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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 1907.
i
t
S OME time ago I read a story of a
man from whose home God hail
called a precious child. He had
been a very busy man, absorbed with
the things of life and having little to do
with books; but It was noticed after the
little fellow left him that he would go
every evening to hts room, light a can
dle, and sit there long Into the' night
reading. Someone asked him what he
was doing, and he replied, "1 am study
ing the Bible. I want to see what kind
of place my boy has gone to, and this
Book Is the only means I have of learn
ing about It-”
l.lke this man, we all have loved ones
on the other side, and I am sure that
like him also we all are anxious to
learn all we can about that country
Into which they have gona. Besides, In
a little while we are going to emigrate
ourselves. 1t Is a beautiful world we
live in, but sooner or later each mast
leave It, and push out from the shore,
cross the unknown expanse to another
land beyond. If I am to leave all that
Is so precious here and migrate to an
other country, I want to learn all that I
may about that land to which I am go.
Ing, and there are a number of ques
tions l want to ask. I am not particu
lar. however, to know what other peo
ple think, because they know no more
of It thun I, but I am Interested to hear
all that God In HIs Book tells us of
this land, because He lives there and
understands of what He speaks.
Is Heaven a Place ir a State?
First, then. Is Heaven a place or a
state? Has It position, or Is K merely
a condition? As we turn the pages of
God’s Word everything that we read
telling about Heaven assures us that It
Is a place and has position. It Is
spoken of as "a city," the seat or cap!
tal of God’s Kingdom, which embraces
all the universe with Its (laming planets
nnd spheres of light. God’s throne Is
In Heaven. It Is called a country, and
Abraham, who Is held up to us as a
model for our lives, lived In anticipa
tion *of this heavenly country. This
anticipation was so real to him that
he was enabled to live during a long
life perfectly satisfied with all the
vicissitude* and Inconveniences attend
ing a nomadic existence, for which he
seems to have had no taste, because he
realised that he was but on a Journey
to a heavenly country, to a city which
hod foundations, whose builder and
maker was God.
Again, In the fourteenth chapter of
John, Heaven Is spoken of as our Fa
ther’s house. We are told it Is the
homelund, where mansions are pre
pared for those who are prepared for
them. Yes, Heaven Is a place.
What Kind of People Live There?
Hut whut kind of people are the In
habitants of Heaven? First, they area
very happy people. In Rev. 7:16-17 we
nfe told, "They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more, neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat.
For the Isunb which Is In the midst of
the throne shall feed them, and shall
lend them unto living fountains of
waters, and God shall wipo away all
tears from their eyes."
Again, they are not only happy, but
holy. God Is very explicit In assuring
us that those who live In Heaven are
holy, nnd only such as are holy are In
Heaven "Know ye not that the un
righteous shall not Inherit the King
dom of God 7" 1 Cor. 6:9. "Be not de
ceived: neither thieves nor drunkards,
nor covetous, nor revellers, nor extor
tioners shall Inherit the Kingdom of
God." ,
Paul tells us In Galatians 6:21 that
the works of the tlesh are manifest,
which *re these, "Envylngs, murders,
drunkenness, hutred and such Use," and
he states further, ”! tell you now, as
1 have told you in times past, that they
which do such things shall not Inherit
the Kingdom of God."
Aguln, In several pluces we are told
that all liars are excluded from Heaven:
whether they make lies or tell lies, all
liars are excluded. There are no shams
In Heaven: nothing Is unreal there; all
Is genuine. What a wonderful place! I
would like to emigrate to a land with
such inhabitants. Just think what At
lanta would be It there were no drunk
ards here, no udulterers: If every home
was safe und pure, and every parent,
wife und husband hud a heart perfectly
nt rest! Think what misery could be
blotted out If all Impurity, drunken
ness, selfishness, unrrullty und hatred
were banished forever from our city.
Well, that Is Just the kind of place that
Heaven la.
