Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1894-02-16

must 30 nOW, II IL SaUDdln morning w
earth and must preaehto- and be.in my
pulpit by half past 10 o'clock. Goodby,' |
said to the attending angel ;f'Thanks for
what you have shown me- know have
seen only in part, but / hope to returnagain,
through the atoning mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Good-by."
Then passed on amid chariots 81 saliva
lion. and along by conquerors' thrones, and
amid pillared majesties, and by windows OF
agate, and under arches that had been hoist
: ed for returned victors. And as | came
toward the walls with the gates. the walls
flashed upon me with emeralds and sapphires
and chrysoprases and amethysts, until [
trembled under the glory. and then | heard
a bolt shove, and latch. lift, and a gate
! swing, and they were all of pearl, and |
/ passed out loaded with raptures, and down
by worlds lower and lower and lower STILL
until came within sight Of the city OF my
! earthly residence, and until through the
! window Of my earthly home the sun poured
so strong upon my pillow that my eyeIldS5
felt it, and in bewilderment as to where L
was and what had seen awoke
Reflection the First-The superiority OF our
heaven to all other heavens. Tho Scandina-
Wan heaven The departed are in eyerlast-
ing battle except as restored after being cut
10 pieces they drink wine out OF the skulls
of their enemies The Mosem heaven as
/ described by the Koran; "There shall 6s
hours with large black eyes likes pearls hid
den in their shells. Tho Slav's heaven ;
After death the soul hovers six weeks about
! the body, and then climbs steep mountain,
on the top OF which is paradise. The Tasma-
MAS heaven A spear is placed by the dead,
that they may have something to fight with,
and after awhile they gU into long cnaSc
| for game of all sorts. TIE Tahitlans heaven
| The departed are eating up Ot tho gods. Inc
native African heaven 4 land OF shadows,
and in speaking of tho departed they say all
is done for ever The American aboriglnes
heaven: Happy hunting grounds, to when
i the soul goes on a bridge of snake. me
philosophers heaven Made out OF tn OK
fog or an infinite don't know. But hearkcn
and behold our heaven, which, though mostly
described BY figures OF speech in the Bible
and by parable Of a dream in this discourse,
has for its chief characteristics separation
from all that is vile; absence from all that
can discomfort presence OF all that can con-
graduate. No mountains TO climb no chasms
to bridge no night to illumine no tears TO
, wipe scandinavian heaven, Slavs heaven,
Tasmanian heaven Tahitian heaven, African
heaven, aborgines heaven, scattered into
tameness and disgust by a glimpse OF 81.
John heaven, Of PauFs heaven, OF Christ
heaven, of your heaven, of my heaven
Reflection the Second-You had better tako
patiently and cheeriuily all pangs, affron,s,
harlships, prosecutions and trials Of earth,
since, 1t rightly borne, they insure heavenly
payments of ecstasy. Every twinge Of phys
ical distress, every lie told about you, every
earthly subtraction, il meekly borne, will be
heavenly addition. If you want to amount
to anything in heaven and to movein its best
society. you must be perfected through su,
ferlng." The only earthly currency worth
anything at the gate of heaven is the silver
OF tears. At the top of all heaven sits tho
greatest sufferer, Christ of the Bethlehem
caravanslry and of Pilates oyer and term
liner, and of the CalYarean assassination.
What n endured, on, who can tell,
To save Our souls from death and helR
Oh. yc of the broken heart AMI the disap-
pointed ambition. and the shattered fortune,
ana the blghted life, take comfort from
what I saw in my Sabbath morning dean
Reflection the Third and L9st-How de-
sirable that we all get there Start this
moment with prayer AMI penitencs and faith
in Christ, who came from heaven to earth
TO take us from earth to heaven.
Last summer. Il year ago, l preached one
Sabbath afternoon in Hyde Park, London, to
a great multitude that no man could number.
But | heard nothing from it until few
weeks ago, WHeu heN. MI. COOAs NuO iOl
twenty-five years has presided over that
Hyde Park outdoor meeting, told me that
last winter, going through hospital in Lon
don, he saw dying man whose face bright
ened as he told him that his heart was
changed that afternoon under my sermon In
Hyde PARK, and all was bright now at his
departure from earth to heaven.
Why may not the Lord bless this as we'll as
that? Heaven as | dreamed about if, and as
| read about it, is 80 benign "a realm you can.
not any of you afford to miss it. Oh, will it
not be transcendently glorious after the strug-
gle OF this life is over TO stand it in that eter-
nal safety? Samuel Rutherford, though they
viciously burned his books and unjustly ar
rested him for treason, wrote OF that celes-
tial spectacle:
The King there IN His beauty,
Without a veil, is seen;
II were well spent journey,
Though seven deaths lay between
The Lamb with His fair army
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory, glory dweeth
In Immanuel's land.