Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-02-01

In other words, make this half hour, be
ginning at twenty minutes of twelve by
my watch, the grandest half hour of your
life and become a Christian. Pray for 6
regenerated spirit Louis XIV, while
walking in the garden at Versailles met
Mansard, the great architect, and the
architect took off his hat before the king
PUT on your hat" said the king, 'for the
evening is damp and cold" And Mansard
the architect, the rest of the evening kept
on his hat. The dukes and marquises
standing with bare heads before the king
expressed their surprise at Mansard, but
the king said, 81 can make duke or q
marquis, but God only can make a Man
sard." And say to you, my hearers, God
only by his convicting and converting grace
can make a Christian, but he is ready this
very half hour to accomplish it.
WAY OF STUDYING HEAVEN.
Again, my text suggests way of study
ing heaven SO that we can better under
stand it. The word eternity" that we
handle so much is an Unreasonable word.
Knowing that we could not understand
that word the Bible uses it only once. We
say, "Forever and ever" but how long is
forever and ever?" | am glad that my
text puts uRier our eye heaven for thirty
minutes As when you would see a great
picture you put IA sheet of paper into scroll
and look through it, or join your forelinger
to your thumb and look through the circle
between, and the picture becomes more
intense, so this masterpiece of heaven by
st. John is more impressive when we take
only thirty minutes of iGat time. Now
we have something that we can come near
er to grasping, and it is a quiet heaven.
When we discourse about the multitudes
of heaven it must be almost a nervous
shock to those who have all their lives
been crowded by many people and who
want a quiet heaven.
For the last thirty-ive years have been
much of the time in crowds and under
public scrutiny and amid excitements, and
| have sometimes thought for few weeks
after | reach heaven | would like to go
down in some quiet part of the realm with
few friends and for little while try
comparative solitude. Then there are
those whose heariAg is SO delicate that
they get no satisfaction when you describe
the crash of the eternal orchestra, and they
feel like saying, as a good woman in Hud-
son, N. Y, said, after hearing me speak of
the mighty chorus of heaven, "That must
be great heaven, but what will become
of my poor headP" Yes, this half hour of
my text is still experience.
"There was silence in heaven for half an
hour" You will find the inhabitants all
at home. Enter the Kings Palace and
take only glimpse, for we have only
thirty minutes for all heaven. is that
Jesus?" YES" Just under the hair
along his forehead is the mark of q wound
e. foI l,.o,, I,
his foot on the throne has ON the round of
his instep another mark Of a wound made
by spike, and scar ON the palm of the
right hand, and a scar on the palm of the
left hand But what countenancel What
smilel What GRANDEUR What love
liness What an overwhelming look of
kindness and gracel Why, he looks as if
he had redeemed worldl But come on,
for our time is short. Doyou see that row of
palaces? That is the Apostolic row. Do
you see that long reach of architectural
gloriesP That is Martyr row. Do you see
that immense structure2 That is the big
gest house in heaven; that is "the House
of Many Mansions" Do you see that wall?
Shade your eyes against its burning spen-
dor, for that is the wall of heaven, jasper
at the bottom and amethyst at the top
See this river rolling through the heart of
the great metropolis9 That is the river
concerning which those who once lived on
the banks of the Hudson, or the Ala
bama, or the Rhine, or the Shannon
say, "We never saw the like of this
for clarity and sheen" That is the
chief river of heaven-so bright, so
wide, so deep. But you ask, "Where are
the asylums for the old?" | answer, "The
inhabitants are all young" "Where are
the hospitals for the lame" "They are
all agile" "Where are the infirmaries for
the blind and deaf?" "They all see and
hear" "Where are the almshouses for
the poor?" 'They are all multimillion-
aires" "Where are the inebriate asy-
lums" "Why, there are no saloons"
"Where are the graveyardsP" "Why,
they never die" Pass down those boule-
wards of gold and amber and sapphire and
see those internlinable streets built by the
Architect of the universe into homes,
over the threshold of which sorrow
never steps, and out Of whose win
dows faces, once pale with earthly sick
ness, now look rubicund with immortal
health. "Oh let me go in and see themp"
you say. No, you cannot go in. There are
those there who would never consent to let
you come up. You say, "Iet me stay here
in this place where they never sin, where
they never suffer- where they never part"
No. mol Our time Is short, our thirty min
utes are almost gone. Come on! We must
get back to the earth before this half hour
of heavenly silence breaks up, for in your
mortal state you cannot endure the pomp
and splendor and resonance when this half
hour of silence is ended.
The day will come when you can see
heaven in full blast, but not now | am
now only showing you heaven at the dull
est half hour of all the eternities. Come
on There is something in the celestial APP
which makes me think that the
half hour of silence will soon be over
Yonder are the white horses being hitched
to chariots, and yonder are seraphs finger
ing harps Us if about to strike them into
and yonder are conquerors tax
ing down from the blue halls of heaven the
trumpets of victory.
Remember, we are mortal yet, and can
not endure the full roll of heavenly har-
monies and cannot endure even the silent
heaven for more than hal an hour. Harkl
the clock in the tower u heaven begins to
you have gone in to stay? After your
prostration before the throne in worship Of
him who made it possible for you to get
there at all, think the rest of your first
half hour in heaven will be passed in re-
ceiving your reward if you have been faith
full | have strangely beautiful book
containing the pictures Of the medals
struck by the English government in honor
of great battles; these medals pinned over
the heart of the returned heroes of the
army on great occasions, the royal family
cross, the Waterloo medal
In your first half hour in heaven in some
way you will be honored for the earthly
struggles in which you won the day.