The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-25

closed. God says this in the text.
Inspired to give this truth to the
world, John, the Revelator, drew the
picture of a beautiful city with its
gates wide open, and wrote this text
as in letters of gold over its magn'h-
cent archways. His picture was
made with the skill of an artist all
aglow with the poets fire. In his
fancy he gathered from all the mines
of earth their treasures of precious
stones and placed them in the found
ations of the city; he made the gates
of pearls and the streets OF gold A
river of water pure as crystal, ran
through the city, on whose banks was
the tree of life bearing fruit IN great
abundance and rich with foliage. 1t
is marvellous creation, a splendid
dream, magnificent vision that las
cinates and holds us with charm as
of something divine. The walls OF
the CITY had four equal sides, to the
"eass three gates, to the west three
oates. to the north three gates, to the
south three gates" This form is
more eloquent than any words OF in
vitation: to all the inhabitants OF the
earth it saws. "Come." These gates
are never closed. Come when you
get ready: welcome awaits YOU In
some way we are reminded OF the
mother who placed light in the win
dow and said to her departing boy,
"There is always light in the win
dow for thee"
What a revelation of the tender
ness, power and patience OF coos
love! He knows his children, and ne
gives them time enough to find them
selves out, to know themselves. They
will wander far, have wandered far,
and will continue to wander but
like the prodigal in the parable,
after they have spent all and found
onlv restitution and misery they
will turn toward home and reach
ing it will sob their confessions IN
the Fathers arms, and the Father
shall say, "My son that was lost is
found and he that was dead is alive
again." God knows his children, and
knowing them, he knows they will all
seek him after they shall have tried
experiment of living without him.
The father cannot be forgotten for
ever. The sense of his parentage
cannot utterly die out of any child;
home cannot be utterly forgotten so
long as sanity remains, and GOD has
tender methods for dealing with the
moral insanity of his children to re-
cover and restore them. The supreme
attraction must win. Admitting Tor
a moment that there is such mon
ster spirit, whom some people call
devil; if such spirit could give birth
to children then it might be true that
such children would seek at last their
father and dwell with him in some
such hell as Dante's Inferno, once
so popular in theology.
Parentage will tell-blood will tell
it is ''thicker than water" 1t is on
the basis of this force of parentage
that the prophecy of universal saliva
ton is made. God, and God alone
is the "Father of all, who is above
all, and through all, and in you al"
Ephesians iv. 6. God will never
shut the door in the face of any child.
"The gates of it shall not be shut at
all by day: for there is no night
there" This is the gospel of eternal
love, these are "glad tidings of great
Joy which shall be unto all people"
1t is true that we read in the Bible
of some who are "the children OF the
devil" but this is not of nature but
of characterized character. This
common way of speaking is fully IL
Illustrated. We read of Barnabas as
the 'Son of Consolation" and OF two
of the disciples who were called the
"Sons of thunder This is descrip-
tive of certain characteristics. To
the Pharisees Jesus said; eye are OF
your father the devil he was
murderer from the beginning" The
serpent in the garden of Eden is here
referred to. We are not to suppose
that literally the serpent gave birth
to these Pharisees but, rather that
they were Enthusiastically like the
serpent. We know Moses used the
serpent to personify the cunning,
sly and deceptive nature of the lusts
and passions of our lower nature. In
further illustration of the way char
acter is described; Jesus said, in the
Sermon on the Mount: Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them that despitefully use
you and prosecute you; that We may