Again, we are told that the Inhabi
tants of heaven are not only hnppy and
holy, but they are triumphant. “He
that overcometh shall Inherit all
things." They are not good Just be
cause naturally It turn been easier for
them to be good than otherwise, but
they arr victors. They are those who
have left the tires of earthly tempta
tion, who have been tested, end yet
have made good. Everyone In heeven
ts a hero-* moral hero—a spiritual
hern. II Is a very Illustrious compeny
that Is guthered there. They Illustrate
the much telked of principle of the sur
vival of the attest. The great and
good of all the ages are there; all chil
dren of the King, all bom again, and
All heirs of Ills inheritance. They are
HEAVEN
By REV. RICHARD ORME FLINN,
Pastor North Avenue Presbyterian Church
REV. RICHARD ORME FLINN.
all Oiled with HIs spirit, and os David
tells us In the Psalms, everyone of
them Is In HIs likeness.
And besides these victors from earth
there are the holy hosts of angels who
have never fallen. As we consider
these Inhabitants there le no reaeon
why anyone of us. who can read our
title clear, should hesitate to leave our
aosoclotloas of earth, no matter how
satisfying, to exchange them for puch
a goodly company.
Where It Heaven?
I cannot answer that. We are not
told. Heaven la always spoken of as
above the earth, but where In the great
realm of God’s universe this Capital
City ts located we do not know. We
need not be troubled at this, however,
as there ts no danger of our losing our
way. Christ ts as much Interested in
soefng that we reach heaven. If we are
ntted for It, as we can be to and our
way thither. He prayed to the Father
asking that where He waa HIs disci
ples might be also.
And. moreover, wherever heaven may
be It ts not distant When we think
of heaven as afar off we miss the
meaning of everything God says con
cerning it. Of course, 1 do not mean
to say that heaven ts near It we meas
ure the Intervening distance In fur
longs. It may be, so far as distance
Is concerned, far beyond the remotest
star known to the astronomer, but
after all we do not measure by dis
tance, but by time and by our ability
to reach a place. Chicago Is very much
nearer New York now than It used to
be. and New York Is very much nearer
Atlanta. In Palestine today they speak
In terms of time rather than of space
In reckoning the distance between
places. And so, wherever heaven may
be, we repeat, It Is near, so near that
there Is Joy In heaven over every sin
ner that repenteth; so near that God
hears every sigh, sees every tear,
known every secret longing of every
burdened heart.
A Change of Focus.
Sometimes as life’s tide Is ebbing and
ns eyes grow dim to the sights about
them they seem to catch a new vision,
as the lenses change, or as they are re
focused, so that the nearer objects are
blurred and they get a clearer vision
of the things a little further off. And
there are those' In these last moments
who have wonderful things to say
about what they see.
I heats) a short time ago of a little
child who was dying. The parents
stood beside watching, as the heavy
breathing and deathly pallor betokened
the approaching end. Presently the
large eyes opened, looked upward, and
then about the room until they rested
on the faces off his father and mother,
and with a smile playing upon his
beautiful but emaciated featuree he
asked: "Mother, what Is that beauti
ful country beyond the mountains?"
The mother replied: "Child, I do not
see any mountains: there are none visi
ble from the window here." He said:
"ljook! Yonder are the mountains—
they are so near!" The father and
mother looked Into each other’s eyes,
and she answered: "Eddy, the land
rou see Is heaven. Isn’t It?” “Yes," the
.lltle boy answered. "It must be heav
en. But how am I to get across the
mountains. Won’t you carry me?"
Tears came to their eyes again as
they answered: “Child, we cannot go
with you or carry you now." He
closed his Ayes, but presently opened
them again with a smile, and said
faintly: "The strong man ts come.
He will carry me over the mountain*”
and In a moment the little heart hod
ceased to beat and he was gone. The
strong man had taken him Into that
beautiful laud. *
'Nothing but a child’s vision,” you
say? Very well; but did you ever hear
of a sinner having * vision like that
at such an hour? Have you ever ob
served that eyes accustomed to look
upon sin do not catch such visions of
glory In the hour of dissolution? ‘ Ye*
It may be but the hallucination of a
diseased mlnJ, and you may dismiss it
with a scornful laugh, but by the same
liberty that allows your doubt, thank
God, wo are allowed our faith, and
whatever it may mean to you to us It
la but an Indication that heaven ts
near.
Shall Wo Have Bodice in Heaven?
