The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1889-01-02

all my church with me. / am going to
take all my friends and neighbors with
me. have so much faith in manRer and
cross feel sure oft. am going to coax
you in, / am going TO push you in. By
holy stratagem am going TO surprise you
in. Yea, W tn all the concentrated energy
of my nature-physical, mental, spiritual
and imrnortal-I am going to compel you
to go in. | like you so we'll want to spend
eternity with you'
Some of your children have already
gone. Some time ago buried one of them,
and though people passing along the
street and seeing white Grape on the door
bell may have said Its only child,
yet when the broken hearted father came
to solicit my service he said: "Come
around and comfort us, for though she was
on y 10 months old we loved her so much"
Ahl it does not take long for child to
get its arms around the parents whole
nature.
What Christmas morning it will make
when those with whom you keep the holi-
days are all around you in Heaven! Sill
ver-haired old father young again, and
mother who had so many aches and pains
and decrepitudes well again, and all your
brothers and sisters and the little ones.
How glad they will be to see you.
They have been waiting, The last time
they saw your face it was covered with
tears and distress, and pallid from long
watching, and one of them can imagine
to-day, with one hand holding fast the
shining gate, and the other hand swung
out toward you, saying:
Steer this way, father. steer straight for me;
Here safe in Heaven am waiting for thee.
Oh! those Bethlehem angels, when they
went back after the concert that night
over the hills, forgot to shut the door. All
the secret is out. No more use of trying to
hide from US the glories to come. 1t is too
late to shut the gate. 1t is blocked wide
open with hosannas marching this way,
and h llelu iahs maj ching that way.
What almost unmans me is the thought
that it is provided for such sinners as you
and I have been. If it had been provided
right, and spoken right and acted
right you and would have had no inter-
est in it, had no share in it; you and 1
would have stuck to the raft mid-ocean,
and let the ship sail by, carrying perfect
passengers from perfect life on earth to
q perfect life in Heaven.
| Ohl have heard the commander Of that
ship is the same great and glorious and
sympathetic One who hushed the tenn
pest around the boat on Galilee, and l
have heard that all the passengers on the
ship are sinners savel by grace. And so
J we hail the ship, and it bears down this
/ way, and we come by the side of it and
ask the captain two questions: "Who art
thou? and whence" and he says: Il am
Captain of Salvation, and / am from the
manger." Oh! bright Christmas morning
of my SOULS delight. Chime all the bells.
Wreathe all the garlands. Rouse all the
anthems. Shake hands in all the con-
gratuatons.
Merry Christmas Merry with the
thought of sins forgiven, merry with the
1 idea Of SORROWS comforted, merry with the
/ raptures to come Oh! lift that Christ
from the manger and lay him down in al
our hearts. We may not bring to him as
costly present as the magi brought, but
we bring to his feet and to the manger to.
day the frankncense Of our joy, the pearls
Of our tears, the kiss Of our love, the pros
tration Of our worship.
Down at his feet, all churches all ages
/ all earth, all Heaven. Down at his fee
the four and twenty elders on their faces
Down the great multitude that no mar
can number" Down Michael The arch
gel! Down all worlds at his feet auc
worship. "Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace, good will to menW