The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-11-09

| know any city in which such league
could do more good, or board Of alder
men that needed it worse.
! The sermon last night was directed
principally to church members and was
from the text: "Take ye away the
stone" John 1882
He urged christians to prepare for the
revival by beginning at home; repentine
of their own sins and then persuadine
others to do likewise.
SERMON ON HEAVEN.
Heaven" was Mr.. Lees subject Mt tho
morning service. The sermon was one
of the most eloquent heard here In
long time.
"What are these which are arrayed
in white robes? and whence came theyl
These are they which came out OF grea'
tribulation," RSv. 1910 were the
words OF his text.
After speaking OF John and the vi
sions he beheld-the glimpses he was &c
corded of the next world and the prophe
tic power with which God had fired his
soul and that caused him to give utter
ance to the words Of the text the
preacher went on to compare the condi
tions OF Gods servants in this life tc
that in the world to come.
"The world" he said, sis full OF wick
edness and death, cradles and collins
gladness and gloom, glory and grief
Friend after friend departs. DEATH
comes to prince and pauper alike. There
is no union of hearts here unbroken
There are gloomy homes and darkenet
rooms and racking fevers; there are
deaths and funerals and weeping. There
is hardly a fireside that has not one
vacant chair.
Heaven is represented as city OF
celestial splendor and as full of joy
Death is unknown there, sickness does
not enter there, gloom is banished, griei
Is absent and there we shall know eacf
other as we are known. There is ne
sorrow, no weeping there.
1.-THE Bible describes Heaven negative
ly more than positively. All the evils
and sorrows OF this life will be absent
No graves are ever dug in Heaven, nc
funeral sermons are ever preached, nc
burial professions are seen on the streets
of the New Jerusalem, no sadness anG
no darkness and no gloom are there-nC
tears and no sorrows and no partings-
wrinkles. We shall be clothed in glory
robed in the wilderness of Righteousness!
of the Son OF God
$ss
where is Heaven? 1t begins right
down here. You don't have to wait t.
die to experience it. / believe there are
some saints right here in this congrega
ton who are enjoying a foretaste Of
Heaven. just taste and see the inheri
lance that God is preparing for you
Heaven comes to us here in instalments
"a little now and then. A little higher
we rise, and a little higher in Gods love
and grace until by and by the full glory
of God bursts upon us. What must the
realization be? Eye hath not seen mol
ear heard, neither has it entered into
the heart of man what glories God has
prepared for his people.
81 remember-it was twenty-five yeare
ago-when came over to this country
from my native land, Ireland. We had
been on the sea many days. The storms
had been raging and more than once il
had seemed as il no power on earth
could save the ship from going down
Two lives had already been lost, and
one morning / heard the voice of sail
or in the rigging calling out: Land
ahead land ahead! How sweet that
voice sounded! How we rushed on deck
and strained our eyes and asked. Where.
where is land? And after awhile in
the far distance there came up out of
the sea. like a distant speck OF cloud,
the banks of Newfoundland. Then we
came into the harbor. How glad we
were, safe now from the storms. How
good the land looked. We never tired
Of gazing at it, though we had seen
and handled it all our lives, except the
past twelve days. Then we went down
the st. Lawrence to the beautiful city
of Quebec. How gloriously the sun
shone that morning. / shall never foSr
get 1.-THE beauty and grandeur of earth
as l stepped from that storm-tossed
vessel.
'"This, imagine, is the way it will be
with the servant of God here and in
heaven. Day by day getting nearer to
God, until that great day when its full
glory shall be his and he shall be Gods.
II look upon the sorrows and trials
of the world as grub-axes that God
use to loosen us from this world-to
keep us from becoming too much attach
ed to the things Of this life. The mourn
ing is on this side but the rejoicing is
on the other. There is strife here but
there is an eternity of love there.