Connecticut western news., 1895-04-11
pilgrim of earth going through sees in
 the one huge pearl all his earthly tears

souls at last swing openl
 When shall these eyes thy heaven built walls
 And pearly gates behold;
 Thy bulwarks with salvation strong
 And streets of shining goldS
 Oh, heaven is not dull placei Heaven is not a contracted place. Heaven is not stupid place. II saw the l2 gates, and they were l2 pearls.
 In the second place want you to count tho number of those gates. Impe- rial parks and lordly manors are apt to have one expensive gateway, and the others are ordinary, but look around at these entrances to heaven and count them. One, two, three, four. five. six, seven. eight, nine ten, eleven, twelve. Hear it, all the earth and all the heav ensl Twelve gates!
 Hard on Sectarianism.
 I admit this is rather hard on sharp sectarianisms! If Presbyterian is big oted, he brings his Westminster assem- bly, catechism, and he makes gateway out of that, and he says to the world, "You go through there or stay out" If a member of the Reformed church is bigoted, he makes gate out of the Hei- delberg catechism, and he says, "You go through there or stay out" If. a Methodist is bigoted, he plants two posts, and he says, Now, you crowd il. between those two posts or stay out " Or perhaps an Episcopalian may say: "Here is liturgy out of which l mean to make gate. Go through it or stay out, '" or Baptist may say: Here Is water gate. You go through that, or you must stay out, and so in all our churches and in all our denominations there are men who make one gate for themselves and then demund that the whole world go through 1t. abhor this contractesiness in religious views o small souled man, when did God give you the contract for making gates? l tell you plainly will not go in that gate I will go in at any one of the l2 gates choose. Here is a man who says, "I can more easily and more closely ap- proach God through a prayer book. " I say, My brother, then use the prayer book'' Here is man who says, ''I be. lieve there is only o;e mode of baptism, and that is immersion. Then l say, "Let me plunge you. Anyhow, l say, away with the gate of rough panel and rotten posts and rusted latch, when there are 12 gates and they are 12 pearls.
 The fact is that great many of the churches in this day are being doctrined to death. They have been trying to find out all abont Gods decrees, and they want to know who are elected to be saved and who are reprobated to be damned, and they are keeping on dis. cussing that subject when there arc millions of souls who need to have the truth put straight at them. They sit counting the number of teeth in the jawbone with which Samson slew tho Philistines. They sit on the beach and see vessel going to pieces in the offing, and instead of getting into boat and pulling away for the wreck, they sit discussing the different styles of oar locks God intended us to know some things and intended us not to know others. I have heard scores of sermons explanatory of Gods decrees, but came aw;y more perplexed than when l went. The only result of such discussion is a great fog. Here are two truths which are to conquer the world: Man, sinner; Christ Saviour. Any man who adopts those two theories in his re- ligious belief shall have my right hand in warm grip of Christian brotherhood
 Empty Handed.
 A man comes down to river in time of fIeshet He wants to get across. He has to swim. What does he do? The first thing is to put off his heavy ap- parel and drop everything he has in his hands. He must go empty handed if he is going to the other bank. And 1 tell you when we have come down to the river of death and find it swift and rag ing we will have to put off all our sec tarianism and lay down all our cum brous creed and empty handed put out for tho other shore. What" say you, would you resolve all the Christian church into one kind of church? Would you make all Cbristendom worship ill the same way, by the same forms?" Oh, uo. You might as we'll decide that all people shall eat the same kind of food without reference to appetite or wear the same kind of apparel without refer ence to the shape of their body. Your ancestry, your temperament, your sur roundings, will decide whether you go to this or that church and adopt this or that church pulity. One church will best get one man to heaven and another ch urch another man. 1 do not care which one of the gates you go through if you only go through one of the 12 gates that Jesus lifted.
 Well, now see all the redeemed of earth coming up toward heaven. Doyou think they will all get in? Yes Gate the first, the Moravians come up; they believed ill the Lord Jesus; they pass through. Gate the second, the Quakers come up; they have received the inward light; they have trusted in the Lord; they pass through. Gate the third, the Lutherans come up; they had the same grace that made Luther what he was, and they pass through. Gate the fourth, the Baptists pass through. Gate the fifth, the Free Will Baptists pass through. Gate the sixth, the Reformed church passes through. Gate the sev enth, the Congregationalists pass through. Gate the eighth, the German Reformed church passes through. Gate 'ne uiutn, tne metnoulsGS pass through. Gate the tenth, the Sabbatarians pass through. Gate the eleventh, the Church of the Disciples pass through. Gate the twelfth, the Presby yterians pass through.
 But there are great part of other de- nominations who must come in, and great multitudes who connected them selves with no visible church, but felt the power of godliness in their heart and showed it in their lifR Where is their gate? Will you shut all the remaining host out of the city? No They may come i'll at our gate. Hosts of God, if you cannot get admission through any other entrance, come in at the twelfth gate. Now they mingle before the throne.
 Looking up at the one hundred and fnrtu q nd fonr fhnncand ,-or, nnnnot tnll