The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1895-04-12

other side, beat the surges of eternal
glory. Oh. the gate, the gatel II
strikes an infinite charm through ev.
cry one that passes it. One step this
side of the gate and we are paupers.
One step the other side of the gate,
and we are kings. The pilgrim OF
earth going through seas in the one
huge pearl all his earthly tears in
crystal @ gate Of light, gate Of pearl.
4 gate OF Heaven, for our wear souls at
last spring openl
! When shall these eyes thy heaven built walls
And pearly gates behold:
| Thy bulwarks with salvation strong
And streets OF shining gold?
Oh, Heaven is not a dull place!
Heaven is not a contracted place.
Heaven is not stupid place. 81 saw
twelve gates. and they were twelve
pearls
In the second place, / want you to
count the number of those gates. I'm
perial 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 Heavens. Twelve gates.
l admit this is rather hard on sharp
sectarianisms. If a Presbyterian is
bigoted, he brings his Westminster
assembly catechism, and he makes a
gateway out of that, and he says to
the world, "You go through there or
stay out" If a member of the Re-
formed church is bigoted, he makes a
gate out of the Heidelberg catechism,
and he says, You go through there or
stay out" If Methodist is bigoted,
he plants two posts, and he says,
Now, you crowd in between those
two posts or stay out" Or perhaps an
Episcopalian may say, Here is a
liturgy out of which mean to make a
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 demand that the whole
world go through it. l abhor this con-
tractedness in religious views. Oh,
small souled man, when did God give
you the contract for making gates? L
tell you plainly / will not go in that
gate. | will go in at any one of the
twelve gates / choose. Here is man
who says: 81 can more easily and
more closely approach God through a
prayer book" / say: my brother,
then use the prayer book" Here is a
man who says: 81 believe there is only
one mode of baptism, and that is inn
mersion." Then | say: Let me plunge
you" Anyhow, ] say, away with the
gate of rough panel and rotten posts
and rusted latch when there are twelve
gates, and they are twelve pearls
The fact is that great many of the
churches in this day are being doc
trined to death. They have been try
ing to find out all about Gods DEGREES,
and they want to know who are elect
ed to be saved and who are reprobated
to be damned, and they are keeping on
discussing that subject when there are
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 the
Philistines. They sit on the beach
and see vessel going to pieces in
the ofing, and instead of getting into
a boat and pulling away for the wreck
they sit discussing the different styles
of oarlock. God intended us to know
some things and intended US not to
know others. / have heard scores of
sermons explanatory of Gods DEGREES,
but came away more perplexed than
when / went. The only result of such
discussion is a great fog. Here are two
truths which are to conquer the world
man, a sinner; Christ, a Saviour.
Any man who adopts those two theor-
les in his religious belief shall have my
right hand in warm grip of Christian
brotherhood.
A man comes down to a river in time |
of freshet. He wants to get across. |
He has to swim. What does he do? /
The first thing is to put off his heavy |
and drop everything he has in |
his hands. He must go empty-handed |
if he is going to the other bank. And |
/ tell you when we have come down to /
the river of death and find it swift and /
raging we will have to put off all our |
and lay down all our cum
brous creed and empty-handed put out
for the other shore. What" say you,
church into one kind of church? Would
you make all Christendom worship in
the same way, by the same forms?''
Oh, no. You might as well decide that
all people shall eat the same kind of
food without reference to appetite or
wear the same kind of apparel without
reference to the shape of their body.
Your ancestry, your temperament,
your surroundings, will decide wheth-
er you go to this or that church and
adopt this or that church polity. One
church will best get one man to Heav-
IN and another church another man.
do not care which one of the
gates you go through if you only go
through one of the IL gates that Jesus
lifted.
Well, now, see all the redeemed of
earth coming up toward Heaven. Do
7ou think they will all get in? Yes.
Gate the first, the Moravians come up;
hey believed in the Lord Jesus; they
pass through. Gate the second, the
luakers come up; they have received
he inward light; they have trusted in
he Lord. they pass through. Gate the
bird, The Lutherans come up;
hey had the same grace that made
luther what he was, and they
PASS through. Gate the fourth, Bap-
lists pass through. Gate the fifth, the
Free viii Baptists pass through. Gate
he sixth, the Reformed church passes
through Gate the seventh, the CoDgre- ]