The Penn's Grove record., 1899-11-10
DR.. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BYTHE NOTED
DIVINE.

Subject Our Fathers House - Cod
Homestead, Builded on the Hills D
Heaven, Provides Rooms For ALL
vivid Picture of the Celestial Homer
Copyright, Louis Kiopscf. 1891
W~AsHINaroN, D. Gin a unique way the
heavenly world Is discoursed upon by DIR
Talmage In this sermon under the figure OF
a home; text, John xiv, 2, On My Fathers
house are many rooms"
Here is a bottle of medicine that Is O
cure all. The disciples were sad, and
Christ offered heaven as an Alternative, q
stimuiant and n toric. He shows them
that their sorrows are only n dark back
ground OF n bright picture of coming
felicity. He let's them know that, though
now they live on the lowlands, they shall
yet have q house on the uplands. Nearly
all the Bible descriptions OF heaven may be
fgurative. l an not positive that In all
heaven there is a literal crown OF harp or
pearly gate or throne or chariot. They
may be only used to Illustrate the glories
OF the place, but how we'll they do It'll The
fayorite symbol by which the Bible pre-
sents celestial happiness is a house. Paul,
who never owned a house, although he
hired one for two years in Italy, speaks of
heaven as a "house not nude with hands,"
and Christ In our text, the translation of
which is a little changed, SO as to give the
more accurate meaning, says: 'In My
Fathers house are many rooms"
This diyineiy authorized comparison of
heaven to a great homestead OF large ac-
commodations I propose TO carry out. In
some healthy neighborhood a man builds
n very c~ommodious habiiation. He must
have room for all his children. The rooms
come to be called after the different MEM
bers of the family. That is mothers room,
that is Georges room, that Is Henry's room,
that lie Etorn'a r0hr, thof Go NTary3c raora
and the house is all occupied. But time
goes by, and the sons go out into the
world and build their own homes, and the
daughters are married or have talents
enough singly to go out and do a good
work In the world. After q while the
father and mother are almost alone In the
big house, and. seated by the evening
stand, they say, 'Weli, our family is no
larger now han when we started together
forty years ago." But time goes still
further by, and some of the children are
unfortunate and return to the old home-
stead to live, and the grandchildren come
with them and perhaps great-grandchil-
dren, and again the house is full.
Millennia ago God built on the hills Of
heaven a ,great homestead for a family In
numerah yet to be. At first He lived alone
in tbatS 1t house, but after awhile it
was occuA by a very large family, cher
ubic, seral afc, angelic. The eternities
phsoCd VII II iiddr VI II lHuhDltuuLS
became hayward and left, never to return,
and many Of the apartments were vacant.
l refer to the fallen angels. Now these
apartments are filling up again. There are
arrivals at the old homestead OF Gods
children every day, and the day will come
when there will be no unoccupied room in
all the house.
AS you and / expect to enter 1t and make
there eternal residence, I thought you
would like to get some more particulars
about the many roomed homestead. "In
my Fathers house are many ooms." You
see, the place Is to be apportioned off into
apartments. We shall love all who are in
heaven, but there are some very good peo-
pie whom we would not want to live with
in the same room. They may be better
than we are, but they are of a divergent
temperament. We would like to meet with
them on the golden streets and worship
with them in the temple and walk with
them on tho river banks, but / am glad to
say that we shall live in different apart
ments. "In my Fathers house are many
rooms" You see, heaven Will be so large
That il one wants an entire room to himself
or herself 1t can be afforded.
An ingenious statistician, taking the
statement made In Revelation, twenty-1rst
chapter, that the heavenly Jerusalem was
meas ured and GUN to be II coo furloDgs
and that the length and height and breadth
of 1t are equal, says that would make
heaven In size 94S sextillion 9SS quintillion
cubic feet, and then, reserving u certain
portion for the court of heaven and the
streets and estimating that the world may
last a hundred thousand years, he ciphers
out that there are over 5000, 000, 900 900
rooms, each room seventeen feet long, six
teen feet wide, fifteen feet high. But | have
no faith In the accuracy of that calcula-
tioD. He makes the rooms too small. From
all 1 can read the rooms will be palatial,
and those who have not la enough room
In this world will have plenty of room at
the last. l should not wonder II, instead
OF the room that the statistician ciphered
out rs only seventeen feet by sixteen, it
should be larger than any of the rooms at
Berlin, st. James or Winter palace. .iIn
my Fathers house are many rooms"
HCarrying out still further tho symbolism
Of the text, let us join hands and go up to
this majestic homestead and see for our
selves. AS we ascend the golden steps an
invisible guardsman swings open the front
door, and we are ushered to the right into
the reception room Of the old homestead.
That is the place where we first meet the
welcome of heaven. There must be IA place
where the departed spirit enters and n
place in which it c6ofronts the inhabitants
celestial. The reception room of the new
ly arrived from this w~orld-what scenes it
must rave witnessed since the first guest
arrived. tho victim OF the first fratrieide,
pious Abel! In that room Christ lovingly
greets all newcomers. He redeemed them,
and He has the right to the first embrace OF
arrival. What u minute when the assembled
spirit first sees the Lordl Better than all
We ever Q about Him or talked about
Him or sang about Him In all the churches
and through all our earthly lifetime will
1t be, Just for one second to see Him.
The nest rapturous idea we ever had OF
Him on days or at the height
OF some great revival or under the uplifted
baton OF an oratorio is a bankruptcy OF
thought compared with the first lash of
His appearance in that reception room. AT
that moment when you confront each
other, Christ looking upon you and you
static thrill and surging OF emotion that
beggar all description. Lookl They need
no introduction. Long ago Christ chose
that r%epentant sinner, and that repentant
sinner chose Christ. Mightiest moment OF
an immortal history-the first kiss OF
heaveni Jesus and the SOUL The soul and
Jesusi
But now into tina reception room pour
the glorined kinsfolk, enough OF earthly
retention to let you know them. but with
out their wounds or their slcknesses or
their troubles. See what heaven has done
for them-so radiant, 50 gleeful, so
transportingly lovelyi They call you by
name. They greet you with an ardor pro-
and the, length OF your separation.
Fatherl Motherl There is your child.
Sistersl Brothersl Friendsl | wish you
Joy. For years apart, together again In
the reception room of the old homestead.
You see, they will know you are coming.
There are so many immortals filling all the
spaces between here and heaven that news