St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-12-03
HEAVEN rs GROWING.
Some Novel Ideas on the Future
Home Of the Blest.

Rev. DIR. Talmage Declares that Heaven y
Constantly Being Enriched, and
Its Inhabitants Constantly
Progressing.
In the following sermon Rev. r. De-
Witt Talmage sets forth some novel
ideas of the world to come. The text
is: And saw a new Heaven. Key
elations, xxi, l.
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. l
do not suppose that we are compelled
to the old phrassology. King James
translatCrs did not exhaust all the
good and graphic words in the English
dictionary. l suppose If we should
take the idea Of Heaven, and translate
it into modern phrase, we would lind
that its atmosphere is a 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;
q place of musical entertainments
harpers, pipers, trumpeters, doxolo-
gies; a place Of wonderful architecture
behold the temples! a 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
horses which the Book of Revelation
describes as being in Heaven; place OF
stupendous literature-theb books open;
a place of aristocratic and democratic
attractiveness-thek kings standing for
the one, all nations for the other; all
botanical, pathological, 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 1t
were an old city, finished centuries
ago, when 1 have to tell you that no
city on earth. during the last so years,
has had such changes as Heaven. It
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-
ton, 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 overflowed 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 a reed, we are told. and he meas
ured Heaven on the one 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 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
unde. this head about the multitude
of adults who have gone into glory
during the last 100, or 500, or 1000
wears, remember there are 1,60O, ,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 1000, 900 pop.
ulation, if London should gather in
one generation 100000 population
what vast increase! But what q
mere nothing as compared with the
500, ,OOO, 900, the 100000, 900, the ''mul'
| titude that no man can number" that
have gone into that city! OF course
all this takes for granted that every
| child that dies goes as straight into
Heaven as ever the light sped from Z
star; and that is one reason why
Heaven will always be fresh and beau
| tiful-the great multitude of children
in it. Put 500, ,OOO,O 600 children in 9
country, it will be a blessed and lively
country.
But add to this, if you will, thu
great multitude of adults who have
gone into glory, and how the census o.
Heaven must run up! Many year.
ago clergyman stood in a New Eng
land pulpit, and said that he believed
that the vast majority of the race
would finally be destroyed, and tha
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
which one of the 1000 people in tn,
village would finally 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 witt
1000 passengers, and get one of il
safety and let 1899 go to the bottom
Why Heaven must have been villag
when Abel, the first soul from earth
entered it, a. 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 sci
ence, or all the sciences, with all tn
advantages of laboratories and obser
vatories and philosophic apparatus
he will be a marvel of information
Now, into what intelligence mus
Heaven mount, angelhcod and saint
hood, not after studying for 10 or 5
i years, but for thousands of years
studying God and the soul and immor
tality and the universe! How the in
telligence of that world must swee]
on and on, with eyesight farthe
reaching than telescope. with powe
Of calculation mightier than all hu
man mathematics, with powers Q
analysis surprising all chemical labor
atory, with speed swifter than telee
raphy! What must Heaven Learn
with all these advantages, in . mil