whom grief had dethroned? Oh,
it was the thought that he would come
again into the possession of that dar-
ling child. No grave-digger's spade
could hide him. The wintry blasts of
death could not put out the bright
light There would be forge some
where that with silver hammer would
weld the broken links. In city where
the hoofs of the pale horse never
strike the pavement he would clasp his
lost treasure. He wipes away the tears
from his eyes, and he clears the chok-
ing grief from his throat and exclaims:
II shall go to him."
Was David right or wrong? If we
parton earth will we meet again in the
next world? WELL" says some one,
''that seems to be an impossibility.
Heaven is so large place we never
could find our kindred there" Going
into some city, without having APP
pointed time and place for meeting.
you might wander around for weeks and
for months, and perhaps for years, and
never see each other; and Heaven is
vaster than all earthly cities together,
and how are you going to find your
departed friend in that country?
It is so vast realm. John went up on
one mountain of inspiration, and he
looked off upon the multitude, and Che
said: Thousands of thousands" Then
he came upon greater altitude of in
spiration and looked off upon it again,
and he said: ''Ten thousand times ten
thousand" And then he came on a
higher mount of inspiration, and
looked off again. and he said
"a hundred and forty and foul
thousand and thousands of thousands
And he came on still greater height
of inspiration. and he looked off again
and exclaimed: "a great multitude
that no man can number" Now I ask,
how are you going to find your friends
in such a throng as that? Is not this
idea we have been entertaining after
all falsity? Is this doctrine of future
recognition of friends in Heaven a guess
a myth, within, or is it a granite
fountain upon which the soul pierced
of all ages may build glorious hopei
Intense question! Every heart In thi:
audience throbs right into it. There i.
in every soul here the tomb of at leas
one dead.
Tremendous question: 1t makes thu
lip culver, and the cheek flush, and the
entire nature thrill: Shall we know
each other there? get letters almost
every month asking me to discuss thi:
subject. get letter in bold schol
arly hand, on gilt-edged paper. asking
me to discuss this question. and I say
ALL that is curious man, and he
wants curious question solved" Blu
get another letter. 1t is written will
a trembling hand, and on what seem
to be torn-out leaf of book, and her,
and there is the mark of tear; and
say: ''Oh, that is broken heart, ant
It wants to be comforted.
The object of this sermon is to TAX
this theory out of the region of surmis
and speculation into the region of posi-
tive certainty. People say: cit woul,
be very pleasant If that doctrine wer
true. hope it may be true Perhap
It is true. ! wish it were true" But
believe that can bring an accumula
tion Of argument to bear upon this mat
ter which will prove the doctrine of fut
stre recognition as plainly as tina
there is any in Heaven at all, and tina
the kiss of reunion at the celestial gat
viii be as certain as the dying kiss a
She door of the sepulcher.
Now, when you are going to build
phip you must get the right kind of tin
Der. You lay the keel and make tn
framework Of the very best materials
che keel on. stanchions, plank-shea,
counter tirnber-knee, transoms, all G
solid oak. You may build a shin &
lighter material, but when the cyclon
comes on, 1t win go down. Now W
may have . great many beautifu
theories about the future world, bull