Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1898-12-09
THE NEW JERUSALEM.
Rev. Dr.. Talmage Presents Some
Novel Ideas of Heaven.
ana Grander all the Time Its Popu-
lation Ever Increasing and
Progressing.

is: And | saw a new Heaven" ."-Rev-
elations, Xxi, /.
The sterotyped Heaven does not make
adequate impression upon us. We
need the old story told in new style in
order to arouse our appreciation.
do not suppose that we are compelled
to the old phraseology. King James
translators did not exhaust all the
good and graphic words in the English
dictionary. | suppose if we should
take the idea of Heaven, and translate
it into modern phrase, we would find
that its atmosphere is combination
of early June and of the Indian sum-
mer in October, place combining the
advantages of city and country, the
streets standing for the one, and the
twelve manner of fruits for the other;
place of musical entertainments
harpers, pipers, trumpeters, doXolo-
gies; place of wonderful architecture
behold the temples! place where
there may be the highest forms of ami
| nal life--the beasts which were on
earth beaten, lash-whipped, and CALLED
and unblanketed, and worked to
| death, turned out among the white
| korses which the Book of Revelation
describes as being in Heaven; place OF
stupendous literature-the books open;
a place of aristocratic and democratic
lttractveness-the kings standing for
the one, all nations for the other; all
botanical, pomological, ornithological,
arborescent, worshipful beauty and
grandeur.
But my idea now is to speak chiefly
of the improved Heaven. People
sometimes talk of Heaven as though it
were an old city, finished centuries
ago, when / have to tell you that no
city on earth, during the last so years,
has had such changes as Heaven. 1t
is not the same place as when job, and
| David, and Paul wrote of it. For hun
dreds and hundreds of years it has
been going through peaceful revolu-
tion, and year by year, and month by
month, and hour by hour, and mo-
ment by moment, it is changing, and
changing for something better. Away
back there was only one residence
in the universe-the residence of the
Almighty. Heaven had not yet been
started. Immensity was the park all
around about this great residence;
but Gods sympathetic heart after
awhile overhowed in other creations,
and there came, all through this vast
country of immensity, inhabited vii
lagos, which grew and enlarged until
they Joined each other, and became one
great central metropolis OF the uni
verse, streeted, gated, tempted, wa
tered, inhabited. One angel went forth
with reed, we are told, and he meas
urcd Heaven on the one side, and then
he went forth ayd measured Heaven
on the other side; and then st. John
tried to take the census of that city,
and he became so bewildered that he
gave it up.
That brings me to the first thought
OF my theme-that Heaven is vastly
improved in numbers. Noting little
under this head about the multitude
of adults who have gone into glory
during the last 100, or 500, or 1000
years, | remember there are 1000, ,000,-
600 of people in the world, and that
the vast majority of people die in in
fancy. How many children must have
gone into Heaven during the last SOC
or 1000 years! If New York should
gather in one generation 100000 pop.
ulation, if London should gather in
one generation 100000 population
what a vast increase! But what q
mere nothing as compared with the
50O,0OO,000, the 2,000,000,000, the "mul
titude that no man can number" that
have gone into that city! OF course
all this takes for granted that every
cTjld that dies goes us straight into
Heaven as ever the light sped from 8
star; and that is one reason why
Heaven will always be fresh and beau
tiful-the great multitude of children
in it, Put 500,000000 children in Q
country, it will be blessed and lively
; country.
But add to this, if you will, the
great multitude of adults who have
gone into glory, and how the census O
Heaven must run up! Many years
ago clergyman stood in New Eng
land pulpit, and said that he believed
that the vast majority of the rac'
would finally be destroyed, and tina
not more than one out of 1000 per
sons would be finally saved. There
happened to be about 1000 people IL
the village where he preached. Mex
Sabbath two persons were heard dis
cussing the subject, and wondering
) which one Of the 1000 people in tn,
village would tiually reach Heaven
; and one thought it would be the min
; lister, and the other thought it woult
be the old deacon. Now, have no
| much admiration for a lifeboat whicl
|. will go out to ship sinking will
1000 passengers, and get one off il
safety and let 1899 go to the bottom
? Why Heaven must have been a villag
when Abel, the first soul from earth
entered it, as compared with the pres
ent population of that great city.
Again. / remark that Heaven ha
, vastly improved in knowledge. Give
man 40 or so years to study one Sc
ence, or all the sciences, with all tn
k advantages of laboratories and obsei
q vatories and phiosophic apparatus
he will b. a marvel of information
e Now, into what intelligence mus
s Heaven mount, angelhcod and saint
= hood, not after studying for 40 or
/ years, but for thousands of years
p studying God and the soul and immol
A tality and the universe! How the II
telligence Of that world must swee