he whole Family of the
Redeemed gather in the Father's house. All reserve, all shyness, all
restraint gone forever. God has given us all the memory of what home
was, that we may guess at what awaits us, and be smitten with
homesickness. As the German proverb puts it: "Blessed are the
homesick, for they shall reach home."

_Heaven is very spacious._--There are "_many_ mansions." There is no
stint in its accommodation. In the olden Temple there were spacious
courts, long corridors, and innumerable chambers, in which a vast
multitude could find a home day and night. The children trooped about
and sang around their favorite teacher. The blind and lame sheltered
themselves from heat or storm. The priests and Levites in great
numbers lived there. All of this probably suggested the Master's words.

Heaven too will contain immense throngs, without being crowded. It
will teem with innumerable hosts of angels, and multitudes of the
redeemed which no man can number. Its children will be as the grains
of sand that bar the ocean's waves, or the stars that begem the vault
of night. But it can easily hold these, and myriads more. Yet there
is room! As age after age has poured in its crowds, still the cry has
gone forth, There is still room! The many mansions are not all
tenanted. The orchestra is not full. The complement of priests is not
complete.

Do not believe those little souls, who would make you believe that
Heaven is a little place for a select few. If they come to you with
that story, tell them to begone! tell them that they do not know your
Father's heart; tell them that all He does must be worthy of Himself.
Jesus shall see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied.

_Heaven is full of variety._--It is not like one great hall; there are
myriads of adjacent rooms, "mansions," which will be fitted up, so to
speak, differently. One for the sweet singer, another for the little
ones and their teachers, another for the student of the deep mysteries
of the Kingdom, another for those who may need further instruction in
the mysteries of God.

Heaven's life and scenery are as various as the aptitudes and
capacities of souls. Its music is not a monotone, but a chorale. It
is as a home, where the parents delight to develop the special tastes
of their children. This is surely what Jesus meant when He said, "I go
to prepare a place for you." He is ever studying our special
idiosyncrasies--what we need most