Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-08-31


spIendor.. the Reunion. and the song of
Heaven.
NEW YORK, Aug. a5.-For the bcreavcd
and faint hearted there could he no words
81 stronger consolation or encouragement
Than those 81 the sermon prepared by Rev.
DIR. Taimagc far to-day. His subject was
Surprising ~plendors" With inimitable
touch. he has pictured the glorics and at
fractions ~ the world beyond the skies In
way 10 bring joy Ia believing souls and
Ia faScinate even the thoughtless and in
different. The text chosen WAS. Eye hath
not seen nor ear heard" l Corinthians
It's
IL am going 10 hcavcnl am going to
heaven, Hcavcnl Heaven! Hcavent"
These were the last words uttered a few
days ago by my prriuus wife rs she as
ccnded to .e with Sod forever. and Is il
not natural a. well "a christianity appro.
pirate that our thoughts bc much directed
toward the glorious residence Of which st.
Paul speaks In the text have chosen?
Corinth.
The city of Corinth has been called the
Paris " antiquity. Indeed for splendor
the world holds no such wonder today. It
stood on an isthmus washed by two seas,
the one sea bringing the commerce of Eu-
rope, the other the commerce of Asia.
From her wharvcS. In the construction Of
which whole kingdoms had been absorbed,
war ealleys with three banks Of oars
pushed ont and COMPOUNDED the navy yards
Of all the world. Huge handed machinery,
such n modern invention cannot equal,
lifted ships from the sea on one side and
transported them ON trucks across the
isthmus and set them down in the sea on
tho other side
The revenue officers OF the city went
down through the olive groves that lined
the beach to collect "a tariff from all ma
tions. The mirih OF all people Sported in
her Isthmaian games, and the beauty OF all
lands sat In her ihcaicrs, walked her por-
ticOes and threw itself ON the altar of her
stupcndous diSSipations. Column and
statue and temple bcwildcrcd the bcholdcr.
There wero white marble fountains into
which, from aperturcs ut the side, there
rushed waters everywhere known for
health giving qualities. Around these
basins, twisted into wrcaths of stone, there
were all the beauties OF sculpture and ar
chitecture, while standing. as II to guard
the costly display was "A statue of Hercules
Of FURNISHED Corinthian brass. Vases of
terra Gotta adorned the cemeteries OF the
dead-vascs 81 costly that Julius Caesar
was not satisfied until he had captured
them for Rome. Armed officials, the
"Corinthiarii, paced up and down to see
that no statue was defaccd, no pedestal
oyerthrown. no bas-relief touched. From
the edge OF the city hill arose, with its
magnificent burden of columns and towers
and temples, 900 slaves awaiting ut one
shrine-and citadel so thoroughly i'm
pregnablc that Gibraltar is n heap of sand
compared with IT, Amid all that strength
and magnifcence Corlnth stood and defied
the world.
Paui's Text.
oh, IL was not 10 rustics who had never
seen anything grand that 81. Paul uttered
this text. They had heard the best music
that had come from the best instruments
in all the world, they had heard songs
floating from morning porticoes and melt
ing in evening groves. they had passed
their whole lives away among pictures and
sculpture and architecture and Corinthian
brass, which Ind been nodded and shaped,
until there was no chariot wheel in which
IL had not sped. and no tower I'm which IL
had not glittcrcd, and no gateway that IL
had not adorned.
All, IL was a bold thing for Paul to
stand there amid all that and say: "An
from the temple 81 Neptune are not music
compared with the harmony Of which l
speak. These waters rushing I'm the hasin
OF Pyrcne are not pure. These statues Of
Bacchus and Mercury are not exquisite.
Yon citadel IL Acrocorinthus Is not strong
compared with that which offer TO Tie
poorest slave that puts down his burden
at that brazen gate. You, Corinthians
think this Is splendid city: you think
you have heard all sweet sounds and seen
all beautiful sights; but l tell you eye
hath not seen. nor ear heard. neither have
entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that
love him.
You sec my text sets forth the idea that
however exalted our ideas may be of
heaven, they come far short VI the reality
Some wise men have been calculating
how many furlongs long and wide heaven
Is. and they have calculated how many
inhabitants there are on the earth, how
long the earth will probably stand, and
then they come TO this cstimatc-that after
all the nations had been gathered to
heaven. there will be "a room for each soul
a room l6 feet long and IL feet wide. 1t
would not be large enough for me. am
glad 70 know that no human estimate is
sufficient 10 take the dimensions Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard" nor arith-
metic calculated.
Health In Heaven.
first remark that we can in this world
get no idea 81 the health of heaven. When
you were n child, and you went ont in the
morning, how you bounded along the road
or strecf-you had never felt sorrow or
sickness Perhaps latcr-Tcrhaps in these
very summer days-you felt u glow in
-.
an exubcrance Of spirits. and "A clearness OF
eye, that made you thank God you were
permitted to live The nerves were harp
strings, and the sunlight was u doxology,
and the rustling leaves were the rustling
Of the robes 81 a great crowd rising up to
praise the Lord.
You thought that You knew what IL was
10 be- well, hut there j. no perfect health
ON earth. The diseases Of past generations
come down To Us. The airs that float now
on the earth arc unlike those " hich 1oated
above paradise. They arr charged with
impurities and disicmpcrs. The most elias
fic and robust health If earth compared
with that which thuSc experience before
whom the gates hive len opened. is moth
ing hut sickness aud emaciatiun. Look at
that spul standing before the throne On
earth she was lifelong invalid See her
NNfD iatfN ana NEAR tlt'F Ntstft HON. NAiGn
IL you eau one BREATH 81 that celestial air
Health in all the pulse, Health Of vision;
health Of spirits. immortal hcllih. No
racking cough. no sharp plrurisic., no
consuming f,y'r>, no cxhHusting pains, no
hospitals of wounded men, Health swing
ing ia the air: health flowing in all the
STRAINS; health blooming ON the banks
No headaches. no sidrach,.S, mo- backachcS
That child that died in the agOnI,-s 81
Group, hear her vnicr now ringing in the
anthem. That old man that went bowed
down with the infrmitics Of age, see him
walk now with the step Of an immortal
aihlcte-forrycr young again. That night
when the ner,ll-woman tainted AWAY In
the garnet "a wave of the heavenly air re-
suscitatcd her forrvcr--fur everlasting
years 10 have nciihc ache nor pain nor
weakness nor fatigue. Eye hath not seen
IL; tar hath not heard IT,"
splendors of Heaven.
i remark further that we can I'm this
world get mo- just idea ~ the splendor Of
heaven. II. John tries to describe it, He
says. THE IL gntcS nnc II pearls" and
that the foundations of the wall are gar
nished with all manner IL precious stones"
As We stand looking through the telescope
Of 81. John we a blaze ~ amethyst ard
pearl and emerald and sartonyx and
chrysoprasus and sapphire mountain Of
light, cataract Of color, n sea 81 glass ard