The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-04-03


ways. do not know whether the door
of the ancient ark was lifted or rolled
on hinges, but this door of Christ op-
ems both ways. 1t swings out toward
all our woes; it swings in toward the
raptures of Heaven. 1t swings in to let
us in; it swings out to let our minister
ing ones come out All are one in
in Christ-Christian on earth and
saints in Heaven.
One army of the living God,
At his command we bow
Part of the host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now
Swing in, 0 blessed door, until all
the earth shall go in and live Swing
out until all the heavens come forth to
celebrate the victory.
But. further, it is door with fasten-
ings. The Bible says of Noah: "The
Lord shut him in" A vessel without
bulwarks or doors would not be a safe
vessel to go in. When Noah and his
family heard the fastening of the door
of the ark, they were very glad. I'm
less these doors were fastened the first
heavy surge of the sea would have
whelmed them, and they might as well
have perished outside the ark as in
side the ark The Lord shut him in.
Oh, the perfect safety of the ark!
The surf of the sea and the light
nings of the sky may be twisted in
to garland of snow and fre-deep
to deep, storm to storm, darkness
to darkness-but once in the ark all
is well. God shut him in" There
comes upon the good man a deluge of
financial trouble. He had his thou
sands to lend. Now he can not borrow
dollar. He once owned "a store in
New York and had branch houses in
Botson, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
He owned four horses and employed
man to keep the dust off his coach,
phaeton, carriage and curricle; now
he has hard work to get shoes
in which to walk. The great
deep of commercial disaster was
broken up. and fore and aft and
across the hurricane deck the waves
struck him. But he was safely shell
tered from the storm. 1.-THE Lord shut
him in!" A food of domestic troubles
fell on him." Sickness and bereave-
ment came. The rain pelted; the winds
blew. The heavens are afame. All
the gardens of earthly delight are
washed away. The mountains of joy
are buried Is cubits deep. But, stand
ing by the empty crib and in the DESC
lated nursery and in the doleful hall,
once airing with merry voices, now
silent forever, he cried, "The Lord
gave, the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name Of the Lord"
1.-THE Lord shut him in"
All the sins of a lifetime clamored
for his overthrow The broken vows,
the dishonored Sabbaths, the outrage
Gus profanities, the misdemeanors of
20 years, reached up their hands to the
door of the ark to pull him out. The
boundless ocean of his sin surrounded
his soul, bowling like a simoom, raw
ing like an eurocyldron. But, looking
out of the window he saw his sin sink
like lead into the depths of the sea.
The dove of Heaven brought an olive
branch to the ark. The wrath of the
billow only pushed him toward Heav-
en-. "The Lord shut him in!''
The same door fastenings that kept
Noah in keep the troubles out. am
glad to know that when man reaches
Heaven all earthly troubles are done
with him. Here he may have had it
hard to get bread for his family; there
he will never hunger any more. Here
he may have wept bitterly; there "the
Lamb that is in the midst of the throne
will lead him to living fountains of
water, and God will wipe away
all tears from his eyes" Here
he may have hard work to get
house, but in my Fathers house
are many mansions, and rent day
never comes. Here there are death
beds and coffins and graves; there no
sickness, no weary watching, no chok-
ing cough, no consuming fever, no
chattering chill, no tolling bell, no
grave. The sorrows of life shall come
up and knock at the door, but no ad-
mittance. The perplexities of life
shall come up and knock on the door,
but no admittance. Safe forever All
the agony of earth in one wave dash
ing against the bulwarks OF the ship of
celestial light shall not break them
down. Howl on, ye winds, and rage,
We seas! The Lord-"the Lord shut
him inr'
Oh. what a grand old door! So wide,
so easily swung both ways and with
such sure fastenings. No burglars
key can pick that lock. No swarthy
arm of hell can shove back that bolt.
rejoice that do not ask you to come
aboard a crazy craft with leaking hulk
and broken helm and unfastened door,
but an ark so cubits wide and 300 cubits
long and door so large that the round
earth, without grazing the post, might
be bowled in.
Now, if the ark of Christ is so
grand a place to live and die and tri-
umph, come into the ark. Know we'll
that the door that shut Noah in shut
others out, and though, when the pitt
less storm came pelting on their heads,
they beat upon the d6or, saying; ''Let
me inl' Let me in:" the door did not
open. For one hundred and twenty
years they were invited They expect
ed to come in, but the antediluvians
said: 'We must cultivate these fields;
we must be worth more hocks of sheep
and herds of cattle; we will wait until
we get little older; we will enjoy our
old farm little longer" But mean
while the storm was brewing. The foun-
tains of Heaven were filing up The pry
was being placed beneath the founda-
tions of the great deep. The last year
had come, the last month, the last
week, the last day. the last hour, the