Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-04-17

Il
rushed him toward. heaven. ''The Lord shu
him inI"
The same door fastenings that kept Noal
keep the troubles out. am glad to know
that when man reaches heaven all earthl,
troubles are done with him. Here he may
have had hard work to get bread for hi:
more. Here he may have wept % Bitterly T
here "the Lamb that Is In the midst of tn,
! ;hrone will lead him to living fountains o.
water, and God will wipe away all tears from
lis eyes" Here he may have hard work Il
get house; but in my Fathers house are
many mansions. and rent day never comes
Here there are deathbeds and collins and
graves; there no sickness, no weary watching
| 40 choking cough, no consuming fever, nc
,hattering ohill, no tolling bell, no grave.
The SORROWS Of life shall come up and knock
| 1t the door, bat no admittance. The per-
plexities Of life shall come up and knock on
The door, but no adnittance. Safe foreverl
ALI the agony Of earth In one wave dashinR
against tho bufwarks OF yne snip OF celestial
light shall not break thsm down. Howl on.
s,s Si1asi folS sSSt sna h; s:s 'e"s' The Lord
Oh, what grand old door! So wide, 90
asily swung both ways and with such sure
hstenings. No burglars key can pick that
ock. No swarthy arm Of hell can shove
back that bolt. I rejoice that I do not ask
Tou to come aboard crazy craft with Leak
ng hulk and broken helm and unfastened
&oor, but an ark fifty cubits wide and 300
,ubits long and door so large that the
:ound earth, without grazing the post,
night be bowled in.
Now, If the ark Of Christ is so grand a
place in which to I've and die and triumph,
some into the ark. Know we'll that the door
that ahnt Noah Il shut others out. and
though, when the pitiless Storm oamepelt-
ing on their heads, they beat upon the door,
saying: "Let me in! Let me in!' the door
did not open. For 12O years they were In
vited. They expected to come In, but the
sntediluvians said: ave must cultivate
.hese fields; we must be worth more focks
Of sheep and herds OF cattle; we will wait
until We get little older; we will enjoy our
Did farm q little longer" But meanwhile
Il storm was brewing. The fountains OF
heaven were filling up. The pry was being
placed beneath the foundations Of the great
deep, The last year had come, the last
the last hour, the last moment.
In an awful dash an ocean dropped
from the sky and another rolled up from be-
meath, and God rolled the earth and sky in'o
one wave Of universal destruction.
So men now put of going into the ark.
They say they will wait twenty years first.
They will have little longer time with their
worldly associates. They Will wait until
they get older. They say: "You cannot ex-
pect u man Of my attachments and OF my
pOSlLlOu 10 SuIIcuucE IuNScu JuSt hOWs Aut
before the storm comes I will go In. Yes, ]
will. know what am about. Trust me!'
After awhile. one night about IL o'clock, go
ing home, he passes a scaffoldfng just as
gust OF wind strikes 1t, and plank falls
Dead, and outside the ark Or, riding In
the park, a reckless vehicle crashes into
him, and his horses becomes uunanageabie,
and he shouts, "Whoa, whoa" and takes
another twist in the reins and plants his
feet against the dashboard and pulls back.
But no use. 1t is not so much down the
avenue that hs flies as on the way to eternity.
Out of the wreck of the crash his body ts
drawn, but his soul is not picked up. Il fed
behind O swifter courser into the great fu-
ture. Dead, and outside the ERIK! Or some
night he wakes up with distress that mo-
mentarily increases until he shrieks out with
pain. The doctors come. in, and they give
twenty dops, but no relief; forty drops. fifty
drops, sixty drops, but no relief. No time
for prayer. No time to read one Of the
promises. No time to get single sin par
doned. The whole house is aroused in
faints. The pulses fail. The heart stops.
The soul flies. Dead. and outside the ark!
I have no doubt that derision kept many
people out Of the ark. The world laughed
to see man go in and said: Here ts q
man starting for the ark. Why, there will
ship will not weather it. Aha, going into
the ark! Well, that is too good to keep:
Here, fellows, have you heard the newsi
This man Is going into the ark!' Under
This artillery Of scorn the mans good reso-
sution perished.
fear Of derision. The young man asks htrn-
self: "What would they say at the store to-
morrow morning il should become a Chris
tian? When I go down to the club house
they will shout, 'Here comes that new Chris.
tian. Suppose you will not have anything
to dc with us now. Suppose you are pray
ing now. Get down on your knees and let
Us hear you pray. Come, now, give us a
touch. Will not do 1t, eh? Pretty Christian,
you are!'" Is It not the fear Of being
laughed at that keeps you out of the kingdom
Of God? Which Of these scorners will help
you at the last2 When you lie down on q
dying pillow, which OF them will be therel
In the day Of eternity will they bail you out?
My friendsyand neighbors, come in right
sway. Come in through Christ, the wide
door-the door that Swings out toward you.
Come in and be saved. Come and be happy.
4The Spirit and the Bride say, Come" Room
In the arkl Room In the ark!
But do not come alone. The text invites
fou to bring your family. It says, ''Thou
and thy sons and thy WIFE," You cannot
drive them In. II Noah had tried to drive
the pigeons and tho doves into the ark he
would only have scattered them. Some par
ents are not wise about these things. They
make iron rules about Sabbaths, and they
force the catechism down the throat as they
would hold the child's nose and force down
dose Of rhubarb and calomeL You can
not drive your children into the ark. You
can draw your children to Christ, but you
cannot coerce them. The cross was lifted
not to drive, but to draw. 'If I be lifted up
I will draw all man unto Me-" As the sun
draws up the drops of the morning dew so
the sun Of righteousness exhales the tears Of
repentance.
Be sure that you bring your husband and
wife with you. How would Noah have felt
#. when he heard tha rain nattaring On the
roof OF the arr, he knew that his wife was
outside in the storpe No; she went with
him. And yet some II you are on the ship
"outward bound" for heaven. But your
companion is unsheltered. You remember
the day when the marriage ring was set
Nothing has yet been able to break It. Sick
ness came, and the finger shrank, but the
ring staid on. The twain stood alone above
the child's grave, and the dark mouth Of the
tomb swallowed up thousand hopes, but
the ring dropped not into the open grave.
Days of poverty came and the hand did
many a hard days work, but the rubbing of
the work against the ring only made it shine
brighter. Shall that ring ever be lost? Will
the iron clang Of the sepulcher gate crush it
forever? l pray God that you who have
been married on earth may be together in
heaven. Oh, by the quiet bliss of your earthly
of that day when You started life together,
beg you to see to it that you both get into
the ark.
Come in, and bring your wife or your h,,s-
band with you-not by fretting about relig-
ion or dingdonging them about religion, but
by a consistent life and by a compelling prayer
that shall bring the throne of God down into
your room. Go home and take up the Bible
and read 1t together, and then.kneel down
and commend your souls to Him who has
watched you all these years, and before yo-
rise there will be fiuttering OF wings over
your head. angel crying to angel, "Bshold
they pray!'
But this does not include all your family.
Bring the children too. God bless the deas
children! What would our homes be with
out them2 We may have done much for
them. They have done more for Us. What
. salve for q wounded heart there Is In the
soft palm Of a child's handl Did harp or
dute ever have such music as there Is in g
| child's "good night" From our coarse,
rough life the angels Of God are often driven