The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-05-30
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.

DIVINE,
Subject: The Splendors of HeaveE-How
ever Exalted Our Ideas May Ee of tn,
Home on High, They Are Far shor
of tile Reality What Awaits Us
copyright 1Mol
w,suryaroS. D. C.-In this discourse DR.
Tplmage lifts the curtain from eterna
felicIties and in an unusual way treats oil
the heavenly world; text, Corinthians
H.. 9. EYE hath not seen nor ear heard
neither have entered into the heart Of man
the things which Goa hatn prepared loi
them that love Him."
The CITY of Corinth has been called "the
Paris of antiquity" Indeed for splendol
tbe world holds no such wonder to-day. II
stood On au isthmus washed by two seas
the one sea bringing the commerce OF Eu'
rope, the other sea bringing the commerce
of Asia. From her wharfs, IN the con,
structlon of which whole Kingdoms hao
been absorbed, war galleys with three
banks OF oars pushed out and contounoeo
the navy yards OF oil the world. Huge
handed machinery such as modern inVen'
tion cannot equal lifted ships from the sea
on one side and transported them on trucks
across the isthmus and got them down Id
the sea on the other side. 49,.
The revenue officers OF the city went
down through the olive groves that lined
the beach to collect tariff from all ma
tlons. The mirth OF all people sported ID
her isthmian games, and the beauty or all
lands sat in her theatres, walked In hel
porticos and threw itself on the altar oil
her stupendous dissipations. Column and
statue and temple bewildered the behold.
or. There were white marble fountains
into which, from apertures at the side,
there rushed waters everywhere known
for health giving qualities. Around
these basins, twisted into wreatbs OF
stone, there were all the beauties ol
sculpture and architecture, while, stand.
ing. as il to guard the costly display, was
statue OF Hercules OF FURNISHED Corlnth-
i'm brass. Vases OF terra Gotta adorned
the cemeteries of the dead-vases 80 cost
ly that Julius Caesar was not satisfied until
he had captured them for Rome. Armed
officials, the Corintharii, paced up and
down TO see that no statue was defaced,
no pedestal overthrown, no bas-reltef
touched. From the edge OF the city hill
arose, with Its magnificent burden OF COL
umns, towers and temples Q0OO slaves
waiting at one shrlne), and citadel go
thoroughly impregnable that Gibraltar Is
q heap OF sand compared with It,. Amid
Ull luhI SlICukLu anu nob SOhAosA
stood and detied the world. .....
Oh, it was not to rustics who had never
seen ANYTHING grand that Paul uttered this
text, They had heard tue best music that
had come from the best instru ments In all
the world; they had heard songs fouting
from morning porticoes aud melting In
evening groves; they had passed their
whole lives among pictures aud sculpture
and architecture and Corinthian brass
which had been molded and shaped until
,thera WasEno chariot wheel In which 1t had
notsspad andlo tower In which 1t had not
1giittsrsd and na gateway that 1t had not
!; ;adoHlef. ;it was bold thing for Paul
to etand there amid all that and say: "All
5this Is nothing. These sounds that come
Sfrom the temple Of Neptune are not music
compared With the harmonIes OF which I
speak; these waters rushing IN the basin OF
Pyrene are not pure; these statues OF Bac-
chus and Mercury are not exquisite; your
citadel OF tAcrocorinthus is not strong COM
pared with that which offer to the poorest
slave that puts down his burden at TINT
brazen gate. Your Corinthians think this
is splendid city; you think you have
heard all sweet sounds and 8 sen all beauti-
,ful sights, but tell you eye hath not seen
nor ear heurd, neither have entered into
the heart OF man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love Him."
y You see my text sets forth the idea that,
however exalted our ideas OF heaven, they
come far short OF the reality. Some wise
men have been calculating how many fur
longs long and wide Is the new Jerusalem,
and they have calculated how many inhab-
itanes there are on the earth, how long
the earth will probably stand, and then
they come to this estimate-thgt after all
the nations have been gathered to heaven
there will be room for each soul, q room
sixteen feet long and ffteen feet wide. 1t
would not be large enough Tor you; II
would not be large enough for me. l am
glad to know that no human estimate 1s
su fflcient to take the dimension Eye
hath not seen nor eur heard" or arithmeti-
clans calculated.
I first remark that we can get no idea OF
the health OF heaven. When you were n
child and you went out In the morning,
how you bounded along the road or street.
You had never felt sorrow or sickness.
Perhaps later you felt q glow In your check
and spring in your step and an eXuber.
ance OF spirits and q clearness OF eye that
made you thank God you we're permitted
to live. The nerves were harp strings, mud
the sunlight was doXology, and the rus
tling OF the robes Of u great crowd rising
up to praise the Lord. You thought that
you knew what 1t 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 floated above Para
disc. They are charged with impurities
and distempers. The most elastic and ro-
bust health OF earth, compared with that
which those experience before whom the
gates have been opened, ts nothing but
sickness and emaciation. Look at that
soul standing before the throne On
earth she was lifelong invalid. See her
step now and hear her voice now.
Catch, II you can, one breath OF that
celestial air. Health, In all the pulses,
health OF vision, health OF spirits-immor-
tai health. No rackIng cough, no sharp
pleurisies, no consuming fevers, no ex-
haustipg pains, no hospitals OF wounded
men. Health swinging in the air; health
flowing In all the streams; health bloom
ing on the banks. No head aches, no side
aches, no back aches. That child that
died in the agonies OF Group, hear her
voice now ringing IN the anthem; that old
man that went bowed down with the In
1rmities OF age, gee him walk now With the
step OF IN imm ortal athlete, forever young
again. That night when the neediewoman
faiuted away In the garrett O wave OF the
heavenly air resuscltated her forever. For
everlasting years to have neither ache nor
paiu nor weakness, nor fatigue! Eye
hath not seen It; ear bath not heard It,"
I remark further that we can In this
world get no just idea Of the splendors of
beaver. John tries to describe them. He
says ''twslve gates are twelve pearls" and
that ssthe foundations Of the wall are gam
ished with all manner obsprecious stones"
AS we, stand looking through the telescope
OF st. John we see blaze OF amethyst and
PEARL. and emerald and sardonyx aud
chrysoprasus and sapphire, Q mountain OF
light, q cataract OF color, sea OF glass and
a city Hike the sun. John bids US look again,
and wesee ethrones-thrones, OF the proph-
cts, thrones oi the patriarchs, thrones OF
the angels, thrones Of the apostles, thrones
OF the martyrs, throne Of Jesus, throas OF
lna "a IA rua. II rnG ron nd 70 saa tha pln1y