The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1895-04-17

fIlgnCis gaGe OIs Peorl, gaze Ofiheavon, for
our sseai,,y souls at last sv ing open #
When shall these eyes thy heaven built walls
,,.And IS, pearly & stes behold 81
And streets Of sblnlng gold? .
Oh, heaven is not o dull placel
Heaven is not a contracted place.
d7leayen Lea is not stupcd place. J
saw the 12 gates, and they were IL
pearls.n
In tho second place, I want you to
count the number Of those gates. I'M
perial parks aud lordly manors are
and the otllors are ordinary, but look
and count them. Ono, two, three, four,
! five, six, seven, eight, nine, ton, olev-
On, twelve, Hear it all tho earth
and all the heavens. Twelve gates!
l ntlmit this is rather hard Oh sharp
sectarianisms. If a Presby tcrian is
bigoted, lie brings his Westminster as
sembly catechisn, and he makes a
gateway out of that, he says TO the
world, "You 60 through there or stay
out" If a member Of the Reformed
church is bigoted, he makes gate
he says, "You go through there or
stay out" If d Methodist is bigotcd,
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 q lit.
urgy out of which mean to make a
gate; 60 through it Or stay out" Or
gate; you 60 through that, or you
fSoNct Glow nlYf " MI al
churches and in all our denominations
themselves and then demand that the
whole world go through it. 1 abhor
this contractedness in Religious views.
Oh, small souled man, wien did God
give You the contract for making
gates3 toll you plainly will not 20
Of the r gates [ choose. s SC :. Here fs is'o is a
man who says, 1T can more easily and
prayer book. ." / 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 i'm
mcrsion." Then say, "Let me
plunge you" Anyhow, says, away
with tho cato Of rough yanel and rot
ten posts and rustcd latch when there
are IL gates, and they arc 12 pearls.
The fact is that a great many of the
churches in this day are being ductrain-
ed to death. They have been trying
to find out all about Gods DEGREES, 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 are
millions Of souls who need to have the
truth put straight at thcm. They sit
counting the number Of teeth in the
jawbonc with which Samson slew the
Philistines. They sit OIL the beach and
see vessel going to pieces in the Of
fling, and instead of getting into a boat
and pulling away for The wreck they
sit discussing the different styles Of
oarlocks 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 I went. The only result of such
discussion is a great fog. Here are
two truths which are to conquer the
world man, sinner; Christ, a Say
Jour. Any man who adopts those two
theories, in his religious belief shall
AtN O.'iJ AASoAi AittAlSt III NNlhl 81 ~ VI
Christian brotherhood.
a man comes down to river in
time OF frcshct. lie wants TO get across.
Ile has to swim. What does lie do?
The first thing is to put Off his heavy
apparel and drop everything lie has in
his hands. Flo must go empty handed
if he is going to the other bank. And
I tell you when we have como down
to tho river of death and find it swift
and raging we will have TO put of all
our sectarianism and lay down all our
cumbrous creed and empty handed put
out for the other shore "What," say
you, "would you resolveall the Chris
tian church into one kind of church2
Would you make all Christendom
worship III the same way, by the same
forns2" Oh no. 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 reference to the shape
of their body. Your ancestry your
temperament, your surroundings, viii
decide whether you 90 to this or that
church and adopt this or that church
polity. One church will best get one
man to heaven and another church
UliOoiiOh Aildll. L wv IloV CiliS WillCl Oll0
of tho gates you 60 through if you
only go through one Of the 10 gates
that Jesus lifted.
Well, now, see all the redeemed of
earth coming up toward heaven. Do
you think they will all get in9 Yes.
Gate the first, the Moravians come up;
they believed in the Lord Jesus; they
pass through Gate the second, the
Quakcrs como 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 seventh, the Congregational
lists pass through. Gate the eighth,
the German Reformed church passes
through. Gate the ninth, the Metho-
dists pass through. Gate the tenth.
Sabbatarians pass through. Cato the
eleventh, the Church Of the Disciples
pass through. Gate the twelfth, the
Presbyterians pass through. But there
arc a great part Of other denominations
who must come in, and great multi
tudes who connected themselves with
no visible church, but felt the power
Of godlinoss in their heart and showed
it in their life. Where is their gate2