Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1907-11-02
Caln1aSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee. ID. ID.


attractions are presented in new
aspect. and ST. Johns description re-
ccives a realistic and beautiful inter
pretation. The text Is Revelation XXI,
.G. The length and the breadth and
the height Of it are equal"
A mans visions or ideallsms or men
ial s,miIitudes inevitably take upon
themselves the forms and colorings
and characters of his physical sur
roundincs. When Pharaoh dreamed
his dreams he did not have rapturous
revelations of the coming grandeurs
of Persian capital. He caught no
glimpse of the future glories of Athens
Rome. Berlin. London. st. petersburg
or New York He saw vision OF MS
own pasture lands and OF his own
river Nile. flowing past his palace
door. He saw his own cattle and his
own wheatfelds. His dreams were or
familiar scenes. The peculiarly was
I'm what these familiar objects dld.
The seven lean cattle ate up the seven
fat cattle. the seven lean stalks ate
ND the seven fat stalks. The seven
fat cattle represented seven years OF
! plenty: the seven lean represented sew
en- years of want. but all were the
same kind of cattle which Pharaoh $
herdsmen were then tending upon the
royal domains.
When Joseph, the shepherds son,
dreamed his dreams emblematc OF
his future greatness the picture in MS
vision did not show him the glorles OF
an Egyptian premiership. In all PROB
ability. living the simple herdsman's
life. he at that time had no concep-
tion of what Il royal court was ike.
4 No. Joseph did not dream Of ermine
and coronets and thrones. lie saw
the sun ana the moon and the eleven
stars making obeisance to him. lie
saw the sheaves of wheat which his
brethren were binding in the fields
! bow down and worship his sheaf. lie
saw these astronomical and agrlcul-
tural SMILES because as shepherd
bow guarding his flock by night he
had often watched and studied the
stars. He saw the sheayes because as
sta farmers boy he had often watched
! the workmen gather ng the harvests
! and his own back and arms often nae
been wearied with binding the sheaves
for on the farm during the haryes
time all the men and boys who coult
carry the scythe were pressed int
service. 1t is a psychological law tina
9 when we see visions they may be ride
: ulous or grotesque, but they general!
relate to objects familiar to us in ou
waking hours.
ST. Johns Vision of Heaven.
3. When st. John upon the island o
. Patmos caught glorious vision OF ID
celestial capital, the New Jerusalem
= what was more natural for him thai
to pattern it after the greatest ana th
= most wonderful city his eyes had eve
seen? He certainly = did not plctur
heaven as any of the modern cite
Won and are accustomed to see. ii
l, did not think of the New Jerusalem a
built upon sand dunes by beautll'
borbor. as San Frencisco is built D'
): side the tapping waters of the Code
Gate of the Pacific He did not find
among the waving palms and the Dea'
, tiful flower gardens and the orane
st groves under the shadow OF the sno
capped mountains of GrayDacK al
]. San Bernardino. as is Redlands, I'll
., most beautiful city of all Callforhl
He IMAGINED the New Jerusalem q
scending from heaven and alighting {
hill. as the Davidic capital was upo
= q hill. Then St John iGaglnes III
m celestiul city surrounded by gre
wall. Though this wall was glltterh
n. with myriads Of precious stones
g. WAS the same kind of IL wall that e
IL circled the capital of the Holy Lana.
3 Let us try to imagine the extern
!, T. Of the celestial capital which we CT
heaven as John saw it In vision Il
going TO point out TO you some oil L
al chief characteristics of those celesli
bnttlements. At other times we III
or IL fancy under the apostles guidan
hs try to enter those gates and roam oV
Le. thr golden bonleVards and examine |
oil architecture of the mansions III |
re skies. but today we are going TO I'D
lo Ii our travels and just study the ou'
'0 wills of heaven. 1t is a strange sp'
tacIe rs the inspired artist pictures
If surpasses in splendor every W
and portal in the most maghincenl
European or Asiatic cities. Sometin
nc tourists | think we pass too quici
the beautiful carved doors OF the gr'
cathedrals of Europe or ignore
mighty walls of eastern capitals ID
der TO reach the centers OF the clll
Tet us not make this mistake III I
erence TO heaven. Let us loiter at le
one Sabbath day to study the Wa
which encircle our future celestial n
itation. "And the city lletn Il
5 souare. and the length is as large
the breadth. and he measured the
with the reed. twelve thousand
longs. The length and the breadth
the height of it are equal
The Size of Heaven.
When st. John saw the New Jert
lem looming up in all its vast prof.
tions he was impressed with the
finite size of heaven. 1t was a pl
, so large that it took a reed l2'oOo
longs to measure its outside WI
- Now. when you remember tnat
or furlong is one-eighth of mile
Ul. will sec that q traveller must tax
tourney Of 5000 miles to go aroun'
In othe. words. If the walls OF
the great city were stretched out II
a. as straight line they would reach ne'
~ twice across the American contln
from San Francisco to- New Il
! is They would be more than three I'll
cks, the distance between London and
Petersburg.
&c. DR.. c. A. Goodhart tells us al
llld- tba vast size of the apOcalyptlc vi