The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-07-27
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Heaven's Redeemed Nut
tItude.n preached in London).


great multitude ,Uhich no man could nun,
6e,, of oil nations and kindreds and peo-
pie and tongues stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb, clothed Dith tottte
robes, and patms in their hands, and cried
toith loud voice, saying, Saluation to our
God ,rhich sitteth upon the throne. and
unto the Lamb. ."-Revelation vii, 9, 10
1t is impossible to come in contact with
anything grand or beautiful In art, nature
or religion without being prohted and ele-
waited. We 90 into the art gallery and our
soul meets the soul of the painter, and we
hear the hum of his forests and the clash Of
his conflicts and see the cloud blossoming Of
the sky and the foam blossoming of the
ocean, and we come out from the gallery
better men than when we went in. We 80
into the concert of music and ara lifted into
enchantment; for days after our soul seems
to rock with very tumult of JOY, as the sea,
after long stress of weather, rolls and
rocks and surges great while before 1t
comes uack to its ordinary calm.
On the same principle it is profitable to
think Of heaven, and look off upon that land
scape of joy and light which st. John de-
picts-the rivers of gladness. the trees OF
life, the thrones Of power. the comminglings
OF everlasting love. I wish this morning
that could bring heaven from the list of in
tangibles and make it seem to you as it
\ really is-the great fact in all history, the
depot Of all ages, the parlor OF Gods uni
This account in my text gives picture Of
y heaven as it is on holiday. Now, it man
came to New York for the first time on the
y day that Kossuth arrived from Hungary,
gsnd he saw the arches lifted, and the how-
ers flung in the streets and he heard the
guns booming, he would have been very
foolish to suppose that that was the ordinary
appearance Of the city. While heaven is
always grand and always beautiful, I think
my text speaks Of gala day in heaven.
1t is q time of great celebration-perhaps
of the birth or the resurrection of Jesus
perhaps of the downfall Of some despotism,
perhaps because of the rushing in
Of the millennium. know not
what, but it does seem to me in reading this
passage as If it were a holiday in heaven:
'After this beheld. and 10 great multi
tude which no man could number, of all
nations and kindreds and people and tongues,
stood before the throne, and before the
Lamb clothed with white robes, and palms
saying. Salvation to our God which sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb"
shall speak to you of the glorified in
heaven-their number, their antecedents,
their dress their symbols and their song.
But how shall begin by telling you Of the
numbers of those in heaven? 1have seen
curious estimate by an ingenious man who
calculates how long the world was going to
last, and how many people there are in each
generation, and then sums up the whole
matter, and says he thinks there will be
twenty trillions of souls in glory.
have no faith in his estimate. Isimply take
the plain announcement OF the text-it is
- great multitude. which no man can
oumber."
One Of the most impressive things l have
looked upon is an army. Standing upon
hillside you see forty thousand or fifty thou
sand men pass along. You can hardly
imagine the impression ifyou have not actu-
ally felt it. But you may take all the
armies that the earth has ever sesn-the
legions of Sennacherib and Cyrus aud
Caesar, Xerxes and Alexander and Napoleon,
and ali or modern forces and put them in
one great array. and then on some swift
gteeo you may ride along the line and
review the troops; and that accumulated
host from all ages seems like half formed
regiment compared with the great array OF
the redeemed.
Istood one day at Williamsport, and sew
on the opposite side Of the Potomac tine forces
coming down. regiment after regiment and
there was no ead to the procession. But
now let me take the field glass Of st. John
and look off upon the hosts of heaven
thousands upon thousands, ten thousand
times ten thousand, one hundred and forty
and four thousand, and thousands of thou
sands, until put down the field glass and
say, II cannot estimate it-a great multi.
tude that no man can number"
You may tax your imagination and tor
ture your ingenuity and break down your
pow ers OF calculation in attempting to e1-
press The multitudes Of the released from
/ earth and the enraptured Of heaven, and
talk OF hundreds Of hundreds Of hundreds
OF thousands of thousands Of thousands, OF
millions of millions Of millions, until your
head aches and your heart faints, ana ex-
hausted and overburdened you exclaim: II
cannot count them-a great multitude that
no man can number"
But my subject advances. and tells you of
their antecedents, ''of all nations and kim
dreds and tongues" Some of them smoke
Scotch, Irisb, German, English, Italian,
Spanish, ramll, Choctaw, Burmese. After
men have been long in the land you can tell
by their accentuation from what nationality
they came, and l suppose in the great throng
around the throne it will not be difficult TO
tell from what part of the earth they came Z.
ThesS reapeo Scilian wheat fields and
those pioSed Gotten from the pods These
undeC bIsterlng skies gathered tamarind
. and yams. Those crossed the desert OF
cames, and those glanced over the snow
drawn b. Siberian dogs and these milkec
. the goats far up on the Swiss crags. These
fought the walrus and white bear in region:
of everlasting snow. and those heard the
song of fiery. winged birds in African thick
cts. They were white. They were black
They were red. They were copper color
From all lands, from all ages. They were
plunged into Austrian dungeons They
! passed through Spanish inquisitions. They
were confined in London Tower. They
fought with beasts in the amphitheater
They were Moravians. They were
were Scotch Covenanters They were
Sandwich Islanders.
In this world men prefer different kinds oi
government. The United States wants a
republic. The British Government needs to
be constitutional monarchy. Austria
wants absolutism. But when they come up
from earth from different nationalities they
viii prefer one great monarchy Jesus
rular over it. And it that monarchy were
. disbanded and it were submitted to all the
hosts of heaven who would rule, then by the
unanimous suffrages OF all the redeeme1
Christ would become the president Of the
whole universe. Magma Cnartas, bills OF
right, houses Of burgesses, triumvirates,
congresses, misunderstanding in the
presence Of Christ's scepter swaying over all
the people who have entered upon thu great
glory. Obi can you imagine it, What a
strange conmingling Of tastes OF histories.
otnatio1alities 'of all Nations aui kindreds
and people and tongues"
My subject advances and tails you OF
the dress OF those in heaven. Tbs object ol
dress in this world is not only to veil tn,
body but to adorn it, The GOD woo dreese!
up the spring morning with blue ribbon OF
sky around the brow and earrings Of dew