The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-12-14

do not want to be saved. We firmly set I our teeth and face toward sin. So, l be- | lleve that God, in order to make sure of | a populated heaven, has sent again and | again and again the angels of eternal life, | which some of us gloemily call the death | angel, to call our babies into the heaven ly land.
 That the Good Shepherd, both in this | world and the next gathers all the little | lambs Into his bosom there is no doubt. | Some years ago in a Newark church an aged statesman applied to the session for permission to join. One of the elders l Immediately arose and sad: Governor, | we were just about to examine two little | girls for membership, but we know they will be willing to walt, so we can hrst begin with you" No" answered the 1 famous statesman, '1 do not want them to wait. would like to be examined along with them, if you, brethren, are willing, Jesus said that if l will come to him in the spirit of 9 little child can pc saved. So today I would like to come with one of the children upon one si9e of me and the other upon the other side of me for l know Christ is willing 10 re- ceive them, and perhaps he will also LOOK upon me as a child" An, yes there IS no doubt that all the children who dle go to swell up the population of heaven ana so. o sorrowing parents, you should not only be ready to let your little babies climb into the SaYiours arms because you know that they are saved, but you should also be willing to let them pre- cede you because you know they will be there to welcome you.
 Children In Heaven.
 An empty cradle signifies that heaven is to be a plnee fiiled with children. This heading Is entirely distinct from that which we have discussea-namely that our children who die immediately go Into Tk f. ma npOnla even some good protesting Christians. seem to have q very hazy and bewildered idea of heaven They think heaven Is to be a kind of n tenement house district CT they suppose 1t to be place where evcrybody goes through kind of meta morphosls and becomes so changed in looks and speech in little while that his very best friends would not know him 1T they should meet him when walking on one of the golden boulevards near to the beautiful gate. But thank God, we Will know our loved ones in heaven. Moses and Elias, after having spent thousand years in heaven, talked upon the Mount of Transfiguration just they same as they talked to their friends when upon earth. We shall know Jesus in heaven by the scars upon his resurrected body which he received upon the cross In his earthly body l believe our redeemed friends are to be just the same in heaven, in one sense as they were when upon earth. I believe they are just the same, except that in the heavenly lant. they have no pain, no sickness, no sin, no parting, no death, no tears.
 If there are no children in heaven, why did St John in the apocaelypse cry out in rapture, And I saw the dead small and great stand before God!' Some of the most reliable of commentators have translated that passage, And saw the infants and adults stand before God If there are no children in heaven, why did Jesus say that lin my Fathers house are many mansions" or many homes? Did you ever see a place where there was a collection of many homes and no children2 Heaven must be full of little ones I once heard of q thief who was trying to escape from the officers of the law by running through a public school yard. But the little children crowded around him and got under his feet and tripped him up until he was captured. So 1 believe, some of us will have hard work to get into heaven. Why? Our de- parted and redeemed children. with their hosts of little friends, will come down to the pearly gates to greet us. They will crowd about us in such numbers that we will have hard work to press toward the white throne. We shall greet them as children We will kiss the same lips and run our fingers through the same curts; we shall there have a celestial nursery;
 
 in which our little lambs can frisk and frolic, in which our little departed children gather for us the wild flow CTS and garland our white robes with the red roses of Sharon and with the lilies of the valley. blooming upon the banks of the river of Life.
 Gods FaVorites.
 An empty cradle signifies that God has his favorites, if 1 might revcrently use that term. Oh. that I had more time in which to develop this inspiring and tre- mendous thought! By his favorltes, mean this. God mas selected our redeem ed children out of all the human race as the ones he wishes to save from suffer- ing. as the ones who by his tender love are to win all the joys of heaven without any of the tears of Gethsemane.
 Perhaps I can illustrate this idea in very simple way sppposing you were man of great wealth. As you go up and down the world your heart acnes for the little bootblacks and newsboys whom you meet in the street and who seemingly have no show In life You were once waf in the street, and you know what their temptations and struggles are. You endow great institution where these boys can have educational advantages and the comforts of a home. You can not send all the boys there because you have not money enough, but you can send some. DO you Bo up NC"h ny D0 cities, selecting here and there the bright est boys you can find They are your fa- vored bootblaoks. You sslect the bright est. and most promising and the most manly We'll in the same way. l think God has his favorltes, and they are children who are dead and translated When Christ thinks of all the tempta- tions he had to meet on earth and all the sorrows he endured he resolves to relieve many of the burdens and he takes away chiefly those of whom he said, "Of such are the kingdom of heaven So Christ comes into the world. and he selects the best and brightest of our children. Have you not noticed that the handsomest and best boys and girls are, as a rule the first to be called away? Well, Christ comes in and takes our best and purcst and lifts them up into his arms and says "Ah, this lamb has too frail and beautiful a soul to be subjected to the buffetings of this world" Thus Christ took for awhile some of the little ones out of our sight An. my dear friends are you not glad that your dead babies are among Gods favorites? Are you not glad that they do not have to suffer as YOU have to suffer- and weep as you weep. stumble over the open graves as YOU stumble sin as perhaps you have sinned? Are you not thankful that your little children in heaven are to be num- bered among Gods specially honored ones?
 Thus my text today has a most prac- l