Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-02-16
A VISION OF HEAVEN.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Takes a Trip to
Dreamland
A Glimpse Within the Portals OF Heaven
The Great Temple and Its ThroDg
of Worshippers-Nany Rid
dies Solved.


Vision of Heaven" was based on the
text:
Now 1t came to pass as | among the
captives hy the river OF Chebar That the Heav
Gus were opened aad l visions Of God.
Ezekiel t., /
Expa triated and far in exile on the
banks of the River Chebar an affluent
Of the Euphrates. sat Ezekiel It was
there that he had an Immortal dream,
and il is given to rs in the Holy Scrip
lures. lie dreamed Of Tyre and Egypt.
He dreamed of Christ and the coming
Heaven This exile seated by that
River chebar had a more wonderful
dream than you or | ever have had or
ever will have seated on the banks OF
the Hudson or Alabama, or Oregon, or
Thames, or Tiber, or Danube
But we all have had memorable
dreams. some Of them when we were
half asleep and half awake, so that we
did not know whether they were born
Of shadow or sunlight; whether they
We're thoughts let loose and disar-
ranged as in Slumber, or the ina gina
ton of faculties awake
Such a dream had this morning. 1t
was about half past five, ANA the day
was breaking. IT was dream of God;
4 dream of Heaven Ezekiel had his
dream on the banks Of the Chebar; l
nj ! my dream not far from the banks
~ the Hudson. The most Of the sto-
RIGS Of Heaven were written many
centuries ago, and they tell us how the
place looked then, or how it will look
centuries ahead. Would YOU not like
to know how it looks now? That is
what J am going to tell YOU ] was
there this morning. have just got
back. How got into the city of the
sun know not. Which Of the twelve
gatcS entered is to me me uncertain.
But my first remembrance Of the scene
u that ! stood on one Of the main
avenues looking this way and that,
lost in rapturcS, and the air so full Of
music and rcdolcnce, and laughter and
light. that knew not which street to
take and when an. angel of God accosted
me and offered to show me the objects
Of greatest interest and to conduct me
from street to street, and from man
sion to mansion. and from temple to
temple, and from wall TO wall, ! said
To the angel: ''IIow long hast thou
been in Heaven" and the answer
came: ''fhirty-two years according to
the earthly calendar" There was
secret about this angel name that was
not given me, but from the tenderness,
and sweetness, and affection, and in
terest taken in my walk through
Ilea ven, and more than all in the fact
Of thirty-two years residence, the num-
Der OF years since She assembled, think
it was my mother. Old age, and de-
crcpitude, and the tired look were all
gone, but think it was She. You see,
! was only on II visit to the city, and
had not yet taken up residence, and
could now only in part.
looked in for few moments at the
great temple. our brilliant and lovely
Scotch cssavist, Mr.. Hammond. says
there is no church in Heaven. but he
did not look for il ON the right street
st. John, when III his patmosic vision,
recorded III he third chapter of Rcve-
lations he speaks Of The temple of my
God" saw it this morning: tie largest
church | ever saw; as big as all the
churches and cathcdraIS Of the earth
put together, and it was thronged
Oh, what multitude, | had never
seen so many people together All the
audiences of all the churches Of all the
earth put together would make Il poor
attendance compared with that as
semblagc There was Il fashion in at
tire and hcad-drcSs that immediately
took my attention. The fashion was
white. All in white, save one And
the cad-drcss was IL garland of rose,
with green leaves cullrd from the
royal gardens, and bound together
with bands of gold.
And | SAW some young men with n
ring on the finger of the right hand.
AMI said to my accompanying angel:
''Nhy those rings on the fingers Of the
right handsH" and | was told that those
who wore them were prodigal sons,
and once fed swine IN the wilderness,
and lived on huSllS, but they came
home, and the rejoicing father said:
Put a ring on his hand.
But | said there was one exception
to this fashion Of white pcrvading all
the auditorium and clear up through
all the galleries. 1t was the attire of
the One who presided in that immense
temple. The chiefest, the mightiest,
the loveliest person in all the place
His checks seemed to be flushed with
infinite beauty, and His forehead was
morning sky and His lips were elo-
quence omnipotent. They suggested
the carnage through which lie had
passed, and l said to my attending
angel, What is that crimson robe that
He wears?" and l was told, They are
dyed garments from Bozrah," and
"He trod the wine press alone"
Soon after ! entered this temple they
began to chant the celestial litany
1t was unlike anything ] had ever
heard for sweetness or power, and /
have heard the most of the great or
gans and the most of the great ora
torios. | said to my accompanying
angel: who is that standing yondcr
with the harp" and the answer was
David" And | said: ''Who is that
sounding that trumpet" and the an
Swer was "Gabrielt' And l said:
>'Who is that at the organ?' and the
answer was Handelr' And the music
rolled on till it came to a doxology ex-
tolling Christ himself, when all. the
worshipers, lower down and higher
up, thousand galleries of them, sud-
denly dropped on their knees and
chanted: worthy is the Lamb that
was slain. Under the overpowering
harmony fell back, I said: Let US
go. This is too much for mortal ears.
/ can not bear the overwhelming sym
phony."
But noticed as | was about to turn