The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-07-23


and dark ness. Battles ended, tears
wiped away, thorns plucked from the
bosoms, stabs healed, the. tomb riven--
what q scene to look uponl
Again: The door OF heaven stands
open for the Christians final entrance
Death to the righteous is not climbing
high walls or fording deep rivers, but II
Is entering an open door. II you ever
visit the old homestead where you were
born, and as father and mother are, yet
alive, as you go up the lane in front OF
the farmhouse and you put your hand
on the door and lift the latch do you
shudder with fear? No, you are glad
to enter. 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 In
Vulnerable family Of the righteous. Nay,
there is no latch, for John says the door
is alre ady open. What company OF
spirits ha We already entered those por-
tails, bright and shining. Soulsreleased
from the earthly prison, how they
shouted as they went through Spirits
that sped up from the flames Of martyr
dom, making Heaven richer as they
went in, pouring their notes into the
celestial harmony.
And that door has not begun to shut
II redeemed by grace we shall enter It
This side Of 1t we have wept, but on
the other side OF 1t we shall never weep.
On this side we may have grown sick
with we ariness, but on the other side Of
1t we shall be without fatigue. On this
side we bleed with the warriors wound;
on the other side we shall have the vic
tors palm. When you think Of dying
what makes your brow contract; what
makes you breathe so deep and
sigh? What makes you gloomy in
passing a graveyard? Follower Of
Christ, you have been thinking that
death is something terri BILE, the
measuring OF lances with a power
full antago mist, the closing in Of .
conflict which may be your everlasting
defeat You do not want much to think
OF dying. The step beyond this life
seems so mysterious you dread the TAX
ing of it. Why, who taught you this
lesson OF horrors? Heavens door Is
wide. open, and you step out of your sick
room into those portals. Not as long as
a minute will elapse between your de-
parture and your arrival there. Not
half 80 long as the twinkling OF an eye.
Not the millionth part OF an instant
There is no stumbling into dark
ness. There Is no plunging down
into mysterious depths. The door
TO open. This instant you are here, the
next you are there. When a vessel
struck the rocks OF the French coast,
while the crew were clambering up the
beach, q cage OF birds in the ships
cabin awakened, began to sing most
sweetly and when the last man left the
vessel they were singing yet. Even SO
in Che last hour of our dissolution when
driven on the coast OF the other world
may our Decentralization from this
rough, tossing life be amid the eternal
singing OF thousand promises OF deliv-
orance and victory.
For all repenting and believing souls
the door Of Heaven is now wide open,
the door of mercy, the door Of comfort,
for the poorestas we'll as the wealthiest,
for the OUTLAW as well as for the moral
ist, for Chinese coolie as we'll as his
Emperor, for the Russian boor as we'll
as the Gar, for the Turk as well as the
Sultan. Richer than all wealth, more
refreshing than all fountains, deeper
than all depths, higher than all heights,
and broader than all breadths is the