Thomas County cat., 1890-07-31
TALMACE'S SERMON.

DR.. Talmage preached to large au-
dience at Waseca, MINI. His subject
was: Meeting Our Friends in Heav-
en-" The eminent clergyman took for
his text II. Sam. xii, %: Il shall 60 to
him." His sermon was as follows:
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 lip and
nostril of the wan and wasted, also
mounts the palace stairs, and bending
over the pillow blows into the face of a
young prince the frosts of pain and
death. Tesrs are wine to the kink of
terrorS Alas, for David the king. He
can neither sleep or eat, and lies pros
trate on his face, weeping and wailing,
until the palace rings with the outcry
of woe.
What are courtly attendants, or vic
torious armies, or conquered provinces,
under such circumstances? What to
any parent is all splendid surrounding
when his child is sick? Seven days
have PASSED on. Then 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 matter, and David
hears them and he looks up and says to
them, '.Is the child dead?' "Yes heis
dead" David rouses himself up,
washes himself, puts on new apparel,
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 he would come again into
the possession of that darling child
No grave-digger's spade cOuli hide him.
The wintry blasts of death could not
put out the bright light. TheIe would
be forge somewhere that with silver
hammer would weld the broken links.
In a 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 81 shall 60 to him"
Was David right or wrong? If we
part on earth will we meet again in the
next world? "Well," says somebody,
'that seems to be an impossibility.
Heaven is so large a place We could
never find our kindred there" Going
into some city without having appoint
ed 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 de-
parted friend in that country? 1t is so
vast realm. John went up on one
mountain of inspiration, and he looked
off into the multitude, and he said:
Thousands Of thousands Then he
came upon a greater altitude of inspira-
ton and looked off upon it again, and
he said, Ten thousand times ten thOus-
and" And then he came on a higher
mount of inspiration and looked of
again, and he said: "a hundred and
forty and four 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 num-
ber." Now ask how are you going to
find your friends in such throng as
that? Is this doctrine of future recOgni-
ton of friends in heaven a guess, a
myth, whim, or is it a gigantic fOunda-
ton upon which the soul pierced of all
ages may build a glorious hope? In
tense question. Every heart i'll this
audience throbs right into it. There is
in every soul here the tomb of at least
ore dead.
Tremendous question. 1t makes the
Ep 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 this subject
1 get letter in bold scholary hand, on
gilt edge paper, asking me to discuss
this question, and say: "Ah. that is a
curious man, and he wants curious
question solved" But l get another
letter. 1t is written with trembling
hand. and on what seems to be torn out
leaf of book, and here and there is the
mark of a tear; and l say, 'Oh, that is
broken heart and it wants to be COM
forted.
The object of this sermon is to take
this theory out of the region of surmise
and speculation and into the region of
positive certainty. People say, 1T would
be very pleasant if that doctrine were
true. / hope it may be true. Perhaps