Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-07-21
DOOR WIDE OPEN.
DR.. TALMAGE breaches AN ELOQUENT SER
MON YESTERDAY.
The Gates Of asaven Seen Open by the Exile Of Pat
mos, Open to the Christians Prayer, Open
to Look in, Open to Admit the
Christians Entrance.
sgeeial Tsleqraal to he Reaister.

Special Tsieqrqn, 10 TIE ReGisier.
BROOKLYN, July 2O.-Dr. Talmage's
sermon to-day is on the Wide Open
Door. and mis- text, Rev. Al. And, be-
hold, door was open in heaven" Fol
| lowing is his sermon:
John had been the pastor OF a church
/ in EpheSus He had been driven from
his position in that city by an indig-
nant populace The preaching of a
pure and earnest gospel had made an
excitement dangerous 10 every form Of
iniQuity. This will often be the result
of pointed preaching. Men will finch
under the sword strokes of truth. You
ought not TO be surprised that the blind
makes an outcry of pain when the sur
geon removes the cataract from the eye.
1t is good sign when you
see men uneasy in the church pew
and exhibiting impatience at some
plain uttcrance OF truth which SmitcS a
pet sin that they are hugging 10 their
hearts. After the patient has been so
/ low that for weeks he said nothing and
noticed nothing, it is thought TO be a
good sign when ne begins TO be little
cross. And so | notice that spiritual
| iuyalidS are in fair way for recovery,
when they become somewhat iraSciblc
land chOlcric under the treatment OF the
truth But John had so nightly in
Iculpatcd public iniquity that he had
been baniShed from his church and sent
| TO PatmoS, deSolatc island, only a
mile i'm breadth, against whose rocky
coasts the sea rose and mingled its voice
with the drayerS and hymningS of the
heroic exile.
TWO GREAT ENILE>.
You cannot but contrast the condi-
/ tion of this baniShed apostle with that
| of another famous exile. Look at the
|apostleo ON PatmoS and the great French
man on st. Helena. Both were suffer
ling among dcSOlatiOn and barrenneSS
/ because of offences committed. Both
Ihad passed through lives eyentful and
thrilling. Both had been honored and
IdespiScd Both were imperial natures.
/ Both had been turned of TO die. Yet
mark the infinite difference: one had
/ fought for the periShable crown OF
worldly authority. the other for one
etcrnally lustrouS. The one had
marked his path with the bleached
skulls of his followers, the other had
introduced peace and goodwill among
men. The one had lived chiefly for
sclf-aggrandizement and the other for
the glory of Christ. The success of the
one were achieved amid the breaking OF
thousands of hearts and the acute.
heaven-rending cry, of orphanagc and
widowhOod, while the triumphS OF the
other made JOY in heaven among the
angels of God.
The heart of one exile was filled with
rcmOrse and despair, while the other
was lighted up with Thanksgiving and
incXtinguiShablc hope. over 81. Hell
ena gathered the biackncSS of darkness,
clouds lighted up by no sunrising, but
rent and fringed and heaving with the
|lightningS of a wrathful God, and the
spray flung over the rocks seemed to
/ hiss with the condemnation: The
way of the ungodly shall perish But
lover Patm0S the heavens were opened,
land the stormy sea beneath was forgot
| ten I'm the roll and CLEAN OF waters
/ from under the throne like crystal, and
. Lilt iltLtlllltf~~ va AttN . -AWNAAN t+AtNtNA VA
Apostle was forgotten as above him ne
saw the trees of life all bending under
/ the rich glow of heavenly truitage,
while tue hOarSe blast of contending
elements around his suffering body was
drowned i'm the trumpetiug of trumpetS
and the harping of harps, the victor
iouS cry of multitudes like the voice OF
many waters and the hoSanna of hosts
in number like the stars.
VIAL A DULL SPor
upon which to stand and have such a
glorious vision, Had PatmoS been some
tropical island. arborcd with the luXuri-
ancc Of perpetual summer and drowSy
with the breath of cinnamon and caSSia,
and tcSSclatcd with long Isles of ger
Iauium and cactus, We would not have
been surprised at the slender OF the
vision. But the last place you would
20 10 IL YOU wanted beautiful visions
would be the island OF PatmoS. Yet it
is around such gloomy spots that God
make the most wonderful revelation.
IL was looking through the awful
shadows of a prison that John Bunyan
saw the gate of the celestial city. God
there divided the light from the dark
ness. I'm that gloomy abode, on
scraps of old paper picked up about
his room. the great Dream was written.
II was while John Calvin was refugee
from bloody persecution and was hid IN
"a bouSe M Angouleme that he conceived
the idea of writing his immortal ht>tt-
hiicS. Jacob had many time seen the
sun breaking through the miStS and
l,iudling them into shafts and pillars OF
/ fiery Splendoc that might well have beeh
a ladder for the angels TO tread on, out
! the famous ladder which ne saw scared
through a gloomy night over the wilder
ness. The night OF trial and dcSolatlon
iS the scene Of the grandcSt heavenly
revelations. From the barren, SURF
beatcn rock of PatmoS John looked up
and saw that door was open IN heaven
Again: / learn from the fact that a
door i'm heaven is opened, that there Is
q way of entrance for our prayers ana
of egress for divine blessings. 1t does
NOT seem that our weak voice mas
strength enough TO climb mp To Hou :
ear. Shall not our prayer be lost IN the
clouds? Have words wings? Inc trutl
is plain. Heavens door IS wide open 10
receive every prayer. Must 1t not De
loud? Ought it not to ring UP WIN 'ne
strength of stout lungs? Must 1t not De
loud call, such as drowning men
ntter. or like the shout OF some Ihleitain
i'm the battle? No; whisper Is as goou
rs a shout. and the mere wish oi the
soul i'm profound silence is as good as Il
whisper. II rises just as high and ac-
compliShes just as much.
But OUGHT NOT PRAYER
to be made up of golden words II 1t Is
TO enter such splendid door ana iNe
beside Seraphim and archangel? ought
not every phrase be rounded INTO per-
fection, ought not the language be mu-
steal. and classic. and poetic, ana rhet-
orlcal9 No. the most illiteratc outcry'
the unjointed petition, the clumsy
nhraSe. the sentence breaking INTO
Grammatical blunderS, an unworded
groan. is Just as eiTectual if it be the
ntterancc of the souls want. y heart
am covered up with glrlandS of thought
.,1I 10 mn attraction 10 God. but Il