The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-01-23
SERMON.
THE EARTHLY TENT-THE
HEAVENLY HOUSE.
BY REV. T. B. THAYER. D. d.

t'For we know that If our earthly mouse
of this tabernacle (tent) were dissolved,
we have a building of God, an house
not made with hands, eternal lin the
heavens - Cor. v. 1.
A FREQUENT and pleasing
II figure or metaphor of the
Scriptures, is that which represents
mankind as soiourners or temporary
jewellers on earth, having their home
or permanent residence in heaven.
David, in his prayer to the Lord,
says, GAIL things come OF thee, and
Of thine own have we given thee. For
we are strangers before thee, and
soiourners, as were all our fathers:
our days on earth are as shadow,
and there is none abiding" q Chron-
icles, xxix.) And Peter says, IF ye
call on the Father, who without re-
spect of persons judgeth according to
every mans work, pass the time OF
your sojourning here in fear" that is,
reverently toward this Father. Then
there were the ancient saints who
Confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth"
This figure furnishes abundant
subject matter for meditation, and
presents a pleasing and consoling
truth to the thought of the sufferer,
and of those who have seen their be-
loved pass on out of their sight.
This is not our home-we are away
from home in this world. We are
travellers, sojourning here and there.
on the way to the country beyond the
river, our native land, from which we
went out at birth. "We have no con-
tinuing city here, but we seek one to
Gomez" as did the old patriarch, who
"soiourned in the land of promise, as
in strange country, dwelling in tab
ernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the
heirs with him of the same promise
for he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose maker and build
or is God"
We shout seek to be in this frame
of mind, to feel with, Abraham that
we are pilgrims in this foreign land,
iourneying forward every day toward
a city having foundations, the New
Jerusalem on high. We ought to
make this subject of frequent
thought, and cheerfully look forward
to the time when we shall go to take
possession of our heavenly mansion
or, in the language of the apostle
when we shall "come unto Mount
Sion, and unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
an innumerable company of angels,
and to the general assembly and
Church of the first-born, which are
written in heaven, and to God the
Judge of all, and to the spirits of just
men made perfect, and to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant"
What glorious company, indie d.
ready to receive us, and give us well
come when we come into that oeautl-
full land wherein we are to abide Tor
ever. 1t is something, truly, to look
forward to, to be glad for; something
to give courage and strength as we
travel on through the pleasant val
leys, or the waste wilderness, or over
the rough mountain passes OF life. 1t
is a sweet and soothing thought, that
every day is one remove nearer to the
the mansions of the blessed, where
all our iourneyings shall end in the
dear quiet of home; where all the
saints of earth and of heaven, and all
the great and good of all ages and
all worlds, are waiting to greet US
with rejoicings, to embrace US in the
arms of everlasting love.
Tired with our long travel, fainting
with hunger and thirst, the hot sun
of the desert blazing upon us, o how
grateful to the sinking frame is the
sight of the green and shady palms,
that lift their tall plumes along the
horizon, and discover to us the bound
aries, the end at last, of the great
sand waste; the region of grass and
flowers and fruits and running waters,
the shady nook in which nestles "the
sweet, sweet home," where we shall
find rest and peace, and all the joys
of tenderest affection forevermore.
Some one has said in pleasant phrase,
and to be remembered by all .
Here in the body pent,
Absent from heaven | roam,
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
A days march nearer home. -
How beautiful, how comforting! Alb
sent from heaven, from home, yet
every night we are one days march
nearer to it; one day less between us
and those we love, those who are
waiting to welcome us to the city of
God, and to bring us to the place Of
our rest.