Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-02-09

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and filled your dreams with their glad
faces. and that they would be at the
gate to greet you when you assembled
TO be with them forever.
'But," say other voices, "did you
see our glorifed friends?" Yes, saw
them, and they are well in the land
across which no pneumonias, or palsies,
or dropsies, or typhoids ever sweep.
The aroma blows over from orchards
with trees bearing twelve manner of
fruits, and gardens, compared with
which Chatsworth is n desert. The
climate is n mingling OF an earthly
June and Octob II; the balm of the one
and the tonic of the other The social
life in that realm where they are is
superb and perfect. No controversies,
or jealousies, or hates; but love, uni
versal love, everlasting love. And they
told me to tell you not to weep for
them, for their happiness knows no
bounds, and it is only question of
time when you shall reign with them
in the same palace, and join with them
in the same exploration of planets, and
the same tour of worlds.
But yonder in this assembly is an up
turned face that seems to ask how
about the ages of those in heaven.
"Do my departed children remain chill
dren, or have they lost their childish
vivacity? Do my departed parents re-
main aged, or have they lost the VEN
cradle out of their nature?" Well,
from what saw think childhood had
advanced to full maturity of faculty,
retaining all the residence of child
hood, and that the aged had retreated
to mid-life, freed from all dccadence,
but still retaining the charm of the
venerable. In other words, it was
fully developed and complete life of
all souls, whether young or old.
Some one says, will you tel M
what most impressed you in heaven"
/ will l was most impressed with the
reversal of earthly conditions. knew,
of course. that there would be differ
ences of attire and residence in heaven,
for Paul had declared long ago that
souls would then differ las one star
differeth from another" as Mars from
Mercury, as Saturn from Jupiter. But
at every step in my dream in heaven /
was amazed to see that some who were
expected to be high in heaven were
low down, and some who were expected
to be low down were high up. You
thought, for instance, that those born
of pious parentage, and OF naturally
good disposition, and of brilliant facul-
ties, and of all styles of attractiveness,
will move in the highest range of
celestial splendor and pomp. No, no.
found the highest thrones, the bright
est coronets, the richest mansions,
were occupied by those who had repro
bate father. or bad mother, and who
inherited the twisted natures of ten
generations of miscreants, and who had
compressed in their body all depraved
appetites, and all evil propensities, but
they laid hold of Gods arm, they cried
for especial mercy, they conquered
seven devils within and seventy
devils without, and were washed
in the blood of the Lamb,
and by so much us their contest was
terrific, and awful, and prolix, their
victory was consummate and resplen-
dent, and they have taken places i'm
measurably higher than those of good
parentage WHO could hardly help be-
ing good, because they had ten gener-
atoms of preceding piety to aid them.
The steps by which many have mount
ed to the highest places in heaven were
made out of the cradles of a corrupt
parentage. When l saw that i said to
my attending angel, THAT is fair; that
is right. The harder the struggle the
more glorious the reward"
Then l pointed to one OF the most
coionnaded and grandly-domed resi-
dences IN all the city, and said, "Who
lives there?" and.the answer was, 1.-THE
widow who gave two mites" "And
who lives there?" and the answer was,
1.-The pepitent thief to whom Christ
said, This day shalt thou be with me
in Paradise And who lives there?"'
said, and the answer was, 1.-THE blind
beggar who prayed, Lord, that my
eyes may be opened"
Some of those professors of religion
who were famous on earth l asked
about, but no one could tell ne any
thing concerning them. Their names
were not even in the city directory of
the New Jerusalem. The fact is that 1
suspected some of them had not got
there at all. Many who had ten
talents were living on the back streets
of heaven, while many with one talent
had residences fronting on the Kings
park, and a back lawn sloping to the
River Clear as Crystal, and the highest
nobility of heaven were guests at their
table, and often the white horse Of
him who hath the moon under his
feet" champed its bit at their door
way. Infinite capsize of earthly con-
ditions! All social life in heaven
graded according to earthly struggle
and usefulness as proportioned to
talents given!
AS / walked through those streets 1
appreciated for the first time what
Paul said to Timothy: IF we suffer,
we shall also reign with him." 1t sur
prised me beyond description that all
the great of heaven were great suffer-