The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-09-12
SHALL WE MEET AGAIN?
DR.. TALMAGE ANSWERS THE GREAT
QUESTION AFFIRMATNELY.

DR.. TAlMAGE ANSWERS THE GREAT
QUESTION AFFlRMATlvELY.
The Bible Gives Many Assurances That
We Will Know Our Friends in Heaven.
They Are Waiting for Us on the Other
Side.
WAsECA, Mimi, July 13.-The Rev.
DR.. Talmage, who lectured here yester-
day, preached to an enormous outdoor
gathering here today. His subject was.
Meeting Our Friends in Heaven" The
eminent clergyman took for his text II
Samuel xii, %: II shall go to him"
His sermon was as follows:
There is 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 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 Tears are wine to the King of
Terrors. Alas for David the kingl He
can neither sleep nor eat, and lies pros
trate on his face, weeping and wailing
until the palace rings with the outcry
of VICE.
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 sick2 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 whis-
pering about the matter, and David
hears them and he looks up and says to
them: is the child deadg" Eyes, he is
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
dethroned9 Oh, it was the thought
that he would come again into the pos
session of that darling child No grave
digger's spade coIll hide him. The
wintry blasts of death could not put
out the bright light. There would be
a forge somewhere that with silver
hammer would weld the broken links.
In the 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 20 to
him."
WILL WE MEET AGAIN?
Was David right or wrong2 If we
part on earth will we meet again in the
next world2 "Well," says some one,
that seems to be an impossibility.
Heaven is so large a place we never
could find our kindred there" Going
into some city, without having ap-
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 to-
gether, and how are you going to find
your departed friend in that country:
1t is so vast a realm John went up
on one mountain of inspiration, and he
looked off upon the mul, itude and
he said, Thousands of thousands. -
Then he came upon a greater altitude
of inspiration, and looked off upon it
again and he said, Ten thousand
times ten thousand And then he
came on 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 a still greater height of inspi-
ration, and he looked off again and ex.
claimed, "a great multitude that no
man can number"
/ Now I ask, how are you going to find
your friends in such a throng as thatl
Is not this idea we have been enter
tanning after all falsity2 Is this doc
trine of future recognition of friends in
heaven a guess, myth, a whim, 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 ques-
ton. It makes the lip culver, and the
cheek flush, and the entire nature
thrill Shall we know each other there
I get letters almost every month ask
ing me to discuss this subject. I get a
letter in a 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 I get another
letter. It is written with trembling
hand, and on what seems to be torn.
out leaf of a book, and here and there
is the mark of tear, and l say, "Oh,
that is broken heart, and it wants to
be comforted."
TT Is TRUE.
The object of this sermon is to take
this theory out of the region of surmise
and speculation into the region of posi-
tive certainty. People say: ut would
he very pleasant if that doctrine were
true. I hope it may be true. Perhaps
IL is true. wish it were true" But !
believe that I can bring an accumula-
ton of argument to bear upon this mat
ter which will prove the doctrine OF
future recognition as plainly as that
there is any heaven at all, and that the
kiss of reunion at the celestial gate will