Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1900-05-19
LIFTS THE CURTAIN.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE SPEAKS OF THE
SPLENDORS OF HEAVEN.
However Exalted Our Ideas May Ne
of the Home on High, They Are
Far short of the neaIity-A Glo<f-
GUS Union Awaits Us.

of the Home on High. They ARE
Far short of the neaIity-A Glori'
GUS Union Awaits Us.
WASHINGTON, May 13.-In this dis
course DR.. Talmage lifts the curtain
from eternal felcities and In an .unusu
al way treats of the heavenly world
text, | Corinthians Ii, o. Eye hath moi
seen nor ear heard, neither have en-
tered into the heart of man. the things
which God hath prepared for them
that love him."
The city of Corinth has been called
1.-The Paris of antiquity" Indeed for
splendor the world holds no such won
der today. 1t stood on an isthmus
washed by two seas, the one sea bring
ing the commerce OF Europe, the other
sea bringing the commerce OF Asia.
From her wharfs, In the construction
Of which whole Kingdoms had been alb.
sorbed, war galleys with three banks
Of oars pushed out and confounded 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 and 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 mrth Of all people
sported in her isthmian games, and the
beauty of all lands sat In her theaters,
walked her porticos and threw Itself
on the altar of her stupendOus dissipa-
tions. Column and statue and temple
bewlldered the beholder. There were
white marble fountains into which,
from apertures at the side. there rush
ed waters everywhere known for health
giving qualities. Around these basins.
twisted into wrraths OF stone. there
were all the beauties Of sculpture and
architecture. while standing. as II TO
guard the costly Gien.ay. was Il statue
of Hercules OF FURNISHED tOrinihian
brass. Vases of terra Gotta adorned
the cemeteries of the dead-vases SO
costly that Julius CAESAR was not salts
fed until he had captured them for
Rome. Armed officials. the Corlntha-
Ri, paced up and down to see that no
statue was defaced. no pedestal over
thrown, no bas-rclief touched. From
the edge of the city hill arose. with
its magnificent burden OF columns,
towers and temples 1000 slaves wait
ing at one shrine). and citadel SO
thoroughly impregnable that Gibraltar
is a heap of sand compared with 1t.
Amid ali that strength and magnifi-
cence COrinth stood and defied the
world.
Oh, II was not to rustlcs who had
never seen anything grand that Paul
uttered this text. They, had heard~thAI
best music that had come from the
best instruments in all the world; they
had heard songs floating from morning
porticoes and melting in evening groves;
they had passed their whole lives
among pictures and sculpture and ar
chitecture and Corlnthian brass which
had been nodded and shaped until
there was no chariot wheel In which 1t
had not sped. and no tower In which 1t
had not glittered. and no gateway that
it had not adorned. All, it was bold
thing for Paul to stand there amid all
that and say: "All this Is nothing.
These sounds that come from the tenn
pie Of Neptune are not music compared
with the harmOnies Of which ! speak,
these waters rushing In the basin OF
Pyrene are not pure; these statues OF
Bacchus and Mercury are not exqui-
site; your citadel Of Acrocorinthus Is
not strong compared with that which |
offer to the poorest slave that puts
down his burden at that brazen gate.
You Corinthians think this Is a splen-
did city; you think you have heard all
sweet sounds and seen all beautiful
sights, but 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 re-
ality. Some wise men have been cal
how many furlOngs long and
wide Is the new Jerusalem. and they
have calculated how many inhabitants
there are Oh the earth. how long the
earth will probably stand. and then
they come TO this estimate after
all the nations have been gathered to
heaven there will he room for each soul,
a room 16 feet long and 10 feet wide.
1t would not be large enough for you;
1t would not be large enough for me. |
am glad to know that no human esti-
mate Is sufficient to take the dinen-
siOns. Eye hath not seen nor ear
heard" or arithmeticians calculated.
| first remark that we can get no idea
Of the health of heaven. When you
were a 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
a glow in your cheek and a spring In
your step and an exuberance of spirits
and a clearness Of eye that made you
thank God you were permitted to live.
The nerves were harp strings, and the
sunlight was a doxology, and the rus
tling leaves were the rustling Of the
robes of a great crowd rising up to
praise the LOid. You thought that you
knew what ii was TO be well. but there
Is no perfect health on earth. The dis
eases Of past generations came down to
us. The airs that now float upon the
earth are not like those which fOated
pbove paradise. They are charged with
Impurities and distempers. The most
elastic and robust health of earth,
with that which those ex-
perience before whom the gates have
been opened. is nothing but sickness
and enaclation. Look at that soul
standing before the throne. On earth