Heaven, II.

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OU who were here last night remember that the subject upon which I spoke was Heaven, and who were there." We tried to prove from Scripture that God the Father, and Christ the Son, and angels and redeemed saints who have gone up from earth are there, and that if we have been born of God our names are recorded there. Now I will commence to-night right where I left off last night, and the next thought upon the subject that presents itself is, "are we laying our treasures there?" If we are living as God would have us live, we are doing this. There are a great many people who forget that there are eleven commandments. They think there are only ten. The eleventh commandment is: Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." How many of us remember-ah! how people in Chicago forget the words of the Lord now in His wonderful sermon on the mount: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal." How few of our people pay any heed to these words. That's why there are so many broken hearts among us; that's why so many men and women are disappointed and going through the streets with shattered hopes; it's because they have not been laying up treasures in heaven. They pile up treasures on earth, and some calamity comes upon them and sweeps all away. The Chicago fire burned up a good many of these treasures. A great number of people put their treasures in banks, which dissolve, and away they go. Some have put their treasures in railway shares which have all disappeared like a vapor; and that is why so many are broken-hearted to-day, and in great distress, and do not know what is before them. If they had taken heed of the words of this commandment this thing would not have happened to them. "Lay up your treasures in heaven." It don't take long in conversation with a man to find out where his heart is. Wherever it is, there is his treasure. Go to a political man and talk to him about Hayes and Wheeler, or Tilden, or Hendricks, on any political question, and how his heart gets ablaze and his eye sparkles. His treasure is in politics. Go talk to a man who loves the theatre about a new play

and see how his eye glistens. His heart is set upon pleasure -upon the world. And yet another class whose heart is set on business. Go to him and talk to him about some new speculation, and show him where he can make a few thousand dollars, and you will soon tell where his treasure lies. But talk about heaven and all interest is lost. I could not help that thought coming to me last night, when I saw before me some dozing— some almost asleep, as if they thought I was talking about a myth ; and others were sitting with eyes aglow, and all attention when I mentioned heaven. Ah! they expected to go there, and were glad to hear about it.

Some men think it is too far away to lay up their treasures. I was talking to a business man before the fire about laying up treasures in heaven, and he said: "I like to have my treasure where I can see it." And that is the way with a great many people they like to have their treasures here so they can see them. It is a great mistake. People go on accumulating what they must leave behind them. How many here do not devote five minutes to anything else than money-making. It is money, money, money, and if they get it they are satisfied. You will see occasionally in the newspapers accounts of men dying who are worth so many millions. It is a great mistake. He cannot take it with him. If it is in business, it ain't his. If it is in banks, it ain't his. If in real estate, he cannot take it. It ain't his. Now, ask yourselves to-night, "Where is my treasure?" Is my heart set upon things down here? If it is set upon wealth it will by and by take to itself wings and fly away. Oh, think of this. If your heart is set upon pleasure, it will melt away; if your heart is set upon station, reputation, some tongue may blast it in a moment, and it is gone. If your hopes and heart are set upon some loved wife or dear children, whom you have set up in your hearts as an idol in place of your God, death may come and snatch your god from your life. It is wrong to set up anything, however dear to us, in the place of our God. And so it is wrong to lay up treasures for yourselves upon

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Now, are you are the people of Chicago heeding this commandment? Ask yourselves this as you are passing through the streets to-morrow: How many of the people of this city are obeying this commandment. 'Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.""

I remember before the Chicago fire hearing of a minister coming up to see his son. He found him completely absorbed in real estate. You remember before the fire how every one was mad about real estate. It was a mania with all of us. If we could get a corner lot, no matter whether we threw ourselves in

to debt, or smothered it with mortgages, we were confident that in time, when prices went up, we would make our fortune. This minister came up, and when he saw his son he tried to talk about his soul, but it was no use. Real estate was there. He talked about real estate in the morning, in the afternoon and night. No use of trying to talk of heaven to him. His only heaven was real estate. The son had a boy in his store, but he being absent the father was left to mind the business one day. When a customer came in and started upon the subject of real estate, it was not long before the minister stepped of and was speaking to the customer about his soul, and telling him he would rather have a corner lot in the New Jerusalem than all the corner lots in Chicago. And the people used to say that no real estate could be sold when the father was around. The trouble was that the son had real estate in his heart-that was his god-and the father had in his heart treasures in heaven. If we have anything in our hearts which we put up as our god, let us ask Him to come to us and take it away from us.

