The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-12-20
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE eYTHE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: The World a. It Will Be-Im-
provement in Human Conditions After
tho Earth Has Been Revolutionized
For Good-The Coming Century.
Copyright, Louis Klopsch. 1899. !

tho Earth Has Been Revolutionized
For Good-The Coming Century.
Copyright, Louis Klopsch. 1891
r, WASHINGTON, D. C.-By novel mode DR..
Taimagefr this discourse shows how the
world will look after 1t has been revoiu-
lionIzed for good; text, II Peter ILL.,, .l3.
IA new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous
Aness.".' -
Down in the struggle to make the world
better and happier we sometimes get de-
pressed with the obstacles to be overcome
sand the work to be accomplished. Will 1t
not be q tonic and an inspiration to look
sat the world as It will be when 1t has. been
brought back to paradlsaical condition.
30 let US for few moments transport our
selves into the future and put ourselves
forward In the centuries and see the world
In its rescued and perfected state, as We
will see II II In those times re are permit
ted to revisit this planet, as I am sure we
will. We ill want to see the world after 1t
has been thoroughly gospelized and oil
wrongs have been righted. We will want
TO come back, and we will come back to
iook upon the refulgent contamination to-
Tsrd which we have been on larger or
smaller scale toiling. Having beard the
opening otthe orchestra on whose strings
some discords Travelled, we will want to
fected oratorio. Having ssen the picture
as the painter drew its first oltlines upon
canvas, we will want to see 1t wnS2. It ~ as
complete as Reubens' Descent From the
Cross" or Michael Angeles Last Judg-
I. nent." Having seen the world under the
CLEAN OF the star OF Bethlehem, We will
want to see 1t when. under the full shining
:of the sun OF righteousness, the towers
shall strike IL Mt noon.
There will be nothing In that coming CEN
tury Of the worlds perfection to hinder
our terrestrial visit. Our power and velo-
city OF locomo otion will have been improved
infinitely. 1t will not take US long 10 come
mere, however far of In Gods universe
heaven may be. The Bible declares that
such visitation is going on now. Are they
not all mintstering spirits sent forth to
minister to those who shall be heirs OF SAL
Z Sationy" Surely the gates OF heaven will
: not be bolted after the world is Edenized
60 as to hinder the redeemed from descend
Z Ing for tour OF inspection and congratu-
lation and triumph.
You know with what interest we look
/; upon ruins-ruins Of Kenilworth custle,
ruins OF Melrose abbey, ruins OF Rome,
an enchantment to look at but we want to
see 1t when rebuilt, repillared, recovered,
realtered, rededicated.. The exact date OF
che worlds moral restoration cannot
3 ioretell. It may be that through mighty
awakerings 1t will take place In the middle
Z Of the nearby twentieth century. 1t may
be at the opening OF the twenty-hrst cen.
tury, but It would not be surprising II 1t
Z took more than 100 years to correct the
years. The chief missionary and evangel-
lstic enterprises were started In this GEN.
tpry,. and be not dismsyed II It takes O
poIple OF centuries to overcome evils that
{, have had full swing for sixty centuries. l
taks no responsibility In saying on what
page. of the earthly calendar 1t will roll In,
but Gods eternal veracity is sworn to 1t
that It will roll In, and as the redeemed In
& heaven do as they please and have all the
facilities OF transit from world to world,
you and I, my hearer or reader, will come
and look at what my text calls "a new
Sarth wherein dweileth righteousness"
q imagine that we are descending ut that
period OF the worlds complete gospellza-
lion. There will be no peril In such de-
{ scent. Great heights and depths have no
alarm for glorifled spirits. We can como
down through ehasms between worlds
$ without growing dizzy and across the
& spaces OF half the universe without losing
bur way. Down and farther down we come.
AS we approach this world We breathe the
perfume Of ilifmitable gardens. Floraliza-
u Hon that In centuries past was here and
there walled In lest reckless and dishonest
hands pluck or despoil 1t surges its billows
Of color across the fields and up the hill
sides, and that which was desert blossoms
as the rose. All the foreheads OF crag
crowned with flowers, the feet Of the noun
tains slippered with fiowersl Oh, this per-
Sume OF the continents, this aroma OF hemi
/; spheres! As we approach nearer and neurer
Z. we hear songs and laughter and hosannas,
I but not one groan OF distress, not one sob
4 Of bereavement, not one clank OF chain.
AlIghted on the redeemed earth, We are
FIRST accostsd by the Spirit OF the twenty.
frst century, who proposes to guide and
show US all that we desire to see. Without
His guidance We would lose our way for
the world Is so much changed from the
time when we lived In 1t. First OF all, He
I points out to US group Of abandoned
buildings. We ask this Spirit OF the twen-
ty-frst century, "What are those struc-
lures whose walls are falling down and
whose gates are rusted on the hinges"
Our escort tells US: "Those were once
- ~penitentiaries filed with offenders. but the
crime OF the world has died out. Theft
and arson and fraud and violence have
quilted tho enrth. People have all they
want, and Why should they appropriate
the property of others even II they had the
desire? The marauders, the assassins, the
buccaneers, the Herods, the Mana Sahibs,
the ruflans, the bandits, are dead or,
transformed by the power OF the Christian
religion, are now upright and beneacent
and useful.
After passing on amid columns and
statues erected in memory OF those who
have been mighty for goodness In the
worlds history, the highest and the most
exquisitely scuiptured those in honor Of
such as have been most effeotual In saving
life or improving life rather than those re-
20 20
another group OF buildings that must have
been transformed from their original shape
and adapted to other uses. "What ts all
thfs?" we ask our escort. He answers:
"Those were almshouses and hospitals,
but accuracy In making aud prudence In
running machinery Of all sorts have almost
abolished the list Of casualties, and sobriety
and industry have nearly abolished pau
perlsm, so that those buildings which once
were hospitals and almshouses have been
turned into beautiful homes for the less
prospered, and II you will look in you will
see the poorest table has abundance, and
the smallest wardrobe luxury, and the
harp, waiting to have its strings thrummed.
leaning against the piano, waiting tor its
keys to be fingered.
s. Hospitals and almshouses must have
useless now. And you see all the ywamps
have been drained, the sewerage OF the
great, towns has been perfected, and the
worlds climate Is so improved that there
are no pneumonias to come out OF the cold,
or Fheumatisms out OF the dampness, or
feyers out OF the heat. Consumptions ban
tshed, pneumonias banished. dlphtherla
bsnished, ophthalmia banished, neuralgias
banished. As near as I can tell from what
Ihnve read, our atm osphere' OF this cent
ury is a mingliDg OF the two months oi
May and October Of the nineteenth cent
ury."
But'I say to our escort: "Did all this
merely happen so? Are all the good here