The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-11-23

AGPS AhN4Ot6ACs 8IH4 I0GtG HAVE UCtu
trees OF great girth and immense shade
and vast wealth OF fruitage. but no
b tree had such value OF reminis-
cence or depth Of root OIL spread OF
branch or infinitude Of fruitage as the
center tree Of Pilates orchard. Before
I pass this day from under 1t / would
like to drop IN both knees, and, with
both hands outspread and uplifted to-
ward the heavens, cry out with all the
nations Of earth and heaven: II be-
lieve / God, the Father Almighty,
Maker Of heaven and earth, and In
Jesus Christ, his only Son. our Lord.
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born OF the Virgin Mary, suffered un-
der Pontius PLATE, was crucified. dead
and buried. He descended into he'll.
The third day he ross from the dead.
He assembled into heaven, and stitch
on the right hand of God the Father
Almighty From thence he shall come
to judge the quick and the dead"
ST. JOHNS ORCHARD.
Now, in this discourse Of the pomo-
logy OF the Bible, or roc amid the
orchards. having shown you Adams
orchard and Solomon's orchard and
Pilates orchard. I now Jake you into
st. Johns orchard. and I will stop
there. for. having seen that, you will
want to see nothing more. st. John
himself. having seen that orchard, dis
charged a whole volley Of Come! Come!
Come! and then pronounced the bene-
diction: The grace Of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you all. Amen" Then
the banished evangelist closes the book.
and the Bible is done. The dead old
o opened with Adams orchard and
closes with st. Johns orchard. st.
John went into this orchard through a
stone gate. the black basalt OF the isle
OF Patmos, to which he had been exil-
ed. That orchard which he saw was
and is in heaven.
~ One person will err In speaking of
heaven as all material and mother
person describes heaven as all figura-
tive n spiritual, and both are wrong.
Heaven is both material and spiritual.
While much ct the Bible account Of
heaven is to be taken figuratively and
spiritually, 1t is plain to me that heav-
en- has also a material existence. Christ
said, Il go to prepare a place for you"
Is not a place material? God, who has
done all the world building, the sta
t6tics of stars so vast as to be a bewil-
derment to telescopes, could have
somewhere in his astronomy piled up a
tremendous world to make the Bible
heaven true both as a material splen-
dor n a spiritual domain I do not
believe God put all h flowers, and
all the precious stones. and all the
bright metals, and all the music, and
all the fountains, and all the orchards
in this little world of ours. How much
was literal and how much was figura-
tiv I say. But st. John saw two
rows of trees on each side of a river,
and it differed from other orchards in
the fact that the trees bore IL manner
Of fruits. The learned translators of
our common Bible say it means IL DIFF
ferent kinds Of fruits in one year.
Albert Barnes says it means II crops
of the same kind of fruit in one year.
Not able to decide which is the more
accurate translation, I adopt both. If
it means II different kinds of fruit, it
declares variety in heavenly joy. If it
mean IL crops Of the same kind of
fruit, it declares abundance in heaven
ly joy, and they are both true.
Variety? oh, yes! Not an eternity
with nothing but music; that oratorio
would be too ~prOtracted. Not an eter-
nifty of procession on white horses
that would be too long in the stirrups.
Not an eternity of watching the river;
hat would be too much of the pictur-
esque. Not an eternity of plucking
fruits from the tree Of life; hat would
be too much of the heavenly orchard.
But all mi Of varieties, and I will
tell you Of at least IL of those varieties:
Joy of divine worship, joy of the vic
tories of the Lamb who was slain, joy
over the ~repentant sinners, joy of re-
counting our own rescue, joy of en-
bracing old friends, joy at recognition
Of patriarchs, apostles, evangelists and
martyrs; joy ringing harmonies, joy of
reknitting broken friendships, joy at
the explanation Of ~Providential mys-
teries, joy at walking the boulevards
of gold. joy at looking al walls green
with emerald, and blue with sapphire,
and crimson with jaspar, and afash
with amethyst, entered through, swing
ing gates, their posts, their hinges, and
their panels of richest pearl; joy that
there is to be no subsistence, no .eac-
ton, no terminus to the felicity. All
that makes IL different joys, IL manner
Of fruits. So much for variety. But il
you lake the other Interpretation and
say it means II crops a year., I am with
you still, for that means abundance.
That will be the first place we ever
got into where there is enough OF
everything, enough of health, enough
Of light, enough Of supernal association
enough of love, enough Of knowledge
enough OF JOY. The orchards of this
lower world put out all their energies
for a few days in autumn. and then
having yielded one crop, their banner
Of foliage are dropped out Of the all
and all their beauty Is adjourned unit
the poisoning of the next May time
But IL crops in the heavenly Orchart
during that which on earth we call {
year mean abundance perpetually.
THE HEAVENLY ORCHARD.
While there is enough of the pomp o
the city about heaven for those VIII
like the city best, I hank God there /
enough in the Bible about countr.
scenery in heaven to please those OF u
who were born in the country AM
never got over it. Now you may hav
streets of gold in heaven. Give m
the orchards with II OF fruit
n yielding their fruit every month
and the leaves of the tree are for 9TH
healing of the nations, and there shaI
be no more curse, but the throne O