I remember when I went to California just to try and get a few souls saved on the Pacific coast. I went into a school there and asked, "Have you got some one who can write a plain hand?” "Yes." Well, we got up the black-board, and the lesson upon it proved to be the very text we have to-night, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” And I said, “Suppose we write upon that board some of the earthly treasures? And we will begin with 'gold.'" The teacher readily put down gold, and they all comprehended it; for all had run to that country in the hope of finding it. "Well, we will put down 'houses' next and then 'land.' Next we will put down 'fast horses."" They all understood what fast horses were-the knew a good deal more about fast horses than they knew about the kingdom of God. Some of them, I think, actually made fast horses serve as gods. "Next we will put down 'tobacco."" The teacher seemed to shrink at this. "Put it down," said I, "many a man thinks more of tobacco than he does of God. Well, then, we will put down 'rum.'" He objected to this-didn't like to put it down at all. "Down with it. Many a man will sell his reputation, will sell his home, his wife, children, everything he has. It is the god of some men. Many here in Chicago will sell their present and their eternal welfare for it. "Now," said I, "suppose we put down some of the heavenly treasures. Put down 'Jesus' to head the list, then 'heaven,' then 'river of life,' then crown of glory,' and went on till the column was filled, and just drew a line and showed the heavenly and earthly things in contrast. My friends, they could not stand comparison. If

a man just does that, he cannot but see the superiority of the heavenly over the earthly treasures. Well, it turned out that the teacher was not a Christian. He had gone to California on the usual hunt-gold; and when he saw the two columns placed side by side, the excellence of the one over the other was irresistible, and he was the first soul God gave me on that Pacific coast. He accepted Christ, and that man came to the station when I was coming away and blessed me for coming to that place.

Those of you who do not lay your treasures up in heaven will be sure to be disappointed. You cannot find a man who has devoted his life to the treasures of this life—not one in the wide wide world—but who has been disappointed. Something arises in life to sweep all away, or the amount of joy which they expect to obtain from their riches falls short of their anticipations. If men centre their affections on heaven they will have no disappointment; all is joy and comfort from that source, and the whole current of their lives will be drifting towards heaven.

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Some one has heard of a farmer who, when some one-an agent-called upon him to give something for the Christian Commission, promptly drew a check for 10,000 dollars. wanted the agent to have dinner with him, and after they had dined the farmer took the man out on the veranda and pointed to the rich lands sweeping far away laden with rich products. "Look over these lands," said the farmer. "They are all mine." He took him to the pasture and showed the agent the choice stock, the fine horses he had, and then pointed to a little town, and then to a large hall where he lived, saying, "They are all mine. I came here when a poor boy and I have earned all that you see." When he got through my friend asked him, "Well, what have you got up yonder ?" "Where ?" replied the farmer, who evidently knew where my friend meant. "What have you got in heaven ?" "Well," said the farmer, "I haven't anything there." "What !" replied my friend, "you, a man of your discretion, wisdom, business ability, have made no provision for your future!" He hadn't, and in a few weeks he died-a rich man here and a beggar in eternity. A man may be wise in the eyes of the world to pursue this course, but he is a fool in the sight of God. Wealth to most men proves nothing more or less than a great rock upon which his eternity is wrecked.

A great many Christians wonder how it is they don't get on better-how it is that they don't get on. It is because you have got your heart on things down here. When they look towards heaven they don't have a love for the world. We are then living for another world. We are pilgrims and strangers upon the

earth. It is easy to have love for God when we have our treasures there. The reason, then, why so many of us do not grow in Christianity is because we have our treasures here.

Mr. Moorehouse told me he was looking down the harbour of Liverpool one day, when he saw a vessel coming up, and she was being towed up by a tug. The vessel was sunk in the water nearly to her edge, and he wondered it did not sink altogether. Upon inquiry he found that it was loaded with lumber and that it was waterlogged. Another vessel came up, her sails set, no tug assisting her, and she soon darted past the waterlogged vessel. And so it is with some Christians. They are waterlogged. They may belong to a church, and if they find anything in the church disagreeing with them they won't go back. They want the whole church to come out and look for them, and tow them in. If the church don't, they think they are not getting the attention due to them. When men go up in balloons they take bags of sand with them, and when they want to rise higher they throw them out. There are a great many

Christians who have got too many bags of sand, and to rise they want to throw some out. Look at the poor men here in the city-the rich Christians can relieve themselves by giving some of their bags of sand to them. A great many Christians would feel much better if they relieved themselves of their bags of sand. "He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord," and if you want to be rich in eternity, just give to the poor with your heart, and the Lord will bless not only you, but all connected with you.

The next thing is our rest in heaven! A great many people have got a false idea about the church. They have got an idea that the church is a place to rest in. Instead of thinking that it is a place of work, they turn it into a resting-place. To get into a nicely cushioned pew, and contribute to the charities, listen to the minister, and do their share to keep the church out of bankruptcy, is all they want. The idea of work for themactual work in the church-never enters their mind. In Hebrews we see the words: "There is a rest for the people of God." We have got all eternity to rest in. Here is the place for work, we must work till Jesus comes. This is the place of toileternity of repose. "Blessed are they that die in the Lord, for their works do follow them." Let us do the work that God gives us to-day. Don't think that you have to rest in the world where God sent His son who was murdered. I remember hearing a man who had worked successfully for the Lord complaining that he didn't have the success he used to, and one night he threw himself on his bed sick of life and wanting to die. While