Democratic messenger., 1893-01-28


LIME IMAGERY OF THE APOCALYPSE.
The foundations and the Twelve Wonder
full Stoncs-AncIcnt Superstition. About
the Amcthy>; And This j. but the Out
siic of Heaven.
BRooKLyS. Jan. "2.-Dr. Talmage re-
turned FROM his southern tour of preach
ing and lecturing for ten days in Ken
tucky. Tennessee. Alabama. Georgia
and South Carolina. and resumed his
course of sermons on God everywhere.
Having preached on The Astronomy Of
the Bible: or. God Among the Stars"
The Chronology of the Bible; or. God
Among thee, INJURIES" The OrnitholoSy
of the Bible: ~. God Among the Birds, :"
he today speaks Of The Precious Stones
of the Bible: or. God Among the Ame-
thysts" Subject. The Wall of Heaven. :"
Text. Revelation xxi. 10. The founda-
tions of the wall of the city We're gar
nishcd with all manner of precious
stones
Shall he frank and tell you what are
my designs on You today? They are to
make YOU homesick for heaven; to CON
sole you concerning your departed
Christian friends by giving you some
idea of the brilliancy of the scenes in
which they now commingle: to give all
who love the Lord more elevated idea
as To where they are going 10 pass the
most of the wears of their existence. and
to set aR the indifferent and neglected
TO quick and immediate preparation,
that they ma have it likewise.
Yea. il is to inducc many of our Young
people - study volume Of God that
few ever open. but without some ac-
quaintancc with which it is impossible
to understand the Bihlc-I mean the
precious stones. their crystalliZation.
4 their powers of rcfraction. their cleavage,
4 their fracture. their lustcr, their phos-
phorcscncc. their transparency. their in
finity of color and shape. and what they
had to do with the welfare and doom of
families and the destiny of nations-ave.
the positive revelation they make Of God
| himself
Ny text stands US il the presence of
the most stunralous spicnt.or of the uni
verse. and tat j. the wall of heaven.
and SAYS of its foundations that they
are garnishcl with all manner of pre-
cious stones. All the ancient cities had
walls for safety. and heaven has wall
for everlasting safety. You may say
1 that Il wall made up of MI manner of
precious stones is iigurative. but You
cannot understand the force and signti-
cance of the figure unless you know
something about the real structure and
color and value of the precioas stones
mentioned.
Now. propose this morning. SO far as
the Lord may help me. TO attempt to
climb not the wall of heaven. but the
foundations of the wall. and ask You
to join me ii the attempt to- scale some
of the heights We shall only get part
Of the way up. but better that than to
stay down on the stupid level where the
most cf :: have ri o,.r lives been stand
ing. We l;r in clear down at the bot
tom and where the wall begins.
TIE JASPER WALL.
The first LAYER of the foundation,
reaching nj: around the city and for
800 miles. il Il layer of jasper Indeed
there is more of Jasper III the wall of
heaven than of any other brilliant. be-
cause it not only composes Il part of the
foundatiox. but makes up the chief part
of the supcrstructure The jasper is
congregation of many colors. IL Is
brown. it IS yellow. it is green. it is YER
million. it il rel. it Is purple. it is black,
I, 4,
of it is caicl ribbon Jasper.
I 1t Is found in Siberia and Egypt. but
/ it is rare in most lands and of great
value. for j; /; So hard the ordinary proc
csscs cannot break ii off from the places
where it has been deposited. The work
I men bore holes into the rock of jasper,
! then drive into these holes sticks of dry
birch wood. and then saturate the sticks
and keep th":l saturated until they swell
enough TO split the rock. and the frag-
ments are brought ont and polished and
transported and cut into canoes and put
I behind the glass doors of museums.
The portraits of Roman emperors were
cut into it. Tho finest intaglio ever seen
is in the Vatican museum. the head of
| Minerva in Jasper BY divine arrange
inent Jasper adorned the brcastplate of
the hi sh priest il the ancient temple.
/ Bat its mo-. significant position is where
it glowS and burns and darkens and
brightcns and breaches from the lowest
stratum Of the wall of heaven. Glad am
| that the VERY first row of stones III the
wall of heaven is Jasper of many colors.
and if you like purple it is purple. and
! if you lik. brown il is brown. and if
you ike green il Is green. and if YOU
/ like ochcr yellow it is ocher yellow. and
if you like vcrmilion it is vermilion. and
if you like black it is black Ii suggests
TO me that heaven is Il place of all colors
-colors of opinion. colors of creed. col
ors of skin. colorS of taste.
SiIE BI.UE SAPPHIRE.
But we mast pass upin this inspection
of the foundations of the great wall Of
heaven. and after leaving the jasper the
next prcciouS stone reached is sapphire.
and il sweeps around the city 800 miles.
All lapidarics agree in saying that the
sapphire of the Bible is what we now call
lapis lazuli lob speaks with emotion
pf "Thc place of sapphires." and God
thought So iauch of this precious stone
that he put it in the breastplate Of the
high priest. commanding, The second
row shall be an emerald. sapphire and
Il diamond"
The sapphire is Il blue. but varies from
faintcst h. to deepest ultramarinc. 1t
is found Il pebble i: the rivers Of Ccy-
Ion. II Is elsewhere in compact masses.
Persia and I'hibot and Burnah aud New
South Wales and ..urih Carolina yield
exquisite specimens. Its blue eye is seen
n the valley of the Rhine. After "A
burial of thousands of years it has been
brought to SIGHT in Egyptian monuments
and AssyIiar cylinders.
At Moscow and 81. Petersburg and
Cons;antinoplc have seen great masses
Of this sapphire. commonly called lapis
lazuli The closer Won study its veins