The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-30

OuS ana mug E. WISH 10 Ine6i o redeemed spirit, thou who years ago as Sunday school teacher in the old Brooklyn tabernacle didst shed many an anxious tear over thy scholars. l would tell thee that today in the sacred minis try feel the touch of thy sainted hand and hear the earnest tone of thy plead ing voice. Yes. there are many spirits in heaven we would thank for what they did for us when upon the earth. We would thank them that they may rejoice, as we all rejoice and that their hosannas of gratitude might be augmented with our halleuiahs.
 But if heaven is to be place of mani- fested gratitude it is also to be a place of glorious "reminiscences. At the camp fires of the Grand Army reunions we have heard the old veterans talking over the struggles, the defeats and tri- umphs of the civil war. We have heard what comrades at Shiloh did. and what comrades at Atlanta did, and what com rades at Petersburg did. To the old vet erans the struggle of the civil war is never an old story. So in the heavenly reunions the gospel veterans will love to talk over the Christian struggles of the past.
 As Christian comrades one will say: Do you remember that time when we started those cottage prayer meetings? As a result of those prayer meetings what a glorious revival we had-a hum dred and twenty souls for Christi! "Yes," says another, that reminds me of what a hard time we had in starting that mis- sion school down in the slums. Cynies said f would do no good, but it did, it did" Yes" will answer many voices, i've were converted and saved through those little meetings" Then the pastors and the different congregations will get together, and they will have their remin- iscences. And the parents and the chil- dren will get together, and they will talk over again the blessings which came from their altars. And the Bible dis tributers will tell how they were scoffed at and yet blessed as they distributed their tracts and sacred leaves. And Francis E. Clark and the Christian En- deavorers will have their separate re- unions. We shall be in that better land" living over and over again the Christian joys which we passed through when serving Christ upon the earth Oh. my friends, if this idea is true, that heaven is to be a place of glorious "reminiscences ought we not ,all to double and treble our energies in the service of Jesus Christ? Shall we not by the power of the Holy Spirit do more and more for our Saviour, who has done so much for us, in order to be able to drink deep out of this golden chalice of celestial pleas ure?
 Face to Face With Christ.
 But the greatest celestial joy of all have reserved until the last. Heaven is to be a place of perpetual worship. Does that mean" asks some one. "heaven Is to be great cathedral or church In which all the inhabitants of the New Je- rusalem shall assemble and pray to him -and pray to him and never cease to I,s.. rI.n service with no doxology and no bene- diction, for that service shall be without beginning and without end?'
 Oh, no, my brother. l do not believe you have caught the right idea of the worship of the celestial city. Heaven is not to be a church, where we shall have stated times for prayers and hymns. St. John distinctly says in his Apoca- lypse, And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb and the temple are of it." That means, as I take it, instead of having buildings especially dedicated for the worship of the Trinity we shall feel, wherever we may be, that we are stand ing face to face with Christ. And then our hearts shall be so full of gratitude to Him for what He has done for us that our eyes and lips and tongues and hearts will never cease to praise him. It will not be the worship of intercession or of pleading for the pardon of sin. but the worship of adoration and of eternal homage.
 Perhaps my thought may be simply illustrated by conversation l had with a very dear friend some time ago. This noble Christian man turned to me one day and said: DO you know that my ideas of prayer and worship have great ly changed within the last few years? When I used to pray I would make out a long list of petitions for which I would ask God. But now I have begun to see that He loves me better than I love my self Therefore, instead of saying, o God, give me this or that, I simply say. o Christ thou art so good and pure; suit myself in reference to my life and thou wilt suit me. Thy will, o Lord, and not mine be done " So in that heav- enly land we shall have but one prayer and one song. "Thy will. O Lord, not mine be done" We shall sing it on the street. We shall sing it in the green pas lures beside the still waters. We shall sing 1t in chorus with our loved ones. We shall sing 1t when we are alone. "rhy will. O God, thy will be donei" In that one song. and that alone, we shall find the perpetual and never ending wor- ship of heaven.
 Thus, my dear Christian friends, I have tried to open for you a little way the gates of the glorious "city of the redeemed" l have tried to eternally bind our lives with the immortal lives of our dead. Like Christian in Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress" may you continue to strive to enter into the strait gate" And like the Christian Queen Victoria may you hopefully and triumpbantly be able to write the same kind of an epi- taph upon the tombstones of your loved ones as she chiseled upon the mauso- leum of the departed prince consort: Farewell, beloved. Here at last I will rest with thee. With thee in Christ shall l rise again" Such Is the gospel proph- ecy for all who love Him. Heaven! Heavenl Glorious heavenl Heaven of the living Christians Heaven of the Christians who resurrectedl Heaven, eternal and never ending heaven!