The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-05-23
ETERNAL FELICITY .
Or. Talmage on the splendo's
Of the New Jerusalem.
THE oICRlES OF HEAVEN
surpass The Comprehension OF
the Finite Mind. There
Will Be No Parting


In this discourse Dr.. Talnage lifts
the curtain from eternal felicities and
in an unusal way treats Of the heavenly
world; text, l Corinthisps il, 9, Eye
hath not seen nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of map, the
things which God hath prepared 'or
them that love him.
The city of Corinth has been called
"the Paris of antiquity. Indeed, Tor
snlan6or the world holds 20 such won
der today. 1t stood on an isthmus
WISHED By two seas, the one sea orlag-
ing the commerce of Europe, the other
sea bringing the commerce OF Asia.
From her Rharfs, in the construction
Of which whole Kingdoms had been ab:
sorbed, war galleys with three banks of
oars pushed out and confouuded the
navy yards of all the world. Huge
handed machinery, such as modern in
vention cannot equal, lifted ships from
the sea on one side snd transported
them on trucks across the isthmus and
set them down in the sea on the other
side.
The revenue officers Of the city went
down through the olive groves that
lined the beach to collect tariff from
all nations. The mirth of all people
spocted in her isthnian games, and the
beauty Of all lands sat in her thestcrs:
walked her porticoes and threw itself
on the altar of her stupendous dissipa-
tions. Column and statue and temple
bewildered the beholder. There were
white marble fountains iuto which from
apertures st the side there rushed wat
ers everywhere known for health giving
qualities. Around these basins, twisted
into wresths of stone, there were all
the beauties Of sculpture aud srchitec-
eure, while standing as # to guard the
costly display, vas statue of Hercules
Of FURNISHED Corinthisn brass. Vases
Of tsrrs Gotta adorned the cemeteries Of
the dead-vases so costly that Julius
Cesar was not sati6ed until he had cap
tured them for Rome. Armed ohcisls,
the Corinehsrii, paced up and down to
see that no statue wss defaced, no
pedestal overthroWn, no base relief
touched. From the edge Of the city a
hill arose, with its magnificent burden
Of columns, towers and temples Loco
slaves waiting at one shrine), and a
citadel so thoroughly inpregnable that
Gibraltar is heap Of sand compared
with it. Amid all that strength and
@sgni6sence Corinth stood and deieo
the world.
Oh, it was not to rustics, who had
never seen anything grand, that Paul
uttered this text. They had heard the
best music that had come from the
best instruments in al the world; they
had heard songs floating from morning
porticoes and melting in evening greves;
they had passed their whole lives among
pictures and sculpture and architecture
and Corinthiao brass, which had been
nodded and shaped until there was no
chariot wheel in which it had not sped,
and no tower in which it had not gilt
tered, and no gateway that it had not
adorned. All. it was a bold thing for
Paul to stand there amid all that and
say: "All this is nothing. These
sounds that come from the temple Of
Neptune are not music compared With
the hsrmonies Of which I speak. These
waters rushing in the basin Of Pyreue
are not pure. These statues Of Bac-
chus and Mercury are not exquisite.
Your citadel Of Acrocorinthus IS not
strong compared with that which offer
60 the poorest slave that puts down
his burden at that brazen gate. You
Corinthians think this is splendid
city. You think you have heard ell
sweet sounds and seen all beautiful
sights, but I tell you eye hath not seen
nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which
God hath prepared for them that love
him."
You see my text sets forth the idea
that, however exalted our ideas of
heaven, they come far short of the reali-
Ey. Some wise men have been calculat-
ing how many furioDgs loog and wide
is the new Jerusalem, and they ha,
calculated how many inhabitants ;he,:
are on the earth, how long the esr,h
will probably stand, and then they
come to this estimate; That after all
the nations have been gathered to heav-
en- there will be room for each soul, a
room 16 feet long and Is feet wide It
would not be large enough for you. 1t
would not be large enough for me. l
am glad to know that no bumsn esti-
mate is sufficient to take the dimen-
sion. Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard" nor ariehneticians calculated.
Scst remark that We can get no idea
Of the health Of heaven. When you
were child, and you went out in the
morning, how you bounded along the
road or street-you had never felt sor-
row or sickness. Perhaps later you
felt glow in your cheek and spring
IN your step and an exuberance of spirits
and clearness Of eye that made you
thank God you were permitted to live.
The nerves were harp strings and the
sunlight vas doxology, and the rustl.
ing leaves were the rustling of the robes
Of CREST crowd rising up to praise the
Lord. You thought that you knew
what it was to be we'll, but there is no
perfect health on earth. The diseases
Of past generations came down to US.
The airs that nos float upon the earth
are not like those which 6oaseo above
paradise. They are charged with i'm
parlties and distempers. The most
elastic and robust health Of earth, ccn-
pared with that which those expert
ence before whom the gates have been
opened, is nothing but sickness and
emscia,ion. Look at that soul stand
ing before the throne. On earth she
was lifelong invalid. See her step