The Opelousas courier., 1892-09-03
REV. DR.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S S.
DAY SERMON.

1EAFf After M1S / behetd, una tU
great multitude Which no man could fal
0fF, of all nations and kindreds and ri
pie and tongues, stood before the thToI
and before the Lamb, clothed NTH eUA
robes, and palms in their hands, and cTd
egtth q loud uoice, saying, Satvdtion to 1
God 9ehieh stitch upon the throne. q
unto the Lamb."-Revelation vii, 9, 10. |
Il is impossible to come in contact wi
ANYTHING grand or beautiful in art, matt
or religion withast being protited and 81
waited. We go into the art gallery and d
soul meets the soul of the painter, and
hear the hum of his forests and the clash
his conflicts 8nd see the cloud blGssoming
the sky and the foam blossoming OF
ocean, and we come out from the gall
better men than when we went in. We
INTO the concert of music and are lifted il
enchantment; for days after our soul SCI
to rock with a very tumult of JOY, as the
after a long stress of weather, rolls
rocks and surges a great while befors
comes back to its ordinary calm.
On the same principle it is profitabp
think of heaven, and look off upon thatl.
scape OF JOY and light which st. JoEe-
plcts-the rivers of gladness. the treSf
HE, the thrones of power, the commings
OF everlasting love. l wish this molg
that could bring heaven from the list Il.
tanglbles and make it seem to you it
really 1s-the great fact in all historye
depot of all ages, the parlor of Gods
verse.
This account in my text gives a pictuf
heaven as it is on a holiday. Now, il an
came to New York for the first time ole
day that Kossuth arrived from HunY.
and he saw the arches lifted, and they
ers flung in the streets, and he hear{te
r1rnc hnr,ainr H. rI - - 49,
foolish TO suppose that that was the ortry
appearance of the city. While heat is
always grand and always beautiful, ink
my text speaks of a gala day in heav
1t is a time of great celebration-raps
OF the birth or the resurrection of sus,
perhaps of the downfall of some des.sm,
perhaps because of the rush in
of the millennium. I knol not
what, but it does seem to me in reaG this
passage as il it were a holiday in aven:
"After this l beheld, and lol a greanulti-
tude which NO man could numbof all
nations and kindreds and people and CUES,
stood before the throne, and be the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, apalms
in their hands, and cried with a Iogoice,
saying, Salvation to our God Mhisltteth
upon the throne. and unto the flsEn
| shall speak to you of thhagEied in
heaven-their number, their lntdents,
their dress, their symbols and thu song.
But how shall | begin by telling yof the
numbers of those in heaven? ] haseen q
curious estimate by an ingenious h who
calculates how long the world washing to
last, and how many people there lin each
generation, and then sum up whole
matter, and says he thinks the will be
twenty-seven trillions of souls inlory. L
have no faith in his estimate. Iply take
the plain announcement of the kit is
"a great multitude. which nolan can
number"
One of the most impressive this l have
looked upon is an army. Standi upon a
hillside you see forty thousand oity thou
imagine the impression if you ha not actu-
ally felt it. But you may ia all the
armies that the earth has evGeen--the
legions of Sennacherib and yrus and
Caesar, Xerxes and Alexander aDNapoleon,
and all or modern forces and 1t them IN
one great array, and then on lme swift
steed you may ride along t line and
review the troops; and that cumulated
host from all ages seems like aalf formed
regiment compared with the gIt array OF
the redeemed.
Istood one day at WiIliamsEt, and Jaw
on the opposite side of the Potoac the force:
coming down. regiment after giment, and
brigade after brigade. 1t seerd as thougf
now let me take the field gla of st. JOIN
and look off upon the hostSf heaven
thousands upon thousands, en- thousan'
times ten thousand, one huIed and forGl
and four thousand, and thoands OF tnou
sands. until put down thseld glass an!
say, 81 cannot estimate ita great multi
tude that no man can numb"
You may tax your ~imagation and tor
ture ycur ingenuity and bak down you
powers Of calculation in a5mptlng TO ex
press the multitudes of t released mo-
earth and the enrapturedof heaven, an
talk of hundreds OF hundrs OF hundreds
of thousands of thousands thousands, c
millions of millions of miltns, until you
head aches and your heart aints, and e.
hausted and overburdened ou exclalm:
cannot count them-a grea multitude en-
no man can number
But my subject advances, md tells you
their antecedents. 'of all MONS n XII
dreds and tongues Somef them spol
Scotch, Irish. German, Eglish, Italia
Spanish. Tamil, Choctaw, hrmese. AIT
men have been long in the nd you can. e
by their accentuation fromhat natlonail
they came, and | suppose iLhe great bnrol
around the throne it will ot be dlficulO
tell from what part OF eartn tney can
These reaped Sicilian heat fields a
those picked Gotten from ie pods. Int
under blistering skies Catered tamarlnd
and vans. Those crossed the desert Q
camels, and those glanceOver the snos
drawn by Siberian dogs, al these mike
the goats far up on the SWs crags. q
fought the walrus and whii bear IN regioh
of everlasting snow. and6hose heaFa eh
song of fiery-winged birdsl African inc,
cts. They were white. hey were blaci
They were red. They wre copper COLO
From all lands, from all aes. They WEI
plunged into Austrian ungeons. me
passed through Spanish iquisitions. Inc
were confined in Londa Tower. The
fought with beasts In ae amphltnea6el
They were Morayians They We
Waidenses. They were Ibigenses. Thu
were Scotch COVENANTS. They We
Sandwich Islanders.
In this world men pref different kinds
government. The Until States wants
republic. The British Gdernment needs
be q constitutional moarchy. AustI
wants bsolutism. But hen they come |
from earth from differen gne
will prefer one great monrchy-king Jes
ruler over it, And if tht monarchy we
disbanded and it were sbmitted to all g
hosts OF heaven who woud rule then by =
unanimous SURFACES o all the redeem
Christ would become tie president OF {
whole universe. Magnf Chartas, bills
right. houses of burgess, triumylratt
congresses. misunderstanding In t
presence OF Christis scerers waying over
the people who have enered upon the gre
glory. OH can you imagine it2 What
strange conmingiing o tastes, of histori
of nationalities, 'sof all sations and kindrt
and people and tongues
MY subject advance and tells you
the dress Of those in helven. The object
dress in this world is lot only to veil
body but to adorn it. The God who dree
up the spring morning With blue ribbon
sky around the brow md earrings of dc
drops hung from tree hanch and mantle
crimson cloud flung owe. the shoulder and
violetted slippers of the grass for her feet
know that God does lot despise beautl
apparel. Well, what shall we wear
%t L1r~wana III fT enw ~r - rw4san+ vrrrlfIfrrd0 a1nfs