The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-01-25

with a pillow of mountain rock, had a
blissful dream of the ladder angel blossom
ing
Bunyan, with his head on hard plank OF
Bedford Jail, saw the gates of the celestial
city. St. John, on the barrenest island of
the Kgean sea, in his dream heard trum-
pets and saw cavalrymen on white horses
and n new heaven and new earth. No
amount of rough pillow can disturb the
night vision of a saint, and no amount of
amethystine charm can delectate the dream
of a miscreant.
ONLY TIRE BEGINNING.
But. some one will say, why have you
brought us to this amethyst, the top row of
the foundation of the heavenly wall, if you
are not able to accept the theory of the an
Gent Greeks, who said that the amethyst
was a charm against intOxicatiOn, or if you
are not willing TO accept the theory of the
ancient Hebrews that the amethyst was a
producer of pleasant dreamsi My answer
is, have brought you to the top row. the
twelfth layer of the foundation of the heav
enly wall of / 500 miles of circling amethyst
to put you in a position where you can get
a new idea of heaven; to let you see
that after you have climbed up twelve
strata of glory you are only at the base
of the eternal grandeurs; TO let you, with
enchantment of soul, look far down and
look far up; and to force upon you the con
clusion that if all our climbing has only
shown us the foundation of the wall, what
must the wall itself be; and if this is the
outside OF heaven, what must the inside
be; and if all this is tigurative what must
the reality be? Oh, this piled up mag
nificence of the heavenly WALL Oh, this
eternity of decoration Oh, this opalescent,
forescent, prisunatic miracle of architec-
turel What enforcement of all cOlors!
A mingling of the blue of skies, and the
surf of seas, and the green of meadows, and
the upholstery of autumnal forests, and
the fire of August sunSetsl All the splen-
doris of earth and heaven dashed into those
twelve rows of foundation walt All that,
mark you, only typical of the spiritual
glories that roll over heaven like the At
lantic and Pacific oceans swung in one bill
low.
Do you not see that it was impossible that
you understand hundredth part of the
suggestiveness of that twenty-first chapter
of Revelation without going into some of
the particulars of the wall of heaven, and
dipping up some of its dripping colors, and
running your eye along some of its won
drOus crystallizatiOns, and examining some
of the frozen light IN its turquoise, and feel
ing with your own finger the hardness of
its sapphire, and shielding your eyes against
the shimmering brilliance in its beryl, and
studying the 800 miles of emerald without
a flaw2 Yet all this only the outside of
heaven and the poorest part of the outside
not the wall itself, but only the foot of
the wall for my text says, The founda-
tionS of the wall of the city were garnished
with all manner of precious stones" Oh,
get down your harp, if you can play one!
Get down palm branch, if You can reach
one. Why, it makes us all feel like crying
out with James Montgomery:
When shall these eyes thy heaven built walls
And pearly gates behold!
THE HEAVENLY PALACE.
Oh, my soul! If my text shows us only
the outside, what must the inside be?
While riding last summer through the
emperor's park, near st. Petersburg, /
was captivated with the groves, trans
planted from all zones, and the flower
beds, miles this way and miles that way,
incarnadined with beauty, and the foun-
tains bounding in such reyel with the sun
light as nowhere else is seen. said: "This
is beautiful. l never saw anything like
this before"
But when / entered the palace and saw
the pictured walls, and the long line of
statuary and aquariums afoat with all
bright scales, and aviaries a-chant with
bird voices, and the inner doors of the pal
ace were swung back by the chamberlain,
and l saw the emperor and empress and
princes and princesses, and they greeted me
with a cordiality of old acquaintanceship,
[ forgot all the groves and floral bewitch-
ment had seen outside before entrance.
And now | ask if the outside of heaven
4. 1. Il
will be the uplifting when we get inside
and see the King in his beauty and all the
princes and princesses of the palaces of
amethyst? Are you not glad that we did
not stop in our ascent this morning until
we got to the top round of the foundation
wall of heaven, the twelfth row, the am
ethyst? Perhaps the ancient Hebrews were
not after all so far out of the way when
they thought that the touch of the amethyst
gave pleasant dreams, for the touch of it
this hour gives me very pleasant dream.
Standing on this amethyst / dream
dream. | close my eyes and 1 see it all.
We are there. This is heavenl Not the
outside. but the inside of heaven. With
what warmth of welcome our long ago de
parted loved ones have kissed us. My!
How they have changed in looks. They
were so sick when they went away, and
now they are so well. Look Yonder Is
the palace of our Lord, the King Not Kept
moment outside, we are ushered into the
throneroom.
Stretching out his SCARED hand he says,
81 have loved thee with an everlasting
love-" and we respond, Whom have / in
heaven but theeSn But lookl Yonder is
the playground of the children. Children
do not want throne A throne would not
fit child. There they are on the play
grounds of heaven-the children. Out Of
the sick cradle of earth they came into this
romping mirth of the eternal Fairgrounds.
l clap my hands to cheer them ia the glee.
Yonder are the palaces of the martyrs,
and before their dOorways the flowers, Grim
son as the bloody martyrdoms through
which they waded Hp to glory. Yonder is
Apostolic row, and the highest turret is
over the home of Paul Here is Evangelist
place. Yonder are the concert halls in which
the musicians of earth and heaven are tax
ing part-Handel with organ, and David
with harp, and Gabriel with trumpet, and
four ana twenty elders with voices.
And an angel Of God says to me:
"Where shall 1 take your On what street
OF heaven would You like to live? What
celestial habitatiOn would you like to oc-
cupyY" And answer: Now that / have
got inside the wall made up of all manner
of precious stones / do not care where you
put me. just show me where my departed
loved ones are. have seen the Lord, and
next / want to see them. But here are
those with whom / tOiled in the kingdom
of God on earth. They are from my old
parishes at Belleville and Syracuse and