The weekly sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1886-07-01

the pearl 1lSicfieS, anu SET tHem IN inc
panr. of one door, and it does not equal
this magnificent gateway An Almighty
hand hew.d this. strung this, folshed
this. Against this satewa on the one
side, dash all the sllendnrs of earthly
beauty. Against this gate on the ether
side, beat the surges of eternal glory.
o, the gate! the gate! 1t strikes am
infinite charm through everyone that
passes it. One step this side of that
gate, and we are paupers. One step the
other side of that gate. and we are kings.
The pilgrim of earth going through sees
in the one huge pearl all his earthly tears
in crystal o, gate of light. gate OF
pearl, gate of heaven, for our weary souls
at last swing open!
o, heaven is not a dull place! Heaven
is not contracted place. Heaven Is not
a stupid place. '''[ saw the twelve
gates and they were twelve pearls"
In the second place, want you to
count the number of those gates. Inn
perial parks and lordly MAJORS are apt
to have one expensive gateway and the
others are ordinary; but look around at
these entrances to heaven and count
them. One, two, three, four live, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
Hear it, all the earth and all the heavens,
twelve gates.
admit this is rather hard on sharp.
sectariansm. If Il Presbyterian is big
oted he brings his Westminster Assembly
Catechism, AMI he makes a gateway out
of that, and he says to the world: )" You
go through there or stay out. II
Methodist is bigoted he plants TWO
posts and he says: sc Now you crowd In
between those two posts or stay out.
or perhaps an Episcopalian may say:
:" Here is a liturgy out OF which mean
to make gate; go through it or stay
out. Or Baptist may say: Here is
a water-gate you go through that or
you must stay out" AM so IN all our
churches and in our denominations there
are men who make one gate Tor them,
selves and demand that the whole world
go through it. abhor this contracted.
ness in religious views. o, small.souled
man when did God give you the contract
for making gates? tell you Ilaialy, !
will not so in that gate. will go In at
any one of the twelve gates L choose.
Here is a man who says: 81 can more
easily and more closely approach God
through a prayer-book." l say: My
brother, then use the prayer book" Here
is a man who says: IS believe there Is
only one mode of baptism and that is i'm
mersion." Then I say: LET me plunge
| YOU" Anyhow I say: Away with the
gate Of rough panel and rotten posts and
| rusted latch, when there aretwelve gates
and they are twelve pearls.
The fact is, that great many of the
churches in this day are being doctrined
to death. They have been trying to find
out all about Gods DEGREES, and they
want to know who are elected to be saved
and who are reprobated to be damned,
and they are keeping on discussing that
! subject when there are millions of souls
who need to have the truth put straight
at them They sit counting the number
of teeth in the jaw one with which
Samson slew the Philistine@ They sit
on the beach and sec Il vessel gong to
| +l,,on nd ipS nf rYnt
| ting into boat and pulling away fol
| the wreck, they sit discussing the diff
/ ferent STYLES of oarlockS. God intended
us to know some things and intended W.
not to know others. Ihave heard scores
of sermons explanatory of Gods DEGREES
but came away more perpleXed thar
when l went. The only result of sucl
discussion is fog. Here are two truths
uh:ci .ra - conquer til, y.il Man, {
! Sinncr-CAr..t, saviour Any MAJ
who adopts these two the pri,.S in his
religious belief shall have my right hant
i in VAIN grip of Christian brothctho
| A man comes down to a river in tim
of fresh t. He wants to get across. IL
has to swim. What does he do? Tn
first thing is TO put off his heavy ap
paIelau drop everything he has in hi
hands. He must go empty-handed il h
is goin., to H.. other bank. And I tel
you, when we have come down to tn
river of death AMI find it swift and rag
ing, we will have to put off all our sec
tariani4m and lay down our cumbrou
creed, ana empty handed put out or tn
other shore What" say you, s'woul
, you resolve all the Christian church il
to one kind OF church? Would you max
all ChristeEdom worship in the sam
,, way, by the same forms? 0, no! Yo
> might as we'll decide that all peopl
l snal eat TIE same kind of food witho,
I r4Pa 4,- GOV
kind of apparel without reference
the shape of the body. Your ancestr,
: your Temperament, your surrounding
: will decide whether you go TO this {
q that church. and adopt this or tn;
. polity. One church will best get OF
q man to heaven and another church a
other man do not care which one
the gates you go through. If you only {
. through one of the twelve gates TIL
Jesus lifted.
Looking out at the one hundred al
!, forty and four thousand and you cam
Y tell at what gate they came in. o.
L umph. One heaven. Why, Luthe
Il how did you get in?" g 1 came tErous
. the third gate" "Cranmer how
- you get in?' &c came through t
1 eighth gate" Adoniram Judson, he
- did you get through 81 came thIou'
=. INC ScNc..tIl Sodlc luSli -tSiNhlA, L
; martyr, how did you get Thought" :
a a came through the twelfth gate" Clio
y to God, twelve gates, but one heaven
~ In the third place, notice the points
y the compass towards which these gat
= look. They are not on one side, or
- two sides or OF three sides, but on TO
III ST les This is no fancy of mine, but
~ distinct announcement. On the mort
IL three gates, OH the south, three gait
on the east, three gates, on the we
81 three gates. What does that mea
- Why, it means that all Municipalities 6
~ included, and it does not mako any
ar ferenc, from what quarter of the glo
"a man comes up; if his heart is rig
a, there is gate open before him. On I
at north. three gates. That means mel
We for Lapland ard Siberia. and Norway a
Sweden On the south. three gat
x That means pardon for Hindostan, a
.: AIgiers, and Ethiopia On the ca