The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-04-10

NAbA ~ pCul' NACOBoblU ohO hAAAP 80
dazzled the world S vision with precious
stones. But gather all these together,
and lift them, and to add to them all
the wealth of the pearl fisheries, and
set them in the panel of one door, and
it does not equal this magnificent
gateway. An almighty hand hewed
this, swung this, polished this.
Against this gateway, on the one
side dash all the splendors of earthly
beauty. Against this gate, on the
other side, beat the surges of eternal
glory. Oh, the gate, the gatel 1t
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. Ogate Of light, gate OF pearl,
gate o Heaven. for our wear souls at
last spring oreu!
When shall these eyes thy heaven bldlt walls
And pearl, gaze behold:
Thy buwarlis with $ walton strong
And streets Of shinin god?
Oh. Heaven il not Il dull place!
Heaven is not Il contracted place.
Heaven is not & stupid place. Il saw
twelve gates. and they were twelve
pearls"
In the second place, want YOU to
count the number Of those gates. I'm.
pcrial parks and loldly 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 Heavcns Twelve gates
admit this is rather hard on sharp
sectarianisns. If Presbyterian is
bigoted. he brings his Westminster
assembly catechism, and he makes a
gateway ont 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 u
gate out of the Heidelberg catcchism,
and he says. You go through there or
stay out" If a Methodist is bigoted,
ne plants two posts, and he says.
Now, you crowd in between these
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 a
Baptist may say, Here is water gate;
you 60 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. l will go in at any one of the
twelve gates l choose. Here is man
who says: II can more easily and
more closely approach God through a
prayer book" l say: "My brother,
then use the prayer book" Here is a
man who says: II 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 a 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
Philistnes. They sit on the beach
and see a 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 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 great fog. Here are two
truths which are to conquer the world
man, a sinner; Christ, 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
apparel 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
sectarianism and lay down all our cum
brous creed and empty-handed put out
for the other shore. What" say you,
"would you resolve all the Christian
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-
en- and another church another man.
do not care which one of the