The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1890-11-20

the temple above.
BUT we must hu rry on. for the mule
teers and baggagemen have been or
dered to pitch our tents for tonight at
Bethel 1t Is already getting so dark
/ that we have to give up all idea OF
| guiding tho horses and leave them TO
their own sagacitv We ride down
amid mud cabins and into rayines where
the horses leap from depth to depth,
rocks below rocks, rocks nnder rocks.
Whoal Whoal We dismount in this
place, memorable for many things in
Bible history, the two more prominent
theological seminary, where OF old
they made ministers, and for Jacobs
dream. The students Of this
Bethel Theological Seminary were
called Sons OF tho Prophets" Here
the young men were fitted for the min
istry, and those of rs who ever had tho
advantage OF such institutions will
everlastingIy be grateful. and in the
calendar of saints, which ! read with
especial Affection are the doctors OF
divinity who blessed me with their
care. / thank God that from these
theological Summaries there is now
coming forth a magnificent crop of
young ministers, who are taking the
pulpits in all parts of the land. hail
their coming and tell these young
brothers to shake of the SOM
Violence OF centuries, and get
out from under the dusty
shelves of theological discussions which
have no practical bearing on this age,
which needs to get rid Of It's sins and
have its sorrows comforted. Many Of
our pulpits are dying of humdrum.
People do not go to church because they
can not endure tho technicalities and
| profound explanations of nothing. and
sermons about the ''etornal generation
of the Son, and the difference between
sublapsarianism and supralapsarism,
and about who Melchisideck wasn't.
| Therosought TO be as much difference
| between the modes of presenting truth
now and in olden time, as between a
| lightning express rail-train and a
canal boat Years ago, | went up
| to the door of factory in
Now England. On the outside door
saw the words: mo admit
tance.n ] went in and came to another
QOOI ONtf WulCH Ntit NiAbltii bAiG 0OAAS.
mo admittance. OF course | went in,
and came to the third door inscribed
with the words mo admittance." Hav-
ing entered this, found the people in
side making pins, useful pins and moth
ing but pinsl So over the outside door
of many of the churches has been prac-
tically written tho words. mo admit
lance" Some have entered, and have
come to the inside door and found the
words mo admittance." But persist
ing, they have come inside, and found
us sounding out our little niceties of be-
| lief, pointing out our little difference of
theological sentiment-making pinsl
But most distinguished was Bethel
for that famous dream which Jacob had,
| his head on collection of stones. He
had no trouble in this rocky region in
finding a rocky pillow. There is hardly
any thing else but stone. Yet the peo-
pie. of those lands have way of draw
ing their outer garment up over thoir
head and face, and such a pillow l sup
pose Jacob had under his head. The
plural was used in the Bible story,
and you will find 1t was not pillow
of stone, but of stones, / suppose,
so that II one proved to sbo of I'M
| oven surface he would turn over in the
night and take another stone, for with
such hard bolster he would often
change in the night Well, that night
| God built in Jacobs dream a long
| splendid ladder. the feet of it on either
side Of the tired pilgrims pillow, and
the top of it mortised in the sky. And
| bright immortals came out from tho
castles OF amber and gold and put their
shining feet on the shining rungs Of the
ladder, and they kept coming down and
going up. a process ion both ways.
I suppose they had. wings, for the
Bible almost always reports them as
having wings. but this was a ladder on
which they used hands and feet to en-.
courage all those OF us who have no
wings to climb, and encouraging us to
| believe that if we will use what we
have, God will provide way, and IL we
will employ the hand and the foot, lie
will furnish the ladder. Young man,
do not wait for wingsl Those angels
necessary. Let all tho people who
have hard pillows hard for sickness or
hard for poverty or hard for persist
ence-know that a hard pillow is the
landing place of angels. They seldom
descend to pillows OF cider down. They
seldom build dreams in the brain of the
one who sleeps easy.
The greatest dream OF all time was
that of St John with his head on the
rocks of Patmos, and in that vision no
heard the seven trumpets sounded and
saw all the pomp of Heaven in process
sion cherubic, seraphic, archangelic.
The next most memorable and glorious
dream was that of John Bunyan, his
pillow the cold stone of tho floor of Bed.
ford Jail, from which be saw the celes-
tial city, and so many entering it, he
cried out in his dream: II wish my.
self among them" The next most
wonderful dream was that OF
Washington sleeping on the ground
at Valley Forge, his head on white
pillow-case of snow, whore he saw the
vision of nation emancipated. Column
bus slept on a weaver's pillow, but rose
on the ladder let down until he could
see new hemisphere. Demosthenes
slept on cutters pillow, but on the
ladder let down arose TO see the mighty
assemblages that were to be swayed by
his oratory. Arkwright slept on a
BARRIERS pillow, but went up the ladder
till he could see all England aquake
with the factories he set going. AIKEN
side slept on butchers pillow and
took the ladder up till he saw other gen.
erations helped by his scholarship.
John Ashworth slept on poor mans
pillow, but took the ladder up until he
could see his prayers and exertions
bringing thousands OF the destitute in
England 10 salvation and Heaven.
Nearly all those who are to-day great
in merchandise in craftsmanship, in
law, in medicine, in art, in literature.
we're once at the foot OF the ladder, and
in the their boyhood had a pillow as
hard as Jacobs They who are born at
the top of the ladder are apt 10 spend
their lives in coming down, while those