The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1890-08-01
WIDE OPEN DOOR.
Men Who Will Finch I'm.
der Free 0utspoken
Criticism.

Welcome After Death ia
All Who Have Died
in the Faith.
BROOKLYN, July 2O.-Dr. Talmage's ser.
mon to-day is on the Wide Open Door, and
his text, Rev. iv, I. "And, behold, door wn,
opened in heaven" Following is his sermon
John had been the pastor of church In
Ephesus. He had been driven from hi,
position in that city by an indignant popu
lace. The preaching of pure and earnest
gospel had made on excitement dangerous
to every form Of iniquity. This will often
be the result of pointed preaching
Men will finch under the sword strokes o
truth. You ought not to be surprised that
the blind man makes an outcry of paii
when the surgeon removes the cataract
rom his eve. 1t is n good sign when yo,
see men uneasy in the church pew and OK.
hihiting impotence ut some plnin uttcrance
OF truth which smites pet sin that they ure
hugeing to their hearts. After the patient
nus been SO low that for weeks he said moth.
ing and noticed nothing, it is thought to he
good sign when he begins to he u little
cross. And SO j notice that spiritual in.
valids are in fair way for recovery, when
they become somewhat irascilie ana clnoleric
under the treatment of the truth. But John
had so nightly inculpatcd public iniquity
Tint he had been banished from his church
and sent to Patmos, u desolate island, only
mile in breadth, against whose rocky COASTS
the sea rose and mingled it's voice with the
prayers and hymnings of the heroic exile.
You cannot but contrast'the condition OF
this ban:shed apostle with that of another
famous exile. Look Mt the apostle on Pat.
mos and tho great Frenchman OH st. Helena.
Both were suffering among dcsolation nnd
barrenness because of offences committed.
Both had passed through lives eventful and
thrilling. Both had been honored and de-
spised. Both were imperial natures. Both
had been turned off to die. Yet mark the
infinite difference: one had fought ior tho
psrishable crown of worldly authority. the
other for one eternally lustrous. Tho one
had marked his path with the bleurhed
skulls o! his followers, the other had intro.
duced peace and good will mong mcn.
The one had lived chiefly for self-asgranlize-
ment and the other for the glory of Christ
The successes of the one we're achieved amid
the breaking of thousands of hearts and the
acste. demonstrating cry, of orphnnagc
and widowhood, while the triumplis of the
other made joy in heaven among tho angels
| OF God
Tho heart of ono exile was file Il with re-.
morse, while the other was lighted up with
"a Estr vim
Over st. Helena gathered the blarkness of
darkness. clouds lighted up by Ito sunris-
ing but rent and frnged and having with the
beginnings ofa wrathful God, and the spray
hung over the rocks seemed to hiss with the
condemnation: 1.-THE way of tho ungodly
shall perish" But over Patmos the i"nvens
were opened, 0Ad the stormy sea beneath
was forgotten in tho roll and glenn of waters
from under the throne like crystal. and tho
barrenness of the ground under the apostle
was forgotten Us above he saw the trees OF
life all bending under the rich glow OF heaven.
y fruitage, while the hoarse blast ofcontend.
ing elements around his suffering body was
drowned in the trumpeting of trumpcts and
the hnrring Of harps, the victorious cry of
multitu'les like the voice of many waters
anu tho hosanna vi hosts in numbers like the
stars.
What dull spot upon which to stand and
have such glorious vision! Had Patmos
been some tropical island, arborod with lux
uriance OF perpetual summer aud drowsy
with breath OF cinnamon and cassia, and tes-
selated with long nislcs of geranium and cue.
tus We would not have been surprised mt tile
splendor OF the vision. But the last place
you would go to II you wanted to find beau.
tiful visions would be island of Patmos, Yet
1t IL around such gloomy spots That God
makes tho most wonderful revelation. It
was looking through tile awful shadows of II
prison that John Bunyan snw the ga tie of tho
celestial city: In that gloomy abode, on
scraps ot old paper picked up about his
room. the great dream was written. 1t was
while John Calvin WIS n re ugee from bloody
persecution and was hid in house at Angou.
leme, that he conceived the ide:, %: writing
his immortal Institutes. Jacob had many
II time seen the sun breaking throug the mists
and Eindling them into shafts and pillars of
fiery splendor that might well have been n
ladder for the angels to tread on, but the f;l.
nous ladder which he saw SCARED through
gloomy night over the wilderness The
night o trial and desoIation ia the scene of
the granGest heavenly revelations. From the
barren, sur!-bpaten rock of Patmos. John
locked up and saw that door was opened
Again: The announcement of such nm
opened entrunre suggests the truth TINT God
il looking down upon the earth and obsery.
ant of oil occurrences If We would gain u
wide prospect, we climb up into tower or
mountain. The higher up We ore the broader
comprehensive view is limited to only few
lengues-here river and there lake and
yonder n mountain peak. But what must
be the glory of the earth in the eye of Him
who, from the door ofheaven, behol,ls at
one glance all mountains and lakes and
praires and oceans. lands bespnnged with
tropical gorgaousness and arctic regions
white with everlasting snows, Lebanon ma.
Jestic with cedars and American wills sol
emn with unbroken forests of pine, African
deserts OF clustering sands and willerncsscs
OF water unbroken by ships keel continents
covered with harvests Of wheat and rice and
maize, the glory. OF every zone, tho whole
world OF mountains and seas anl forests and
island taken in q single glance OF their great
Creator.
As We take our stand upon some high
point. single objects dwindle into such in.
significance that We cease to see them in the
minutiR. and We behold only the grand points
OF the scenery But not SO with God. Al.
though standing far up in the very tower Of
heaven, nothing by renson of its smallness
escapes His vision. Every lily Of the field,
every violet under tho grass, the tiniest hello.
trope. asst aud gentiun IRE as plainly seen
by Him MS the proudest magnon, 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 mud the
worlds moral changes Not one tear of sor-
row falls in hospital or workshopor dungeon
but He sees itand in high heaven makes rec
ord its fall. The worlds iniquities in all
their ghastliness glover under His vision.
Warsand tumults and the doso!ations of
famine aud earthquake whirwind and ship.
wreck spread out before Him. Ifthere were
no being in oil the universe but God. He
could be happy with such an outlook MS the
doors OF heaven. But there He stands, no
more disturbed by tile fnll a kingdom than
the dropping of leaf no more excited by
bud, the falling 81 dcluge than the tricklng
of raindrop Earthly royalty clutches ner-
vousIy its scepter and waits in suspense the
will OF infiamed subjects and the crown is
tossed from ono family to another. But
above all earthly vcissitude and the assault
OF human passions. in mistaken security
stands the King of Kings, watching all the
affairs OF Ills empire from the introduction
OF an era to the counting ofthc hairs on your
head.
Again: learn from tho fact that n door in
heaven is opened, that there is way of en-
trance for our prayers and Of egrcss for ,,i-
vine blessings. 1t does not seem that our
weak voice has strength enough to climb up
to Gods eur. Shall not our prayer lie lost
in the clouds? Have words wings? The
truth is plain. Heavens door is wide open
to receive every prayer. Must it not be loud.
Ought it not to ring up with the strength of
stout lungs: Mustitn not he n loud call, such
as drowning men utter or like tho shout
some children in tho battle? No.; whisper
in On good as IL shout, mud the mere wish O!
Sf,ttl oil.