The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-05
A GLIMPSE INTO HEAVEN.
Tdlmage breaches on a Text From
Ezekiel.

Preacher Tells of a Dream He Had
About Heaven.
Brooklyn, Feb. An the Brooklyn
tabernacle this forenoon the hymns, the
scripture lesson and the prayers, as well
as the sermon, were about the future
world more than about this world. Rev
DR. Talmage took for his subject: "a
Vision Of Heaven" the text being
Ezekiel IL; Now it came to pass as I
was among the captives by the river of
Chebar that the heavens were opened and
saw visions OF God"
Expatriated and in far exile on the
banks of the river Chebar, an af1uent of
the Euphrates, sat Ezekiel. 1t was there
he had an immortal dream, and it is
given to US in the holy scriptures. He
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 l 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
anu ndAA ava hCs 81 lndb We ulu uOL hIlON
whether they were born of shadow or
sunlight; whether they were thoughts let
loose and disarranged as in slumber, or
the imagination of faculties awake.
Such dream / had this morning. 1t
was about halfpast five, and the day was
breaking. 1t was a dream of God; a
dream of heaven. Ezekiel had his dream
on the banks of the Chebar; l had my
dream not far from the banks of the Hud-
son. The most of the stories of heaven
were written many centuries ago, and
they tell us how the place looked then,
or how 1t will look centuries ahead.
Would you not like 10 know how
1t looks MOVIE That is what / am going
TO tell you. | was there this morning |
have just got back. How got into that
city of the sun | know not. Which of the
twelve gates l entered is TO me uncertain.
But my first remembrance of the scene is
that / stood on one the main avenues,
looking this way and that, lost in rap
lures, and the air so full of music and
redolence, and laughter and light, that
knew not which street to take, 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 mansion to mansion, and from
temple to temple, and from wall to wall
i said to the angel, Glow long hast thou
been in heavens" and the answer came,
"Thirty-two years according to the
earthly calendar" There was a secret
bout this angels name that was not
given me, but from the tenderness, and
sweetness, and affection, and interest
taken in my walk through heaven, and
more than all in the fact of thirty-two
years residence the number of years
since she assembled, / think it was my
mother. Old age, and decripitude, and
the tired look were all gone, but | think
1t was she. You see, / was only on visit
to the city. and had not yet taken up resi-
dence, and l could know only in part.
looked in for few moments at the
great temple. Our brilliant and lovely
Scotch essayist, Mr. Drummond, says
there is no church in heaven, but he did
not look for it on the right street. Saint
John was right when, in his Patmosic
vision, recorded in the third chapter of
Revelations, he speaks of The Temple of
My God" l saw it this morning: the
largest church l ever saw; as big as all
the churches and cathedrals of the earth
put together, and it was thronged. Oh
what a multitude l had never seen so
many people together. All the audiences
of all the churches of all the earth put to-
gether would make a poor attendance
compared with that mblage. There
was fashion in attire and head-dress
that Immediately took my attention. The
fashion was white All in white, save
One. And the head-dress was a garland
of rose and lily and mignonette mingled
with green leaves culled from the royal
gardens, and bound together with bands
of gold.
And l saw some young men with a ring
on the finger of their right hand, and
said TO my accompanying angel, "Why
those rings on the fingers of the right
handsf' and | was told that those who
wore them were prodigal sons, and once,
fed swine in the wilderness, and lived on
husks, 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 pervading all the
auditorium and clear up through all the
galleries II was the attire of the one
who presided in that immense temple.
The chlefest, 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 eloquence omnipotent But
his attire was of deep colors They sug-
gested the carnage through which he had
passed, and said TO my attending angel.
what is that crimson robe that he
wearsi" and | was told, They are dyed
garments from Bozrah," and He trod
the wine press alone
Soon after | entered this temple they
began 10 Cndnb Une CELESTIAL lltanY. 1t was
unlike anything l had ever heard Tor
sweetness or power, and l have heard the
most of the great organs and the most
OF the great oratorios. | said to nv
accompanying angel, "Who is that stand
ing yonder with the harp2" and the an
swer was, David !" And | said, "Who
is that sounding that trumpet" and the
answer was "Gabrielu' And l said Who
is that at the organl" and the answer
was, Handel" And the music rolled on
till it came to a dOXology extolling Christ
himself when all the worshippers, lower
down and higher up, thousand galleries
Of them, suddenly dropped on their knees
and chanted, Worthy is the Lamb that
was slain" Under the overpowering har-
mony fell back. said, Let US GO This
is too much for moral ears l cannot bear
the overwhelming symphony"
But noticed as ] was about to turn
away that on the steps of the altar was
something like the lachyrmal, or tear
bottle, as / had seen in the earthly mu-
seums, the lachrymals, or tear bottles
into which the Orientals used to weep
their griets and set them away as sacred
But this lachrymal. or tear-bottle, in
stead OF ear .henware as those the orr
ientals US d, was lustrous ana fiery with
many splendors, and ii was towering. and
OF great capacity And l said to my at
tending angel ''What is that great
lachrymal, or tear bottle, standing on the
step OF the altar" ami the angel said 4: