The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1895-04-12
THE GATES OF HEAVEN.
There is a World Somewhere Where
There IS NO Darkness.
Twelve Gates Through Which You Can Pass
to Enter It-A Few Words About Bigotry
and Sectarianism-sermon by Rev
Dr. T. DEWITT Talmage, ID. ID.

on the west three gates"
The Cashmere gate of Delhi where
converged heroism that makes ones
nerves Jingle, the Lucknow gate still
dented and Scared with sepoy bonn
Oardment, the Madeline gate, with its
emblazonry in bronze, the hundred
gates of Thebes, the wonder of cen
turtles all go out of sight before the
gates of my text
Our subject speaks of great metrop-
oils, the existence of which many have
doubted. Standing on the wharf and
looking off upon the harbor and seeing
the merchantmen coming up the bay,
the flags of foreign nations streaming
from the topgallants, you Immediately
make up your mind that those vessels
came from foreign ports, and you say:
That Is from Hamburg, and that is
from Marseilles, and that is from
southampton, and that is from Ha-
vana," and your suppositiOn is accu-
rate. But from the city of which am
now speaking no weather-beaten mer-
chantmen or frigates with SCARED
bulkhead have ever come. There has
been vast emigration into that city,
but no emigration from it, SO far as
our natural vision can descry.
There is no such city," says the un-
devout astronomer ~ have stood in
nigh towers with mighty telescope
and have swept the heavens, and have
seen spots on the sun and caverns in
he moon, but no towers have ever
-isen on my vision, no palaces, no tenn
ples, no shining streets, no massive
wall There is no such city" Even
very good people tell me that Heaven
is not material organism, but a grand
spiritual fact, and that the Bible de-
scriptions of il are in all cases to be
taken fguratively. ! bring in reply to
this what Christ said, and he ought to
know, Il go TO prepare"-not n theory,
not a principle, not a sentiment, but
I go to prepare place for you" The
resurrected body implies this. If my
foot is to be reformed from the dust, it
must have something TO tread on. If
my hand is to be reconstructed,
il must have something to handle. If
my eye, having gone out in death, is to
be rekindled, / must have something to
gaze on Your adverse theory seems
to imply that the resurrected body is
to be hung on nothing, or to walk in
air, or TO float amid the intangibles.
You may say if there be material or
ganisms then a soul in Heaven will be
cramped and hindered in its enjoy
ments, but / answer, Did not Adam
and Eve have plenty of room in the
garden of Eden? Although only few
miles would have described the circum-
ference of that place, they had ample
room. And do you not suppose that
God, in the immensities, can build
place large enough to give the whole
race room, even though there be ma
terial organisms?
Herschel looked into the heavens
AS Swiss guide puts his Alpine stock
between the glaciers and crosses over
from crag TO crag, so Herschel planted
his telescope between the worlds and
glided from star to star until he could
announce to us that we live in a part
of the universe but sparcely strewn
with worlds, and he peers out into i'm
mensity until he finds a region no
larger than our solar system in which
there are $4,000 worlds moving. And
Prof. Lang says that by a philosophic
reasoning there must be somewhere a
world where there is no darkness, but
everlasting sunshine, so that 1 do not
know but that it is simply because we
have no telescope powerful enough
that we can not see into the land
where there is no darkness at all and
catch a glimpse of the FURNISHED PIN
nacles. AS a conquering army march
ing on to take city comes at nightfall
to the crest of a mountain from which,
in the midst of the landscape, they see
the castles they are to capture, and !
rein in their war chargers, and halt to |
take a good look before they pitch |
their tents for the night, so now, com |
ing as we do on this mountain top of |
1 command this regiment of |
God to rein in their thoughts and halt, |
and before they pitch their tents for |
the night take one good, long look at !
the gates of the great city. "On the |
east three gates; on the north three
gates, and on the west three gates.
In the first place / want you to ex-
anime the architecture of those gates
Proprietors of large estates are very
apt TO have an ornamental gateway.
they spring an arch of ma
sonry, the posts of the gate fianked
with lions in statuary; the bronze gate
a representation of INTERVIEWING foli-
age, bird haunted, until the hand of
genius drops exhausted,
all its life frozen into the stone. Gates
Of wood and iron and stone guarded
nearly all the old cities Moslems have
Inscribed upon their gateways inscrip-
lions from the Koran of the Moham-
nedan. There have been a great many
ine gateways, but Christ sets his hand
% the work, and for the upper city
swung gate such as no eye ever gazed
IN, untouched of inspiration. With
he nail of his own cross he cut into
is wonderful traceries stories of past
and of gladness to come.
There is no wood or stone or bronze
n that gate, but from top to base and
rom side to side it is all pearl.
Not one piece picked up from Cey-
on banks, and another piece from the
Persian gulf, and another from the
sland of Marguerite, but one solid
asting light by Heavenly hands and
loisted and swung amid the shouting
If angels The glories of alabaster
-ase and porphyry pillar fade out be- /
ore this gateway. 1t puts out the I
park of feldspar and diamond. You I
znow how one little precious stone ON
our finger will fash under the gas
light. But, oh, the brightness when
he great gate of Heaven swings, j
truck through and dripping with the
light of eternal MONDAY!
Tr,1frc v,afI To- onn $500 4.