St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-03-26

door. They did hot near my knock be-
cause Of the noise within. And
should have been standing there yet,
perhaps, or at least / would have
stood there until the party was over,
if some one had not opened the door
to admit some fresh air and discovered
| was there. And does this not illustrate
strikingly one reason why the knock of
| Jesus is not heard? The noise Of the
worldly pleasures and activities, the
rush to crafty the personal desires
and ambitions, drown all other sounds
| Jesus knock and Jesus voice are not
heard But Jesus is there. He is
waiting to come in. Sometimes
some sorrow, some misfortune, some
catastrophe brings a hush, and then
the knock is heard. The recent awful
theater tragedy in Chicago brought a
| solemn, death-like hush over the city.
The most careless and frivolous and
Indifferent were made to pause and
think of the more serious side of life;
they were made to realize that it was
not all of life to live or death to die.
And as people were checked in the
rapid rush of modern life and the
headlong race after pleasure, the
knock of Jesus was heard. He wanted
to come and change the current of life
so that 1t would flow Godward, and
many, thank God, when they heard
the knock opened the door and let Je-
sus come in But others would not.
and Jesus stands without, still knock
ing, knocking, knocking. Why is the
door not opened? It may be because
you do not realize Who is there, or
because you have not withdrawn tho
bars which are holding the door shut.
no you realize that Jesus, the King.
- stands at your hearts door knock
ing? The story is told of Peter the
Great, of Russia, who was fond OF
dressing in peasant garb and going
among his people, that one day he
knocked at the door of house and
was refused admittance and turned
away. What was the distress and alarm
Of the people in that house when they
realized that they had turned away the
king If they had only realized that
it was their king, they would have re-
ceived him with open arms. And oh,
soul! if you would only realize it, the
Saviour Who is knocking at your heart
is the King of kings and the Lord OF
lords Those two men who walked
from Iorue loro RI FIN none n i'll nOf real.
lie that the stranger who met them
was Jesus, but when they invited Him
in to abide with them their eyes were
opened and they knew Him. And 1t
will be SO with you. You do not realize
that it is Jesus knocking at your heart.
You know there is an unsatisfied long
ing, the sense of lack which this
world cannot supply. You have con-
ciousness within your inmost heart OF
need which only God can fill. It is
Jesus knocking. You do not realize
Who it is that is there. You do not
understand what 1t means. But just
open the door and invite the stranger
in, and you will soon learn as He sups
with you and you with Him that it is
your Saviour and your King Who has
been seeking admission.
p UT the bars may be up and you do
u not want to take them down to let
the door open for Jesus. There is the
bar of pride. All! how pride some
times keeps the heart door shut and at
last closes the very gate of Heaven
against the soul. Pride keeps the knee
from bending; pride keeps the head
erect; pride keeps the lips shut tight.
The proud heart cannot come into
Gods presence, or, as James puts 1t,
God resisteth the proud" If it is
pride that is keeping the door shut,
take the bar down. Or it may be the
bar OF personal desire. You have your
own purposes and plans, your own
feelings and wishes to crafty; your
own appetites to indulge This bar Of
personal desire includes worldliness,
sin in its various phases, ambition,
selfishness, and this bar of personal
desire must be withdrawn before Jesus
can come in. And then there is the
bar Of procrastination. It is an inno-
cent looking bar, but there is no other
bar which has proved more destruc-
tive to souls. 1t is Satan's last and
effective plea. The soul realizes read
lily it's need Of Jesus, it knows it must
break down the bars to let the door
swing open, but not now is the plea.
Tomorrow, next week, next year.
After the soul has been it's master
little longer. After the desires OF the
heart and life have been INDUCED
little more fully. But there is peril in
delay, as many, many precious soul
has realized when 1t was too late.
Jesus does not say He will stand at the
hearts door tomorrow. He stands
there now, but tomorrow He may
have withdrawn. This bar of pro-
crastination is hard one to get rid Of
But be rid Of it right now, dear friend.
Do what you know you ought to do at
once. While Jesus knocks, do not tell
Him to call tomorrow, but bid him
enter right now, this very moment.
A ND then the open door! Jesus .
~ guest within! A feast of good things!
A new purpose ruling the life, and e
new hope filling the heart with joy!
Yes, but with Jesus in the heart we dis
cover that there are lots of shut doors
which must be opened to admit Him
to full possession OF the heart The
work is not all done when the hearts
door is ODened. It is only hepl1n WIS