The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-11-11
HEAVEN Is
Some Novel Ideas on the Future
Home Of the Blest.
Rev DIT. TnInngs Declares that Heaven is
Constantly Being Enriched aud
les Inhabitants Constantly
Progressing.

In the following sermon Rev. I. De-
Witt Talmagc sets forth some novel
IDEAS Of the world 10 come, The text
is: And 1 saw d new Heaven. -Rey-
Citations, xxi, l..
The sterotyped Heaven docs ctmake
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 p~hraseoIogy. King James
trauslators 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 it's atmosphere is a combination
Of early June and of the Indian sum
mer in October, a place combining the
advantages of city and country, the
streets standing for the one, and the
twelve manner Of fruits for the other
a place of musical entertaiRments-
harpcfs, piPers, trumpeters, doNolo-
giles; a place Of wonderful architecture
behold the temples! a place where
there may be the highest forms of ami
NAL Iife-the beasts which were on
Iarth beaten, lash-whipped, and CALLED
and uublanketed, and worked to
death, turned out among the white
horses which the Book of Revelation
describes as being in Heaven; aplaceot
]stupendous literRture-th he booksopen;
a place of a]ristosratic and democratic
attractiyeness-the kings standing for
the one, all nations for the other; all
botanical, genealogical, pathological,
arborcscent, 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 l 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 reyolu-
ton, and year by year, and month 10y
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 uniyerse-the residence of the
Almighty. Heaven had not yet been
started. immensely was the park all
around about this great residence;
but Gods sympathetic heart after
awhile overlooked in other creations,
and there came, all through this vast
country of ~immensity, inhabited viii
lagos, which grew and enlarged until
they Joined each other, and became one
great central metropolis of the Uni-
verse, streeted. gated, tempted, va
tered, inhabited. One angel went forth
with a reed, we are told, and he meas
ured Heaven on the n side, and then
he went forth and measured Heaven
on the other side; and then st. John
tried to take the census of that city,
and he became so b~ewildered 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, OF 1000
years, / remember there are 1000, 600,
GOO 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! II 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 a
mere nothing as compared with the
50O,O0O,0 900, the 10000 DOC, 600, the "mul
titude that no man can number that
have gone into that cityl OF course
all this takes for granted that every
child that dies goes as straight into
Heaven as ever the light sped from q
star; and that is one reason why
Heaven will always be fresh and beau.
tiful-the great multitude Of children
in it. Put $780, 900 children in
country, it will be a blessed and lively
country.
But add to this, if you will, the
great multitude Of adults who hay,
gone into glory, and how the census o
} Heaven must run up! Many years
ago a Clergyman stood in a New Eng
land pulpit, and said that he believe,
that the vast majority of the ract
would finally be destroyed, and tina
, not more than one out Of 1000 per
sons would be finally saved. Their.
/ happened to be about 1000 people il
! the village where he preached. Mex
Sabbath two persons were heard dis
cussing the subject, and wondering
3 which Of the 5000 people in tn