Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-09-19

so.rlrual proportions. zen say, How
useful that naau must be- But you md
amid al RS splendor Ct faculties there
Is some prejudice. some whiln, some evll
habit that d great many people DO Dot
lOtics. hut that you have happened 70
notice, and It Is gradually spelling that
mans eh2racter-it Is gradually going
20 injure his entire influence. Others
may not see il, but you are anxious IN
regard 10 his welfare. and now you DIS
cover IT, A dead fy IN the ointment. A
spider in the palace.
Toll FoR FHE HIGHER
Again. nv text teaches me that per
severance viii mount into the kings
palace 1t must have seemed a long
distance for that spider toclimb Ia Solo
nous splendid residence, 81 il started
AZ the very foot O. The walran went mp
over the panels Of Lebanon cedar. higher
aud higher, until II stood higher than the
highest throne in all the nations-the
throne OF solomon. Aud SO God has de-
creed 1t that many Of those who are
down in the dust Of sin and dlshonor
shall gradually attain 10 the Kings
palace. We see it in worldly things.
Who is that banker in Philadelphia?
Why, he used 10 be the boy that held
the horses of Stephen Girard while tho
millionaire went in TO collect his divi-
dends. Arkwright tolls on up from
BARRIERS shop until he gets into the pal
ace OF invention. Sextus V tolls on up
from the office Of a swineherd until he
gets into the palace Of Rome. Fletcher
tolls on up from the most insignificant
family position until he gets into the
palace OF Christian elOquence. Hogarth,
engraving pewter pots for a living, tolls
on up until he reaches the palace of
world renowned art.
And God hath decided that though
you may be weak of arm and slow OF
tongue, and be struck through with a
great many mental and moral deficits,
by his almighty grace you shall yet ar
rive in the Kings palace-not such an
one as is spoken OF in the text-not one
sf marble-not one adorned with pillars
Of alabaster and thrones of ivory and
flagons of FURNISHED gold-but palace
in which God is the King and the angels
of heaven are the cupbearers.
The spider crawling up the wall Of
Solomon's palace was not worth looking
after or considering as compared with
the fact that we, who are worms of the
dust, may at last ascend into the palace
of the King Immortal. BY the grace Of
God may we all reach it. Oh, heaven is
not dull place. 1t is not wornout
mansion, with faded curtains and out
landish chairs and cracked ware. No;
it is as fresh and fair and beautiful as
though it were completed but yesterday.
The kings of the earth shall bring their
honor and glory into it.
A palace means splendor Of apart
ments. Now, l Go not know where
heaven is, and / DO not know how it
| looks, but if our bodies are TO be resur-
rected in the last day | think heaven
must have material splendor as well
as a spiritual grandeur. Oh, what
| grandeur of apartments when that
divine hand which plunges the sea into
| blue, and the foliage into green, and
sets the sunset on fire, shall gather all
the beautiful colors of earth around his
throne, and when that arm which lifted
| the pillars of Alpine rock, and bent the
arch of the sky, shall raise before our
soul the eternal architecture, and that
hand which hung with loops of fire the
curtains of morning shall prepare the
upholstery of our kingly residence!
| THE PALACES OF GOD.
A palace also means splendor of asso-
Citations. The poor man, the outcast
| cannot get into Windsor castle. The
sentinel of the queen stands there and
cries HALT" as he tries TO enter. But
in the palace of which / speak we may
| all become residents, and we shall all be
| princes and kings. We may have been
beggars, we may have been outcasts, we
may have been wandering and lost as
! we all have been, but there we shall take
our regal power. What cOmpanionship
| in heavenl To walk side by side with
/ John and James and Peter and Paul
| and Moses and Joshua and Caleb and
| Ezekiel and jeremiah and Micah and
! Zechariah and Wilberforce and Oliver
! Cromwell and Philip Doddridge and Ed
/ ward Payson and John Milton and Eliza.
beth Fry and Hannah More and Char
! lotte Elizabeth. and all the other kings
and queens of heaven. Oh, my soul,
what a companionshipl
A palace means splendor Of banquet.
! There will DO no common ware on that
! table There win be no unskilled mu-
/ sicians at that entertainment. There
will be no scanty supply of fruit or bev-
erage. There have been banquets spread
! that cost million of dollars each; but
who can tell the untold wealth of that
| banquet? do not know whether Johns
description Of il Is literal or figurative.
A great many wise people tell me it is
fgurative: but prove it, do not know
but that it may be literal. lido not know
but that there may be real fruits plucked
I from the tree Of life.
do not know but that Christ referred
TO the real juice of the grape when be
said that we should drink new wine in
our Fathers kingdom. but not the in.
/ toNicating stuff II this worlds brewing.
I do not say 1t is so; but have as much
right for thinking Il is so as you have
for thinking the ether way. At any rate,
/ 1t VIII be glorious banquet. Hark'
! tho chariots rumbling IA the distance.
7 | really believe the guests are coming
now. The gates swing open. the gnests
7 dismount, the palace is filing, and 81
the obalices, flashing with pearl and
amethyst and carbuncle. ere lifted 70 lie
I hps II TIE mvIiad banqueters. while
standing in rChes Of snowy white they