Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1893-02-11
REV. DIR. TALMAGt.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES Sun
DAY SERMON.

H"slehS on you to-day They are to make
YOU hoTnesick for heaven: TO console you con
corning your departed Christian friends by
giving You some idea Of the b~rilliancy OF tho
Genes IN which they now commingle. tc
gave All who love the Lord a more elevate
Der as u where they are going n pass thu
most 81 the years Of their existence. ami / ].
ST al the Indifferent and neglected % quic
ana immediate preparation, that they NAV
nave 1t likewise.
Yea, it's TO induce many Of our yoln
people To N ". a volume OF God that few
over open. tut without some ac1ua ntanct
with which u is impossible to understand
me Hiti'-! mean the precious stonee, their
crFathlz1tlon their powers Of refraction.
thar Cleavage, their fracture, their Duster.
thor rho~pbor-senca. their transparency
ta"ir inhnity of color and shape, and what
tb"} had - 10 with the welfare and doom
4 fa'uliIes AMI the destiny OF natIons-ay W.
the positive revelation thew maze of Go
himself.
Nv text stands us in the. presence of tn
most stupentous SPLEEN Tor OF tho un iversa
and ih9t ! the wall Of heaven. AM says Of
- foundations tnat they are garnished wits
nll manner ~ precious stones. All the
ancient citIco had walls for safety. am
t"aEea hasa wall for everlasting safety
on nhv say That a wall made up Of ali
manner 81 precious stones is figuratlye, bu
-. cannot understand tho force and siyniti.
IN OF til" figure unless you know some
laIng about the real structure and color anf
value 81 the precious stones mentioned
low, propose thIs morning, 90 far a.
III" Lord may heip me, to attempt to climb
sol tue wall " hca ven, tut the foundations
i tue wal ani ASK YOU - join me in the
rft"tuFt t. scale some. OF the height. W.
hhli only get part of the way up. but better
inat tilah % stay down on the stupid leye,
|tcrr Tn" most OF Us have all our lives been
~taildin- W. begin clear down at the bot.
'om and where the wall begins.
III" first layer Of the foundation, reaching
I'll aronni tho city and for 1900 miles. IS a
nHcr II jasper. lnieei there is more Of
lr>per in the wall OF heaven than IT any
liner h%rllf1an', because 1t no.only conposes
d part u the tDundatfOu. but makes I'D The
thIef hrtof the supcrstructure. The iasper
Is n congregation Of many colors. 1t il
hr"fn, 1T IS yellow, it Is green. it is vermiI-
''n, u = red, IT j. purple, 1t is black, and i.
- striped WIth coloTs that much of it j.
called ribbon jasper.
1t i found IN Siberia and Egypt, but IL i,
are N most lands and OF great value. for l.
: 50 mara IN" ordinary processes Canuo
'T'nh 1t OH from the places where il hae
been deposited. The workmen bora hole,
m" the rock of jasper, then drive into thes.
hoI"s sticks OF dry birch wood, and ther.
n>urate the sticks and keep them saturated
'ittll tft y swell enough to split the rock. auo
ne fragments are brought out and polished
iftt transported and cut into canoes All,
pa! behind the glass doors OF museums.
The portraits of Roman emperors were
'ut INTO IT. The finest ~intaglio ever seen is
n Tue attcan museum. the head of Minerva
N Jasper. BY divine arrangement iasnar
adorned the hreastplate of the high priest in
the ancient temple. But its most significant
.paltion : where it glows n burns and
lafkciN and hrightens and breaches from
tile lowest stratum OF the wall Of heaven.
''lai am that the very first row OF stones
IN the wall OF heaven is jasper of many col
'f', ana II YOU like purple it is purple. ant
# YOU like brown it is brown, and il YOU like
green IT Is green, and if you like ocher vel
low 1t Is ocher yellow. and if you like YER
million 1t IS vcrinillion, and il YOU like
hiack II Is black. 1t suggests to me that
heaven IS a place OF all colors-colors OF
pplnlotf, coIors OF creed, colors Of skin. col.
ors Of taste.
but we must pass up in this inspection of
the POPULATIONS of the great wall of heaven,
ana after leaving the jasper the next pre-
'ieus stone reached is sapphire, and. it
sweeps around the city 1900 miles. All lapi-
uiIlts agree III saying that the sapphire OF
lhe bibse IS what we now call lapis Iazuli.
JohspeakS with emotion of The place of
Napphires, and God thought 80 much OF this
precious stone that He put it in the breast
llate OF the high priest commanding. THE
second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire
and a diamond
The sapphire is a blue, but varies from
faintest hue 10 deepest ~ramar 1t is
louiid u pebble III the rivers OF Ceylon. 1t
IS elsewhere IN compact masses. Persia and
lhihet and Burmah and New South Wales
ana North Carolina yield exquisite speci-
mems. Its blue eye is seen In the valley OF
tue RhIne. After a burial of thousands OF
years 1t has been brought TO sight in Egyp-
TAN monuments and ASsyrian cylinders.
AT Moscow AMI ST. Petersburg and Con-
H''htirore have seen great masses OF this
sapphire, commonly called lapis lazuli. The
closer You study its Veins the more enchant-
ing. and ! dotnot wonder that the saophirs
! called into the foundation Of the wall OF
heaven. IL makes a strong stone for the
louhiaflon, Tor 1t Is the hardest OF all min
erals except the diamond.
Sapphire based on Jasper. a blue sky over
n iierN sunset. -. John points to it in Rev
tlattoh and sayS, The second, sapphire
ami tins suggests to me that though our
earth AM ali It's furniture of mountains and
seas anu atmospheric 40 ;.
vanish We Will throughout all eternity nave
III some way kept the most beautiful Of
earthly appearances, whether you take this
sapphire of the second LAYER as literal or
tieurative. The deep blue OF our skies and
the deep blue OF our seas must not. will not.
be forgotten. II "A thousand years after the
world has gone TO ashes you or l want to
recall how the earthly skies looked in a sum
mer noon or the midocean in a calm, we
will have only 10 look at the second row of
the foundation OF the wall OF heaven.
Oh. am so glad that st. John told IL,
about it "Ihe second, sapphire" While
we are living IN sight Of that wall spirit
who have conle from other worlds and wht
never saw our earth will visit us, and we
will visit them. ana some time we will be ii
conversation about this earth when 1t wa
yet siloat and aswing. and we shall van (.
tell them about how II looked at certain
times. and then it will be n great objec'
lesson for all eternity, and we will say Z
our visitor from some other world, as "
point toward the wall of heaven, At looke-
like that stratum OF foundation next TO tn
lowest. John, twent~-tirsA cheptsr an
nineteenth verse. The second sap %,ilire.'
4 step higher and YOU come % chal
cedony, another layer In the foundation o
the wal! AMI the running 1900 miles aroun
the heavenly city. Cnalcedony. Tran:
lucent. A divine mixture Of agates an
opais and COMEDIANS. Striped with whit
and gray. Dasued of paIor blushing int
red and darhenlns into purple. Iceland an
the Hebrides ncli forth beautiful! specimen
u chalcedony.
But now we must make a-switt ascent {
the top Of the foundation wall for we car
not minutely examine all tie layers, and Sc
putting one foot on the chalcedonv OF which