Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1890-08-01

entrance Tor our prayers ana OF egr6SS LOr
divine blessings. It does not seem that our
weak voice has strength enough to climb up
to Gods ear. Shall not our prayer be lost
in the clouds? Have words wings? The
truth is plain: Heavens door Is wide open 10
receive every prayer. Must it not be loud?
Ought it not to ring up with the strength OF
stout lungs? Must it not be loud call,
such as drowning men utter, or like the shout
Of some chieftain in the battle? No; whis-
per is as good as shout and the mere wish
Of the soul in profound silence is as good as
3 whisper. 1t rises just as high amt accom-
plishes just as much.
But ought not prayer TO be made of golden
words If it is to enter such a splendid door
and live beside seraphim and archangelf
Ought not every phrase be rounded into per-
lection, ought not the language be musical
and classic and poetic and rhetorical? No;
the most ilIiterate outcry, the unjointed Pc
tition, the clumsy phrase, the sentence break.
ing into grammatical blunders an unworded
groan Ia Just as effectual il it be the utterance
1 the souls want. A heart all covered up
with garlands of thoughts would be no attrac-
ton to God, but a heart broken and contrite
that is the acceptable sacrifice. II know
that my Redeemer liveth, rising up in the
mighty harmony of a musical academy, may
pverpower our ear and heart, but it will not
roach the ear of God like the broken voiced
hymn Of some sufferer amid rags and desc
iation looking up trussfully to a Saviours
compassion, singing amid tears and pangs,
II know that my Redeemer iveth."
I suppose that there was more rhetoric
and classic elegance in the prayers of the
Pharisee than Of the publican but you know
which was successful. You may kneel with
complete elegance on some soft cushion at an
altar of aIabaster and utter prayer of Mil
tonic sublimity, but neither your graceful
posture nor the roll OF your blank verse will
attract heavenly attention, while over some
CoVsX in xUhf Oh fIoY1 ia
PROSTATE in the straw angels bend from
their thrones and cry one to another: BE
hold, he praysP' Through this open door Of
heaven what long procession of prayers is
continually passing! What thanksgivirgs!
What confessions! What intercessionsl
What beseechingsl "And behold door was
opened in heaven"
Again, the door or heaven is opened to al
low us the opportunity Of looking in. Christ
when He came from heaven to Bethany left it
open, and no one since has dared to shut it.
Matthew threw it still wider open when he
came to WRITE and Paul pushed the door
further back when he spoke of the glory to be
revealed, and John in Revelation actually
points us to the harps, and the
there are anq
about that blessed place that we cannot
solve. But look through this wide open door
of heaven and see what you can sea God
means Us to look and catch up now some
thing of the rapture and attune our hearts
to its worship.
1t is wide open enough to see Christ. Be-
hold Him, the Chief among ten thousand, all
the hammered pomp of heaven at His feet.
With your enkindled faith look up along
these ranks of glory. Watch how their
palms wave, and hear how their voices ring'
Floods clapping their hands, streets CLEAN.
ing with gold, uncounted multitudes ever
accommodating in number and ever rising up
into gladder hosannas. If you cannot stand
to look upon that joy for at least one hour
how could you endure to dwell among it for
three days, and choose the earth again or
any other place where it was not always
Sunday.
My bearer in worldly prosperity, aff1uent,
honored, healthy and happy, look in upon
that company of the redeemed, and see how
you are, brighter in apparel, richer in estate,
higher in power Hearers, afflicted and
tried, look in through that open door, that
you may see to what gladness and glory you
are coming, to what life, to what royalty.
Hearers please to fascination with this
world, gather up your souls for one appre-
;iative look upon riches than never fly away,
upon health that never sickens, upon scepters
that never break, upon expectations that are
never disappointed. Look in and see if
there are not enough crowns to pay us for
all our battles, enough rest to relieve all our
all our thirst, enough glory to dash out for
ever and ever all earth's signing and restless
ness and darkness. Battles ended, tears
wiped away, thrones plucked from the
bosoms, stabs healed, the tomb riven-what
a scene to look upon!
Again, the door of heaven stands ope:1 for
the Christians final entrance. Death to the
righteous is not climbing high walls or ford
ing deep rivers, but it is entering an open
door. Ii you ever visit the old homestead
where you were born, and while father and
mother are yet alive as you go up the lane
in front of the farm house. and put your
hand on the door and lift the latch. do you
shudder with fear? No, you are glad to en-
ter. So your last sickness will be only the
lane in front of your Fathers house, from
which you hear the voice of singing before
you reach the door. And death, that is the
lifting Of the latch before you enter, the
greetings and embraces of the innumerable
family of the righteous. Nay, there is no
atch, for John says the door is already open.
What a company of spirits have already en-
tered those portals bright and shiningl
Souls released from the earthly prison house
how they shouted as they went through
Spirits that sped up from the flames of mar
tyrdom, making heaven richer as they went
in, pouring their notes into the celestial har
mony.
And that door has not begun to shut. II
redeemed by grace we all shall enter it. This
side of it we havewep but on the other side
of it we shall never weep. On this side we
may have grown sick with WEAKNESS but
on the other side of it we shall be without
fatigue On this side we bleed with the war
rior's wounds, on the other side we shall wave
the victor's palm. When you think of dying
what makes your brow contract, what makes
you breathe SO deep a sigh? What makes
you gloomy IN passing a graveyard? Fol-
lower Of Christ, you have been thinking
that death is something terrible, the measur-
ing of lances with a powerful antagonist,
the closing in of conflict which may be your
everlasting defeat. You do not want much
to think Of dying. The step beyond this