Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-04-24
kEF. DR. TAIIMAGE
fHB BROOKLYH DIVINE's sUH-
DAY SERMOA.
Subject: "The Gates OF Heaven

TEXT: "On the east three gates; on the
north three gates; on the south three gatesi
On the west three gates. xxi, IS.
The Cashmere gate of Delhi, where con.
verged a heroism that makes ones nerve,
tngle, the Lucknow gate, still dented and
Scared with sepoy bombardment, the MadeI
line gate with its emblazonry in bronze, tha
hundred gates Of Thebes, the wonder OF
centuries, all go out of sight before the
gates of my text.
Our subject speaks of a great metropolis,
the existence of which mauy have doubted.
Standing on the wharf and looking of upon
the har5or and seeing the emerchantmen com.
ing up the bay, the flags of foreign nation
streaming from the topgallants, you jmmedk
ate!y make up your mind that those vessels
come from foreign ports, and you say: ''Thas
Is from Hamburg, and that is from Mar.
selles, and that is from Southampton, and
that is from Havana" and your supposttion
Is accurate. But from the city of which AM
now speaking no weather-beaten merchant.
men or frigates with SCARED buikhead have
ever come. There has been a vast emigra.
ton into that city, but no emigration from
VI. SO FAR as our natural vision can descry.
''There is no such city," says the undevou
astronomer. 81 have stood in high towers
with mighty telescope and have swept the
heavens, and I have seen spots on the sun
and caverns in the moon, but no towers have
ever risen on my vision, no palaces. no tenn
Piles, no shining streets, no massive wall.
There is no such city," Even very good peo-
pie tell me that heaTan is not material Or
ganism. but grand spiritual fact, and that
the Bible descriptions of it are In all cases to
be taken figuratively. 1 bring in reply to
this what Christ said. and He oughtto know,
II go to prep1-e"-not a theory, not prin.
ciple, not a sentiment, but ~ go to prepare
place for you." The resurrected body i'm
plies this. Ismy foot is to be reformed from
the dust, it must have something to tread on.
II my hand is to be reconstructed, it
must have something to handle
II my eye, having gone out in
death. IS to be rekindled, ! must have
something to gaze on. Your adverse theory
seems to imply that the resurrecte body is
to be hung on nothing. to walk in air. OF
to float amid the intansibles. You may say
II there be material organisms then a soul in
heaven will be cramped and hindered in its
and Eve have plenty of room in the Garden
of Ellen? Although only "a few miles would
have described the circumference OF. that
place, they hal ample room. And do you
not suppose that God, in the immensities,
can build n place large enough to give the
whole race room. even though there be ma
.erial organisms
Herschel looked into the heavens. As
Swiss guide puts his Alpine stock between
the glaciers and crosses over from crag to
craS. so Herschel planted his telescope be-
tween the worlds and Clided from star TO star
until he could announce to US that we live
In part OF the universe but sparsely strewn
with worlds. and he peers out into immen-
sity until he finds region no larger than oui
solar system in which there are 80 900 worlds
moving. And Professor Lang says that by
philosophic reasoning there must be some
where a-world where there is no darkness
but everlasting sunshine so that do not
Epnyv httt thnt II Ia NV hn.pttca ha
no telescope powerful enough that we can.
not see into the land where there Is nc
darkness at all and catch n gliIapse Of
the FURNISHED pinnacle. AS conquer.
inS army marching on 70 take n city come:
at nightfall to the crest of n mountain from
which, in the midst of the landscape, they
see the castles they are to capture and rein
In their war chargers and halt to take q
good look before they pitch their tents fci
the night, so now, coming as we do on thi.
mountain top of prospect, 1 command this
regiment OF God to rein in their thoughts
and halt, and before they pitch their tent.
for the night take one good. long look at the
gates of the great city. "On the east three
gates; on the north three gates; on the
south three gates, and on the west three
gates.
In the first place, want to examine the
architecture of those gates. Proprietors OF
large estates are very apt to have al orna-
mental gateway. Sometimes they spring AZ
arch of masonary, the posts OF the gate
flanked with lions in statuary, the bronze
gate Il representation of INTERVIEWING foliage
bird haunted, until the hand OF Architectural
genius drops exhausted, all its life frozen
into stone. Gates of wood and iron and
stone guarded nearly all the old cities.
MOslems have inscribed upon their gateway.
inscriptions from the Koran OF the Moham.
medan. There have been a great many
fine gateways, but Christ sets His hand
city swung a gate such rs nc
eye ever gazei on, untouched Of inspiration.
With the nail of His own cross He cut into 1t:
wonderful traceries stories OF past suffering
and Of giadness to come. There is no wood
or stone or bronze in that gate, but from tor
to base and from side to side it is all of pearl.
Not one piece picked up from CeyIon banks,
and another piece from the Persian gulf, and
another from the island of Marguerite, but
one solid pearl picked up from the beach o.
everlasting light by heavenly hands and
hoisted and swung amid the shouting OF
angels. The glories of Hlahaster vase and
porphyry pillar fade out before this gateway.
1t puts out the spark of feldspar and dia
mond. You know how one little precious
stone on your finger will flash under the gas
light. But, OH the brightness when the
great gate OF heaven swings, struck through
and dripping with the light of eternal noon
day.
JULIUS ttS'tf PAU lZ0,UJV ctOWUS lOE Ons
pearl. The Government of Portugal boasted
Of having Il pearl larger than pear.
Cleopatra and Philip II. dazzlei the worlds
vision with precious stones. But gather all
these together and lift them and 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 hewei this. swung this,
polished this. Against this gateway, on the
one side, clash all the splendors of earthly
beauty. Against this gate on the Other
side beat the surge5 of eternal glory.
Oh, the gate, the gate! 1t strikes an in.
finite charm through every one that passes
1t. 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 sees in the one huge pearl all
his earthly tears in crystal. Oh, gate Of
light, gate OF pearl, gate of heaven, for on,
weary souls at last swing open!
When shall these eyes thy heaven built wall,
And pearly gates behold;
Thy bulvarks with salvation strong
And streets of shining gold3
Oh, heaven is not a dull place! Heaven
Is not 4 contracted place. Heaven is not a
stupid place. 81 saw the twelve gates, and
they were twelve pearls"
In the second place / want you to coun,
the number of those gates. Imperial parks
and lordly manors are apt to haze one expsn-
but look around at these entrances 20 HEAVIER
and count them, One, two, three. four, fve,s
seven' eight. nine. ten. eleven. twelve. Hear
it, all the earth and all the heavens! Twelve
gates!
admit this is rather hard on sharp sectari.
anisms! II a Presbyterian is bigoted, he
brings his Westminster assembly catechism,
and he makes gateway out of that, and he
says to the world, "You go through there OF
stay out" Ii a member of the Reformed
Church is bigoted, he makes a gate out oi
the Heidelberg catechism, and he says, you
go through there or stay out" II Metho-
dist is bigoted, he plants two posts, and he
says. "Now, you crowd in between those two
posts or stay out" Or perhaps an Episcopa.
liam may say: "Hereisa liturgy out of which
mean to make gate Go through it or
stay out" or Baptist May say: ".fsre is q
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
abhor this contract cdness in religious