The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1902-11-11

food and fountains of living water. For
Christ Himself shall feed them and give
to drink of those living fountains. By
this partial discovery of the nature of
the heavenly employments, a very
solemn subject of inquiry and self
examination will be suggested. The
only positive joys of heaven which are
revealed to us consists in the worship of
God and never-ending communion with
Him. Now the question here arises, do
you feel in your heart that this is such a
heaven as will make you happy? Does
this seem an extraordinary question?
Surely it is very rational one. Were
you, for instance, about to journey into
distant land and there to settle for life,
and did you tell us that you expected to
be very happy in that city where you
were going, we should conclude that the
climate of that country was suited to
your bodily frame, that the manners of
the people were congenial with your
habits of mind, that their pleasures
would be your pleasures; that there was
an affinity, resemblance between your
pursuits and feelings and those of the
persons among whom you expected to
find so much qualification. Now apply
this to that state of felicity which we
call heaven. We all hope, sooner or
later, that we shall be admitted there
we all hope to be happy there, and
everyone desires to be an inhabitant of
heaven. Yet, we never stop to inquire
whether heaven is a place calculated to
make us happy, whether our feelings
and pursuits are all congenial with those
of heaven, whether we are fitted in any
way for the enjoyment of the blessed
abode. Hence arises the monstrous and
fatal delusion of many who imagine
they are going to heaven, when perhaps
there is not one of the heavenly occupa-
tions which would be supported for
day or an hour. The man who finds the
Sabbath tedious and wearisome to him,
who just tolerates the solemnities of
public worship once on that holy day
and rejoices at its conclusion, hopes that
he is going to heaven, yet how he will
support an eternal Sabbath, or what
pleasure he can find in it he has never
carefully considered. Many who have
never really lifted up their hearts to
God in earnest supplication during their
lives hope they shall 20 to heaven when
they die. Yet, how will they enjoy
perpetual communion with God? If all
go to heaven who imagine they are going
there, there must be sensual heaven
for the licentious; profane heaven for
those who now dishonor Gods holy
name; heaven of temporal delights for
those who know no other pleasures than
those of time and sense; heaven where
the fiddle, the sound of dancing feet,
the shutting of cards, the rattle of dice,
the clinking of glasses and the loud,
vulgar slang of the intoxicated are heard
and the festive scenes are again renewed
where the unmeaning frivolities, the
empty batteries, and the oft-told tales
OF folly may be again repeated. Else
how shall such persons ever be happy in
heaven? Can they enter into the pleas
ures of saints and angels? No. They
have ridiculed the pleasures of the saints
all their lives, they have laughed at
prayer, derided the searching of the
scriptures and looked upon the service
of the Creator as a WEAKNESS and there
fore there is no need OF a law of exclu-
sion against them; they could not
breathe in the atmosphere of heaven
they could not speak the language of its
inhabitants; their attempts at worship
and alteration and their songs would be
painful and laborious duties this would
not be heavon to them. We must be
made meet for heaven, or we shall never
be found there. Neither if we were,
could we be happy. We must have
heavenly tastes, perceptions and pur-
suits or heaven would be a strange