But there la another question: Hare
we bodies In heaven, or will It be a
place of disembodied spirits? Upon
this there Is abundant Scripture, and
Its answer Is definite. Those who have
faUen asleep and have gone before us
are at present disembodied spirits. But
they are very happy spirit* They are
with Jesua And Paul, who enjoyed
one of the most glorious and exalted
splrittipl experiences that a man ever
had on earth, said—not In'a moment
of excitement, but while he was writ
ing a letter. In perfect calm—“I would
rather be absent from the body and
present with the Lord.” Mind you, he
eald "absent from tho body:" he would
rather be a disembodied spirit than to
be here with all of his faculties, enjoy.
Ing as he did the confidence of his col
leagues and the privilege of a mighty
ministry. He eald this because he was
assured that the blessed fellowship
which he would immediately experi
ence upon his.departure from earth was
Infinitely better than anything earth
could offer. . _.
But listen—Paul was not satisfied
with that, nor did he teach that this
was alL He looked forward to the time
when he would he not only with the
Lord, but In his body and with the
Ia>rd. He says "There Is a natural
bodv, and there Is a spiritual body."
sod “as we have borne the Image of the
earthly, so we shall also bear the im
age of the heavenly." Read that won
derful fiftrenth chapter of First Corin
thians If you have any doubt about the
resurrection of the body, and see how
It ends with that glorious peroration
when he cries, “Behold, I shew you a
mystery. We shall not all sleep; but
we shall all be changed. In a moment.
In the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump; for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised Incorrupti
ble, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on lncorruptlon,
and this mortal must put on Immortali
ty. Ho when this corruptible shall have
put on lncorruptlon, and thin mortal
shall have put on Immortality, then
.shall be brought to pass the saying
that Is written. Death ts swallowed up
in victory,’".
Ye* thank God, we shall have bodies.
Christ rose from the dead and had a
body. He was seen. He was touched.
He was talked with, and he was called
"the first fruits." The first fruits are a
sample of what comes after, and Just
as Christ had a visible body, so shall
we. *
Shall We Know Our Friend*?
There Is one more question, one that
I am sure everyone has asked: Shall
we know only our own old earthly
friends In heaven? And I am glad for
one that we are not left In doubL If
wo take tho clear Inference of tho
Scriptures w r e may be perfectly sure
that we shall know our friends, yes,
and know them there a great deal bet
ter than we have ever known them
here, for here
“We live together years and years, .
And leave unfathom'd still
Each other’s depths of hopes and fears
Each other’s strength of will."
But In heaven we shall know even as
wo are known. And more—we shall
know not only our friends, but every
body else who Is there. There will be
no strangers in heaven, no need of In
troductions there. There are somo peo
ple In the churches down hero who do
not know each other, nnd never speak
to one another, but it Is not so In the
Church Triumphant
You remember on the Mount of
Transfiguration when Moses and Ellas
were there talking with Jesus, and Pe
ter and James nn4 John were present
and saw them, they know Moses and
Ellas without any Introduction. Peter
recognized them at once, though Moses
hod departed from earth 1,600 years
before and Elias had been dead for
centurie* And did you ever think of
this, that the only one of that group
whom God saw fit to Introduce was
Jesus. -He said: "This Is My beloved
Bon." Tho men to -whom He said It
were living with Jesus, eating with
Him, talking with Him; they thought
they knew Him pretty well. But He
waa the only one they did not know,
because they only knew Him on the
earth and did not recognise Ills heav
enly glory and plenitude of power.
And to It Is, we will not only recog
nize our loved ones In heaven, but we
will know them better than now. Yes.
and wc will be on speaking terms of
blessed Intimacy with all the mighty
spirits of tho past—with Paul, with Pe
ter, with David, with John the Baptist,
with our old pastors, our fathers and
mother* and, best of all. we shall know
and commune with Jesus face to. face.
Workmen ore about to pull down the
house In which Daniel Defoe wrote "Hob-
Inson Crusoe," This Is an old manor liouso
standing back from tho road opposite Toot
ing Junction, near London, ami surround
ed by a garden. The plaeo ta seldom vis
ited by English people, but many Ameri
cana have inapected It
DeWolf Hopper bad a slight cold one
night nnd In a curtain speech referred to
It In this fashion. “I went to my doctor,"
he declared, "and the doctor said I had
Itceu eating too much nitrogenous food
sod must stop It snd rat farinaceous fond.
Blnce then t haven't been able to eat nt
all, roe I don't know what either word
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