The Monitor-register., 1896-12-11

.ao IA"sio VI heaVen that 1t cannot all
be figurative. Why all this talk about
hallelulahs, and choirs on the glass
and trumpets and harps and oratorios
and organs? The Bible over and over
again speaks of the songs of heaven. If
heaven had no songs of its own. a vast
number of those on earth would have
6een taken up by the earthly emigrants
surely the Christian at death does not
lose his memory. Then there must be
millions OF souls in heaven who know
coronation" and "Antioch" and
Mount Pisgah" and cold Hundred I"
The leader of the eternal orchestra need
only once tap his baton, and all heaven
will be ready for the halleluiah. If
heaven should ever get out of music,
Thomas Hastings and Lowell Mason
and Bradbury would start up a hundred
old magnificent chorals. But what with
the new song that John mentions, and
the various doxologies alluded to, and
the importation of sublunar harmonies,
Christian fond Of music, dying, will
have an abundance of regalement.
What though the voice be gone in
death, what though the ear be fallen in
dissolution, are you therefore to con-
clude that the spirit will have no pow
er to make or catch sweet sounds? Can
not the soul sing? How often we COM
pliment some exquisite singing by say
ing, "There was SO much soul in her
music.''
Celestial Music.
In heaven it will be all soul until the
body after awhile comes up in the res
direction, and then there will be an
additional heaven. Cannot the soul
hear? If it can hear, then it can hear
music. Do not therefore let it be in
your household when some member
leaves for heaven, as it is in some
households, that you close the piano
and unstring the harp for two years be-
cause the fingers that used to play on
| them are still. You must remember
| that they have better instruments of
music where they are. You ask me,
''Do they bave real harps and real
trumpets and real organs?" do not
know. Some wiseacres say positively
there are no such things in heaven.
do not know, but I should not be sur
prised if the God who made all the
mountains, and all the hills, and all
the forests, and all the mines of the
earth, and all the growths Of the uni
verse; should not be surprised if he
could, if he had mind to, make few
harps and trumpets and organs. Grand
old Haydn, sick and wornout, was car
ried for the last time into the music
hall. There he heard his oratorio of the
"Creation. History says that as the
orchestra came to that famous passage,
"Let there be lightl' the whole audi
ence rose and cheered, and Haydn
waved his hand toward heaven and
said, SIT comes from therel' Over
whelmed with his own music, he was
carried out in his chair, and as he came
to the door he spread his hand toward
the orchestra as in benediction. Haydn
was right when he waved his hand to-
ward heaven and said, SIT comes from
| there" Music was born in heaven, and
it will ever have it's highest throne in
heaven, and / want you to understand
that our departed friends who were pas
sionately fond of music here are now al
the headquarters of harmony. / think
that the grand old church tunes that
died when your grandfathers died have
gone with them to heaven. When those
tunes died, they did not stay on earth,
and they could not have been banished
| to perdition, and SO think they must
be in the corridors of alabaster and Leb-
anon cedar.
In BIoodless Battle.
Again, remark that those of our de.
parted Christian friends who in this
world had very strong military spirit
are now in armies celestial and out in
bloodless battle. There are hundreds of
people born soldiers. They cannot help
it. They belong to regiments in times
Of peace. They cannot hear drum or q
fife without trying to keep step to the
music. They are Christian, and when
they fight they fight on the right side.
Now, when these our Christian friends
who had natural and powerful military
spirit entered heaven, they entered the
celestial army. The door of heaven
i caroeIy opens but you hear military
demonstration. David cried out, ''The
chariots of God are 0,000r' Elisha
saw the mountains filled with celestial
cavalry. St John said, "The armies
which are in heaven followed him on
white horses" Now, when those who
had the military spirit on earth sancti-
fed entered glory. suppose they right
away enlisted in some heavenly cam.
paign. They volunteered right away.
There must needs be in heaven soldiers
with soldierly spirit. There are grand
parade days, when the King reviews the
troops. There must be armed escort
sent out to bring up from earth to
heaven those who were more than con.
querors. There must be erusades ever
being fittedout for some part of God IS
dominion-battles, bloodless, groanless,
painless-angels of evil to be fought
down and fought out, other rebellious
worlds to be conquered, worlds to be
put to the torch, worlds to be saved,
worlds to be sunk, worlds to be hoist
ed. Besides that, in our own world there
are battles for the right and against the
wrong where we must have the heaven
| ly military. That is what keeps us
Christian reformers SO buoyant. So few
good men against SO many bad men; so
few churches against SO many grog-
shops; SO many pure printing presses
against SO many polluted printing press,
es, and yet we are buoyant and coura-
geous, because, while we know that the
armies of evil in the world are larger
in numbers than the army of truth,
there are celestial cohorts in the air
fighting on our side. ~
have not SO much faf the army
on the ground as I have :, the army in
the air. o God, open ou eyes that
we may see them-the military spirits
that went up from earth to join the
military spirits before the throne-Josh-
ua and Caleb and Gideon and David
and Samson and the hundreds of Chris
tian warriors who on earth fought with
fleshly arm, and now, having gone, up
on high, are coming down the hills OF
heaven ready to fight among the invisi-
bles. Our departed Christian friends
who had the military spirit in them
sanctified are in the celestial army,
Whether belonging to the artillery, OF
the cavalry, or the infantry, know not,
| only know that they have started out
for fleet service and courageous service
and everlasting service. Perhaps they
may come this way to fight on our side
and drive sin and meanness and satan
from all our hearts. Yonder they are
coming. coming. Did you hear them as
4 they swept by?
Everlasting Metaphysics.
But what are our mathematical
friends to do in the next world? They
found their joy and delight in mathe
matics. There was more poetry to then
in Euclid than in John Milton. They
were as passionately fond of mathemat