The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-07-26

calvin was d T0luRtS lTOlH DlOOuY DtTS6-
cution and was hid in the house at An
gouleme, hat he conceived the idea of
writing his immortal Institutes. Jacob
had many a time seen the sui breaking
through the mists and kindling them
into shafts and pillars of fiery splendor
that might we'll have been a 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 grandest heavenly revela-
tons. From the barren, surf-beaten
rock of Patmos John looked up and
saw that q doc was opened in Heaven.
Again: The announcement of sue an
opened entrance suggests the truth that
God Is looking down upon the earth and
observant of ell occurrences. If we
would gain q wide prospect we climb up
into q tower or mountain. The higher
up we are the broader the landscape we
behold. Yet u most comprehensive
view Ia limited to only @ few leagues
here q river and there q lake and yonder
n mountain peak. But what must be
the glory of the earth in the eye of Him
who. from the door Of Heaven, beholds
at one glance all mountains and lakes
and prairies and oceans, lands be-
spangled with tropical gorgeousness and
arctic regions white with everlasting
SHOWS, Lebanon majestic with cedars
and American wilds solemn with I'M
broken forests Of pine. African deserts
of blistering sand and wildernesses of
water unbroken by ships keel, CONT
nents covered with harvests Of wheat
and rice and maize. the glorv Of every
zone, the whole world of mountains and
seas and forests and islands taken In q
single glance Of their great Greater.
As we take our stand upon some high
point, single objects dwindle into such
insignilcance that we cease to see them
In the minutie, and we only behold the
grand scenery. But not 8 with God.
Although standing far up in the very
tower Of Heaven, nothing by reason OF
its smallness escapes His vision. Every
lily OF the field, every violet under the
grass, the tiniest heliotrope, aster and
gentian are rs plainly seen by Him as
the proudest magnolia, and not one vein
of color in their leaf deepens or fades
without His notice. From this door in
Heaven God sees all human conduct and
the worlds moral changes. Not one
tear Of sorrow falls in hospital or work.
shop or dungeon but He sees 1t and in
high Heaven makes record of its fall.
The worlds iniquities in all their
ghastliness glover under His Wis
ion Wars and tumults and the
desolations Of famine and earth
quake. whirl wind and shipwreck, spread
out before Him. II there were no being
in all the uni verse but God. He could be
happy with such an outlook as the door
of Heaven. But there He stands, no
more disturbed by the fall OF a king
dom than the dropping of a leaf, no
more excited by the rising Of a throne
than the bursting of q bud, the falling
of sdeluge than the trickling of a rain
drop Earthly royalty clutches nervous
ly its scepter and waits in suspense the
will of inlamed subjects and the crown
Is tossed from one family to another.
But above all earthly vicissitude and
the assault of human passions, in un
shaken security stands the King OF
Kings, watching all the affairs OF His
empire from the introduction OF an era
to the counting Of the hairs Of your
head.
Again: Ilearn from the fact hat a
door in Heaven is opened, hat there is
O way of entrance for our prayers and
of egress for divine blessings 1t does
not seem that our weak vice 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 tC
receive every prayer. Must 1t not be
loud? Ought It not to ring up with the
strength Of stout lungs? Must it not be
Q loud call, such as drowning men utter
or like the shout of some chieftian in
the battle? No; q whisper is as good as
q shout, and the mere wish Of the SOU
in profound silence Is as good as a whis
per. 1t rises just as high n accom-
plishes just as much.
But ought not prayer to be made VI
Of golden words II 1t Is to enter such
splendid door and live beside %seraphim
and archangel? Ought not every phrase
be rounded into perfection. ought MOI
the language be musical and classic and
poetic and rhetorical? No, the mos
illiterste outcry, the unjointed petition
the clumsy phrase, the sentence break
ing into grammatical blunders, an un
worded groan, 10 just as effectual IL 1t bt
the utterance of the souls want. A
heart all covered up with garlands o
thought wonld be no attraction to God
but q heart broken and contrite, that II
the acceptable sacrifice. II know tina
my Redeemer liveth," rising up in thu
mighty harmony OF O musical academy
may. overpower our ear and heart, bu
1t will not reach the q Of God like tn,
broken voiced hymn Of some %sufferei
amid rags and desolation looking VI
trustfully to a Saviour's compassion
singing amid tsars and pangs, II know
that my RedeemeF liveth."
l suppose that there was more rhetori
and classic elegance in the prayers o
the Pharisee than of the publican, bu
you know which was successful. Yo1
may kneel with complete elegance OF
some soft cushion at an altar OF alabas
ter, and utter q prayer of Miltopic sub
Unity, but neither your graceful pos
ture nor the roll of7your blank vers
will attract heavenly attention. Will
over some dark cellar in which a Christ
ian pauper is PROSTATE in the stray
angels bend from their thrones and or
one to another: "Behoid, he prays!
Through this open door Of Heaven wha
q long procession Of prayers is continu
ally passingl What Thanksgiving
What confessions! What intercessiops
What beseechingsl "And behold,
door was opened In Heayen."
Again: The door OF Heaven Is ope,
to allow us the Opportunity OF lookiD
in. Christ when He came from HeaVei
to Bethlehem, left 1t open, and no on
since has dared to shut It. Matthe,
threw itstiH wider open when he cam
to write. and Paul pushed the COO
further back when he spoke Of tn
glory TO be revealed, and John In RevC
lstion actually points US to the harp
and the waters, and the crowns and tn
thorns. There are profound mysterie
about that blessed place that we can nc
solve. But look through this wide ope
door of Heaven and see what you ca
see. God means us to look and cato
up now something of the rapture, an,
attune our hearts to its worship.
1t is wide open enough to see Chris
Behold him, the chief among to
thousand, all the hammered pomp c
Heaven at his feet. With your on
kindled faith look up along these rank
OF glory. Watch how their palms wav
and hear how their voices ring. Flood
clapping their hands, streets gleamin
with gold u~ncounted multitudes eve
accommodating in number and ever risin
up into gladder hosannas. II you ca
not stand o look upon that joy for a