St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-01-06
.1uHTEOUS EARTH.
d. Talmage Discusses on the
World as It Will Be
improvement In Human Conditions
After 1t Has Deen Revolutfonixed
fur Good-Glories OF the
Coming Century.
. Copyright. 1889. by Louis Klppsch.l
Washington

!. lCopynght, 1883, by Louis KlDpsch.1
Washington,
BY novel mode DIR. Talmage in this
discourse shows how the world will look
after it has been rcvolutionized for
good; text, 2 Peter 3:I3: a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness"
Down in the struggle to make the
world better and happier we sometimes
get depressed with the obstacles TO be
overcome and the work to be accom-
plished. Will it not be tonic and an
inspiration to look at the world as ii
will be when it has been brought back
to paradisaical condition? So let us for
a few moments transport ourselves into
the future and put ourselves forward in
the centuries and see the world in its
rescued and perfected state, as we will
see it if in those times we are permitted
to revisit this planet, as am sure we
will. We all want to see the world after
it has been thoroughly Gospelized and all
wrongs have been righted. We will
want to come back, and we will come
back to look upon the refulgent consum-
nation toward which we have been on
larger or smaller scale toiling. Having
heard the opening of the orchestra on
whose strings some discords travelled,
we will want to hear the last triumph
ant bar of the perfect oratcrio. Having
seen the picture as the painter drew its
first outlines upon canvas, we will want
to see it when it is as complete as Reu-
ben's Descent from the Cross" or
Michael Angeles Last judgment"
Having seen the world under the CLEAN
of the star of Bethlehem, we will want
10 see it when, under the full shiningof
the sun Of righteousness, The towers
snail strike IL nj noon. -
There will be nothing in that comm g
century of the worlds perfection to hin
der our terrestrial visit. Our power and
velocity Of locomotion will have been
improved infinitely. 1t will not take us
long 10 come here, however far off in
Gods universe Heaven may be. The
Bible declares that such visitation is
Ching on riow.. "Are they not.all minis
teriEg spirits sent forth to minister TO
those who shall be heirs Of salvation"
Surely the gates Of Heaven will not be
bolted after the world is EGenizcd SO
as to hinder the redeemed from de-
scending for tour Of inspection and
congratulation and triumph.
You know with what interest we look
upon ruins-ruins Of Kenilworth castle.
ruins of Melrose abbey, ruins Of Rome,
ruins of Pompeii. So this world in
ruins is an enchantment 10 look at. but
we want to see it when rebuilt, repil-
Jared, recovered, realtered, rededicated.
The exact date of the worlds moral
restoration / cannot foretell. 1t may be
that through mighty awakenings it will
take place in the middle Of the nearby
twentieth century. 1t may be at The
opening of the twenty-frst century, but
it would not be surprising if it took
more than 100 years to correct the raw
ages of sin which have ragged for 6.UJo
years. The chief missionary and evan
geiistic enterprises We're started in this
century, and be not dismayed ifit takes
a couple of centuries to overcome evils
that have had full swing for GO cen
turtles. / take no responsibility in say
ing on what page of the earthly calen-
dar it will roll in, but Gods eternal
veracity is sworn to it 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
], my nearer or reader, will come and
look at what my text calls "A new earth
wherein dwe!leth righteousness
/ imagine that we are descending at
that period Of the world 'scomplete Cos
pelization. There win be no peril IN
such descent. Great heights and
depths have no alarm for glorified spir-
its. We can come down through chasms
between worlds without growing dizzy
and across the spaces of half the uni
verse without losing our way. Down
and farther down we come. As we APP
proach this world we breathe the per-
fume of illimitable gardens. Floraliza-
ticn that in centuries past was here and
there walled in lest reckless and dishoL-
est hands pluck or despoil it surges its
pillows of color across the fields and up
the hillsides. and that which was desert
blossoms as the rose. All the foreheads
of crag crowned with flowers, the fet /
Of the mountains siippered with flow
ers! Oh, this perfume of the continents,
this aroma Of hemispheres! As we APP
proach nearer and nearer we hear songs
and laughter and hosannas. but not one
groan of distress, not one sob Of bereave-
ment, not one clank of chain.
Alighted on the redeemed earth, we
are first accosted by the spirit of the
twenty-first 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 50 much
changed from the time when we lived
in it. First OF all, he points out to us
q group of abandoned buildings. We
ask this spirit of the twenty-first CEN
fury: s.What are those structures
whose walls are failing down andsvhose
gates are rusted on the hinges?" Our
escort tells us: Those were oncepeni-
<cntiaries filled with offenders, but the
cr,me of the world has died out Theft
and arson and fraud and violence have
quilted the earth. People have all they
want, and why should they appropriate
the property of others even if they had
the desire? The marauders, the assas-
sins, the buccaneers. the Herods, the
Mana Sahibs, the ruffians, the bandits,
are dead or, transformed by the power
of the Christian religion. are now up
right and beneficent 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 tbs
most exquisitely sculptured those IN
honor Of such as have been most eff
fectual in saving life or improving life
rather than those renowned for de-
stroying life, we come upon another
group of buildings that must have been
transformed from their original shape
and adapted to other uses. what is all
rhis?" we ask our escort. He answers:
Those were almshouses and hospitals,