The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1890-08-01
THE DOOR OPENED.
THE INVITATION TO lne eC1 sh
WORLD ABOVE.

Calvin's Inspiration.
DIR. Talmages sermon Sunday was
on "The Wide Open Door, and his
text, Revelations iv, l: And, behold,
door was opened in Heaven. Fol
lowing is his sermon:
John had been thc pastor OF II
church in Ephesus. He had been
driven from his position in TINT city
by an indignant populacc. Ih"
preaching of u pure and earnest gos
pei had made an excitement danS"E-
GUS to 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 man makes an outrry OF pam
when the surgeon removes tn" r;tta
ract from his eye. Ii Is goOu sign
when you see men uneasy III the
church pew and exhibiting mpaHrnCv
ut some plain uttcrancc OF truth Which
smites pet sin that they arc huGSniA
to their hearts. After the patient has
been so low that for two weeks hc
said nothing nnd noticed nothing, II
is thought to be IL good sign wien hr
begins to be little cross. And so
notice that spiritual invalids are IN II
fair way for recovery when they be
come somewhat il aSciblc and chOlCrlc
under the treatment OF tho truth.
But John had so nightly inculpatrd
public iniquity that he had been ban
ished from his chuch and sent to
Patmos, n disolatc island, only II mile
in breadth, against whose rocky coast
tho sea rose and mingled its voice
with the prayers and hymns of the
heroic exile
You cannot but contrast the con
dltion of this banished apostle with
that of another falLous exile. Look
at the apostle on Pntmos and the
great Frcnchman on ST. Helena.
Both were suffering among dcHolI
ton and barrcnnces because ot oilru-
ses committed. Both had PASSED
through lives evcnttul and Thrilling.
Both had been honorcl and diSpisvi.
Both were imperial natures. 10th
hnd been turned off to die. Yet mark
the infinite difference: one had iouGl,
for the ,erishablc crown of worldly
authority, the other for one ctvrnaiiy
lustrous. The one haI marked lI-'
path with the blcachcd skulls of his;
followers, the other had introduced
peace and goodwill among men. The
one had lived chiefly for self agSrand
isement and the other for the Eloi Y
of Christ. The successes of the one
were achieved amid the breaking of
thousands of hearts and the acute.
Hcaven.rcnding cry OF orphana&;" and
widowhool. while the triumphI Oi
the other made Joy in heaven among
the angels of God.
The heart of one exile was filled
with remorse and despair, W Iilc the
other was lighted up with thanksSiv
ing and inextinSuishablc hope. Over
ST. Helena gathered the hlackncSS of
darkness, clouds lighted up by no
6"Tns With R4f The If9l ha tsyH wath M
full God, and tho spray flung over Tn,
rocks seemed to hiss with the con
demnation: The way of the ungodlN
shall perish" But over Pntnns. u,
Heavens were opened, and thcStOrml
seq beneath was forgotten in the iOl
and CLEAN of waters from unIct lnt
throne like crystal, and the halrcu
ness of the ground under tina npn,t /"
was forgottcn nS above t.im lr Stv
the trees of life, Ill bending n'irr the
rich glow of Heavenly iiuita3,r RjIilr
the hourSc blast of rOntcnuinSila
ments around his suffering bs,tr Wsx,
drowned III the trumpctim- of trlIm
pets, apd the harpin| Of hatp~. IT,"
victorious cry of mul ,itudrS lk.' III
voice OF mauy w'trrS, aul tn,
hosanna of hosts in number Kkc the
stars.
What dull spot upon which tu
stand anf-havr such Il glorious vision,
Had PutmoS been some tropical
island, nrborcu with the hIXm.auc,
of perpetual summer and drOw>;
with breath of cinnamon and raSSia
and tessclatcd with long ul,lcs a
geraniums and cactus, we would NOT
have boon surprised ut the splcndol
of the vision. But the last place you
would go to if You wanted to find
beautiful visions would be the island
of Patmos. Yet it is around such
gloomy spots that GOI makes tie
most wonderful revelation. II was
looking through the awful shadows,
of prison that John Bunyan saw
the gate of the celestial city God
there divided the light from the dark
ness. In that gloomy abode, on
scraps of old paper picked up about
his room, the great dream was written.
1t was while John Calvin was rcfu
gee from bloody persecution and was
hid in house at Angoulcmc, that he
conceived the idea of writing his I'M
mortal Institutes. Jacob had many
time seen the sun breaking through
the mists and kindling them into
shafts and pillars of fiery splcndur
that might well have been ladder for
the angels to tread ON. but the
famous ladder which he saw SCARED
through a gloomy night over the
wilderness. The night Of trial and
desolation is the scene Of the grand
est Heavenly revelations. From the
barren, surf beaten rocks of Patmos.
John looked up and saw that vlo5r
was opened i'll Heaven
AS we take Our stand uDu S5ntr