St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-07-17

I
the dead cities of the past and all the liv-
ing cities of the present, added together,
would not equal the census of that great
metropolis.
Walking along the street you can, by
| the contour of the dress or OF the face,
guess where man came from. You say:
"That is a Frenchman; that is a Nor
wegian; that is an American" But the
gates that gather the righteous will bring
them in irrespective of nationality. For
! eigners sometimes get homesick. Some
of the tenderest and most pathetic stories
have been told of those who left their
native cline and longed for it until they
| died But the Swiss, coming to the high
| residence Of Heaven, will not long any
more for the Alps, standing in the eternal
| hills. The Russian will not long any more
| for the luxuriant harvest-tields he left,
| now that he hears the hum and the rustic
of the harvests of everlasting light. The
royal ones bonn earth will not long to 60
back again to the earthly court, now that
they stand in the palaces of the sun.
| Those who once lived amid the groves of
spice and oranges will not long to return,
now that they stand under the trees OF
life that bear twelve manner of fruit.
But notice when John saw the gates
| they were open-wide open. They will
| not always be SO. After while Heaven
| will have gathered up all its intended
| population and the children of God will
| have come home. Every crown taken.
| Every harp struck. Every throne mount
ed ALI the glories of the universe har.
vested in the great garner And Heaven
being made up, of course the gates will be
shut. Austria in, and the first gate shut.
Russia in, and the second gate shut Italy
in, and the third gate shut. Egypt in,
and the fourth gate shut. Spain in,
and the fifth gate shut. France in,
and the sixth gate shut. England
in, and the seventh gate shut.
Norway in, and the eighth gate shut.
Switzerland in, and the ninth gate shut.
Hindostan in, and the tenth gate shut.
Siberia in, and the eleventh gate shut.
All the gates are closed but one. Now,
| let America go in, with all the islands OF
| the sea and all the other nations that have
called on God. The captives all freed.
The harvests all gathered. The nations
all saved. The flashing splendor of this
last pearl begins to move on its hinges.
Let two mighty angels put their shoulders
to the gate and heave it to with silvery
clang. TITS done! 1t thunders The
twelfth gate shut!
Once more, want to show you the
gatekeeper. There is one angel at each
| one of these gates. You say that is right.
| Of course it is. You know that no earthly
palace, or castle, or fortress, would be
70 h0rIfo snrf
down by night and by day; and if there
were no defenses before heaven, and the
doors set wide open, with no one to guard
them, all the vicious of earth would go up
after awhile, and all the abandoned OF
hell would go up after awhile; and
heaven, instead of being world of light,
and joy, and peace, and blessedness,
would be world of darkness and horror.
So I am glad to tell you that while these
twelve gates stand open to let great mui"
| titude in, there are twelve angels to keep
some people out. Robespierre can not go
through there, nor Hildebrand, nor Nero,
| nor any of the debauched of earth who
| have not repented of their wickedness. If
| one Of these nefarious men who desplsed
God should come to the gate, one of the
keepers would put his hand on his shoulder
| and push him into outer darkness. There
| is no place in that land for thieves, and
liars, and whore-mongers, and defraud-
ers, and all those who disgraced their race
and fought against their God. If a miser
should get in there he would pull up the
golden pavement. If a house breaker
should get in there, he would set fire to
the mansion. If libertine should get in
there, he would whisper his denominations
standing on the white coral of the sea
the sea beach. Only those who are blood
washed and prayer Tipped will get
through. o, my brother, if you should ut
last come up to one of the gates and try to
get through, and you had not pass
written by the crushed hand of the Son
of God, the gate-keeper would with one
glance wither you forever.
There win be password at the gate OF
Heaven. Do you know what that pass
word is? Here comes the crowd of souls up
to the gate and they say:
"Let me in. Let me in. was very USE
full on earth. I endowed colleges. l built
churches and was famous for my chari-
ties; and having done so many wonderful
things for the world. now I come up to get
my reward"
A voice from within says: 81 never knew
YOU"
Another great crowd comes up and they
try to get through. They say:
"We were highly honorable on earth and
the earth bowed very lowly before US. We
were honored on earth and now we come
to get our honors in Heaven
And voice from within says: 81 never
knew YOU"
Another crowd advances and says:
ave were very moral people on earth,
very moral indeed, and we come up to get
apprepr late recognition"
voice answers: 81 never knew you."