The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-13

the rough seas of sorrow and sin. let me
point out to you another cont1nent-yea.
another world-that you may yoursei
find a rapturous world and that is tne
world a half hour of which we now STUDY.
Oh, set sail for it! Here is the snip ana
here are the compasses. In other words
make this half hour the grandest half
hour of your life and become Chris
tan. Pray for a regenerated spirit. Louis
XIV. while walking in the garden at
Versailles met Mansard, the great ar
chitect, md the architect took OF his
hat before the king. Put on your nat,
said the king. for the evening Is damp
and cold" And Mansard. the architect,
the rest of the evening kept on his hat.
The dukes and marquises, standing with
bare heads before the king, expressed
their surprise at Mansard. but the King
said, IT can make a duke or a marquis,
but only God can make Mansard.
And I say to you, my hearers. only God
by his convicting and converting grace
can make a Christian, but he is ready
this very half hour to accomplish IT.
"Forever and Ever"
Again. my text suggests way OF
studying heaven SO that we can better
understand 1t. The word eternity that
we can handle much Is an immeas-
urable world. Knowing that we could not
understand that word, the Bible uses 1t
only once We say forever and ever"
But how long is forever and everY l
am glad that my text puts under our
eye heaven for thirty minutes. AS when
you see q great picture, you put sheet
of paper into scroll and look through
1t or join your forefinger to your thumb
and look through the circle between, and
the picture becomes more intense, 30 this
masterpiece of heaven by st. John Is
more impressive when we take only
thirty minutes of 1t at a time. Now, we
have something that we can come nearer
to graspng, and 1t is a quiet heaven.
When we discourse about the multitudes
of heaven, 1t must be almost nervous
shock to those who have all their lives
been crowded by many people and who
want a quiet heaven. For the last thir-
ty-flve years l have been much of the
time in crowds and under public scrutiny
and amid excitem ents and l have some
times thought for a few weeks after l
reach heaven l would like to go down
in some quiet part of the realm, with
a few friends, and for little while try
comparative solitude. Then t-lere are
those whose hearing is so delicate that
they get no satisfaction when you de-
scribe the crash of the eternal orchestra,
and they feel like saying, as a good wo-
man in HuGson, N. Y, said after hearing
me speak of the mighty chorus of heav-
en-, THAT must be a great heaven, but
what will become of my poor head?" Yes,
this half hour of my text Is a still ex-
perience There was silence in heaven
for half an hour"
A Glimpse of the Kings Palace.
You will find the inhabitants all at
home. Enter the Kings palace and take
only a glimpse, for we have only thir-
ty minutes for all heaven lis that
Jesus % Yes" Just under the hair along
his forehead is the mark or a wound
made by a bunch of twisted brambles,
and his foot on the throne has on the
round of his instep another mark of
wound m ade by a spike, and scar on
the palm of the right hand and scar
on the palm of the left hand. But what
a countenance What a smile! What a
grandeur! What a loneliness! What an
overwhelming look of kindness and grace!
Why, he looks as If he had redeemed
world! But come on, for our time is
short. Do you see that row of palaces?
That is the Apostolic row. Do you see
that long reach of architectural glories?
That Is Martyr row. Do you see that i'm
mense structure? That is the biggest
house in heaven; that is the house of
many mansions Do you see that wall?
Shade your eyes against its burning
splendor for that is the wall of heaven,
jasper at the bottom and amethyst at
the top. See this river rolling through
the heart of the great metropolis? That
is the river concerning which those who
once lived on the banks of the Hudson
or the Alabama or the Rhine or the
Shannon say, I'VE never saw the like
of this for clarity and sheen" That is
the chief river of heaven-so bright, so
wide, so deep. But you ask, Where are
the asylums for the old?" 1 answer, The
inhabitants are all young" Where are
the hospitals for the lame?'' They are
all agile" Where are the infirmaries
for the blind and deaf?" They all see
an hear" Where are the almshouses
for the poor?" They are all multimil-
lionaires" Where are the inebriate asy-
lums?" why, there are no saloons"
Where are the graveyards2' why,
they never die" Pass down those boulve-
ards of gold and amber and sapphire and
see those interminable streets built by
the Architect of the universe into homes
over the threshold Of which sorrow never
steps and out of whose windows faces.
once pale with earthly sickness, now
look rubicund with immortal health.
"Oh, let me go In and see them" you
say. No you cannot go in. There are those
who would never consent to let Won come