Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-07-24
SUNDAYS SERMON.
ONE OF REV. DIR. TALMAGE's
STERLING DISCOURSES.
..Mee5.ng Our Friends in Heaven"

the dark lane of the poor and puts its
smothering hand on lip and nostril OF the
wan and wasted, also mounts the paiacs
stairs and bending over the pillow blows
of pain and death. Tears are wine to the
King of Terrors. Alasl for David the King.
He can neither sleep nor 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 victorious
armies or conquered provinces under such
circumstances? What, to any parent. Is all
splendid surrounding when his child is sickg
Seven days have passed on. There IN that
great house two eyelids are gently closed,
two little hands folded, two little feet quiet.
one heart still. The servants come to bear
the tidings to the King, but they cannot
make up their minds TO tell him. and they
stand at the door whispering about the mat
ter, and David hears them and he looks up
and saws to them: lis the child deadsD '.Yes;
he is dead" David rouses himself
up, washes himself, puts on new APP
parel and sits down to food. What
power hushed that tempest? What
strength was it that lifted up that King whom
grief had dethroned? Oh, it was the thought
that be would come again into the possession
of that darling child. No gravedigger's spade
could hide him. The wintry blasts OF death
could not put out the bright light. There
would be forge somewhere 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 choking grief from his
throat and exclaims: II shall 60 to him.
Was David right or wrong? II we part
on earth will we meet again In the next
worlds "Well, says some one, that seems
to be an impossibihty. Heaven is so large
a place we never could find our kindred
there Going into some city, without hav-
ing appointed a time and place for meet
ing, 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 1t is SO vast realm. John went
up ON one mountain of inspiration, and he
looked off upon tine multitude, and he said:
thousands of thousands" Then he came
upon a greater altitude of inspiration and he
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 four thousand and thousands of
thousands And he came on u still greater
height of inspiration, and he looked off again
and exclaimed. IA great multitude that no
man can number
Now / ask how are you going to find your
idea we have been entertaining after all
falsityY Is this doctrine of future recogni-
ton of friends in heaven guess, myth,
within, or is it a granite foundation upon
which the soul pierced of all ages may build
a glorious hope? Intense question. Every
heart in this audience throbs right into it.
There is in every soul here the tomb of at
least one dead. Tremendous question. 1t
makes the lip culver, and the cheek flush,
and the entire nature thrill. Shall we know
each other thereg / get letters almost every
month asking me TO discuss this subject. |
get letter in bold, scholarly hand, on
gilt-edged paper, asking me TO discuss this
question, and say: "Ah, that is a curious
man, and he wants a'curious question solved"
But get another letter. II is written with
trembling hand, and ON what seems to be a
torn out leaf of book, and here and there
is the mark of a tear, and / say! 'Ob, that
IS a broken heart and il wants to be COM
forted"
The object of this sermon is to take this
theory out of the region of surmise and
speculation into the region of positive GER
tainty. People say; ut would be very
pleasant if that doctrine were true. / hope
It may be true. Perhaps it is true 1 wish
il were true But believe that can bring
an accumulation of argument to bear upon
this matter which will prove the doctrine of
future recognition as plainly as that there is
any heaven at all, and that the kiss of re-
union at the celestial gate viii be as certain
as the dying kiss at the door of the sepul-
cher
Now, when you are going TO build a ship
you must get the right kind of timber. You
lay the keel and make the framework of the |
very best materials the keelson, stanchions,
plank shear, counter timber-knee, tr ansoms,
all of solid oak. You may build sh;,, of |
lighter material, but when the cyclone comes /
on it will go down. Now we may have a
great many beautiful theories about the flu |
lure world, built out of our own fancy, and /
they may do very well as long as we have |
smooth sailing in the world, but when the |
storms of sorrow come upon us, and she hur- !
ricane of death, we will be swamped-we will I
be foundered. We want theory built out of |
the solid oak of Gods eternal Word. The doc
trine of future recognition is not so often pos
lively stated in the Word of God as implied, /
aud you know, my friends that that is after
all, the strongest mode of affirmation. Your
friend travels in foreign lands. He comes
home. He does not begin by arguing with
you to prove that there are such places as
London and Stockholm and Paris and Ores
len and Berlin, but his conversation implies
t. And so this Bible does not so positively
tate this theory as all up and down, its
chapters take it for granted
What does my text imply? Il shall go to
lim.n What consolation would it be TO David
20 go to his child if he would not know him?
Would David have been allowed to record
his anticipation for the inspection of all
sges if it were groundless anticipation
We read in the first book of the Bible Abra-
nam died and was gathered to his people.
Jacob died and was gathered to his people.
Moses died and was gathered to his people.
What people? Why, their friends, their COM
AIDES. their. old COMPANIONS OF course it
means that. 1t cannot mean anything
Use. So in the very beginning of the Bible
our times that is taken for granted The
whole New Testament is an arbor, over
which this doctrine creeps like a luxuriant
zine full of the purple clusters of consolation.
lanes, John and Peter followed Christ into
he mountain. A light falls from heaven on
hat mountain and lifts 1t into the glories of
celestial. Cnrists garments glow and His
ace shines like the sun. The door of heaven
wings open. Two spirits come down and
light on that mountain. The disciples look
It them and recognize them as Moses and
elias. Now, if those disciples standing on
he earth coul recognize these two spirits
who had been for years in heaven, do you
ell me that we, with our heavenly eyesight, /
viii not be able to recognize those who have
zone out from among US only five, ten, TWEEN
y, thirty years ago?
The Bible indicates oyer and over again
hat the angels know each other, and then
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