The Washington herald., 1918-05-12

~ | man be homesick
" for heaven with
all the attractions OF love, labor and
life to sway the soul earthward?"
tThe heart answers that question: Be-
cause Of the ever-increasing circle Of
. loved ones on the other side OF the
! river.
ooh for the touch of a vanished hand
And the sound of a voice that Is still"
Turning to the pages of the New
Testament We find there an atmos-
phere of confidence which cheers the
soul This feeling Of confidence Is
congested in one pregnant sentence:
I'VE know" In the ive brief chap
tiers Of the first epistle general of
John the word know" occurs no
less than thirty-eight times. The
phrase Is q favorite one in the vo-
cabulary of New Testament writers:
I know whom have believed''-"We
know that We have passed from
death unto life"-"We know that all
things work together for good''-''We
Know that when we appear We shall
be like him'-"We know that IL the
earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved We have a building, an house
not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens" And this spirit of conf
dence concerning an unseen world has
taken possession of every succeeding
Christian century, so that today we
sing with Glider the poet:
"Cah me not dead when, have gone
Into the company OF the ever living"
So, turning the pages Of the New
Testament. we ask the question which
means SO much to so many: How
much can we know, definitely, about
heaven?"
First-We know that the heavenly
city has twelve gates. When a man
tells me there is only one gate to the
heavenly city and that he holds the
key to that gate. l answer him by
pointing to the architecture of the
Holy City - the new Jerusalem -
the scriptural symbol of heaven and
the divine prophecy of an earthly per-
lection; for I read. And the city had
twelve gates" Four sides and twelve
gates Is the angelic specification. On
the east. three gates-the Greek Gate,
the Roman Gate and the Anglican
Gate On the west, three gates-the
Gate OF the Nonconformist. the Gate
OF the Evangelist and the Gate of the
Salvationist. On the north, three
gates-the Gate OF Philosophy, the
Gate Of Science and the Gate Of Gull
ture- On the south. three gates-the
Gate of Beauty, the Gate of Har-
mony and the Mystical Gate. All
roads lead to God when a man turns
his face to the Holy City, for, The
Lamb Is the light thereof"
Home by different ways. Yet all,
Homeward bound thro' prayer and
praise,
Young with old and great with small.
Home by different ways.
second-we know that there have
oeen great improvements in heaven
IN recent years. improvements in
heaven" you answer. How can hea-
ven be improved" But the idea is
scriptually orthodox Jesus said: IT
go to prepare a place for you" Prep
aration implies REIMBURSEMENT. ad-
1ustment. Heaven was richer the mo-
ment Jesus arrived. What splendid
additions have been made to the mem
bershtp Of the church invisible since
the days OF Jesus! What wonderful
arrivals have been registered up yon-
der during our twenty Christian CEN
turtles.
Call the roll of the celestial ar
rivals. Samuel Rutherford. who
sang OF Immanuers land. st. Au-
gustine. who wrote of the City of
God. Luther. who broke the en-
Shaving traditions of thousand
years. George WHITEHEAD, who,
like a seraph and angel, swept over
sea and land. Florence Nightingale,
whose shadow the wounded soldiers
kissed. Hugh Latimer, who passed,
through fame. up to God David
Livin gstone, whose body, the sons
of Africa surrendered. but not his
heart John Knox. whose prayers
for Scotland are felt today. Crom-
well. who trembled not in the pres
ence of kings Joan of Arc. the
7 maid who led the armies of France.
Julia Ward Howe. whose God is
marching on" Thomas Chalmers,
whose shaft of light pierced the
starry heavens. Sir Isaac Newton,
who thought Gods thoughts" after
him. And John Milton. who. though
blind. climbed the Alpine sleeps of
an invisible world. Ave. How
heaven has improved. Social con-
ditions are better there than they
used to be. Better by the addition
Of ten thousand glorifed saints.
Third-The working day will be
twenty-four hours long. in heaven.
The New Testament idea of heaven
Is service, not rest. They serve him
day and night in his temple" There
Sturgeon will preach grander SER
mons. Edison will make greater
discoveries. Socrates will discuss
nobler themes. Michael Angelo will
plan vaster cathedrals. Sankey will
sing a more thrilling song. Raphael
will portray a diviner transfgura-
ton. Dante will descend to deeper
depth. and Calico will play with
new celestial worlds. There Mo-
Fart will toss out eternal harmonies
and, there, Beethoven will revel IN
the ocean Of an eternal vibration.
Charles Kingsley was right, when,
speaking Of heaven, he said: Ger
tainly. We shall be busy there"
Fourth-We know that heaven
will bring us a great increase Of
knowledge The possession of a
spiritual body will open the door
I for new realms and higher reyela-
lions. There are notes of music
so high we cannot hear them and
so deep we cannot detect them.
These vibrations are too fine for
the human ear. What marvellous
sources OF information will be ours
when we possess body like unto
His own glorious body" But even
with such a body we will not ex-
haust the inexhaustible treasures
Of that invisible universe. Abraham
has been in heaven for five thou
sand years. but he has not yet COM