The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-10-05
4 He PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. Or. r W. GUNSAULUS.
Subject: The Shut Door.

cago, IS hlllnS d.. Donald Sage
Mackay's pulpit In the Collegiate
Church OF ST. Nicholas, and Sunday
morning. TO o very large cOngrega-
tion, he preached on THE Shut
Door. His text was Matthew vi: 4
Shut the Door" Dr. Gunsaulus
said
wish I could by some contrast
impossible for me and possible only
III the experience of yOur own hearts
emphasize difference between this
command. as il comes 90 rs loaded
with infinite love, and the commands
that come our OF rpcCllectiOus Of our
childhood that might give us some
idea OF the different texture Of life,
the life from which the heart is al
ways moving into the infinite ranges
of Cod s life, into which we are in
vited day by day. shut the Door. "
/ think the instant demand, espc-
cially upon American life, with its
swollen veins and dart"ries, its various
confusiOns and starry look and Stun
bling feet. is 10 get out OF the whirl
and hear q voice speaking with deep,
fac authority, saying TO us as we go
through life, with It's cares, duties,
amusemonfs and contradictions,
"Shut the door" This is the voice
OF Jesus He is telling us the secret
of prayer, in ihe clOset-SCcret pray
er i'm which the human soul comes
alone into the presence Of God; pray
er in which man finds his true alti-
tudc ard attitude, prayer i'm which
alone q man is able TO look into mo-
tivcs, percaiving the values Of life, in
IA fyI t. l,t. hpp ~
and i'm which he assumes his sOnship
unto God through Gods grace.
The one thing that Jesus seems
most intent about, that You and
should enjoy the privilege Of prayer
and receive its benefits, is all eX-
planned and emphasized in these
words, Shut the door" We are liy-
ing at time when prayer is a fact
and a force. The world of the mate
rialist has passed: the world Of the
.deaiisC is here The scientists Of to-
day are telling us. Let us pray" II
is not strange that we should begin
to realize the unifying and exalted
influence Of prayer upon mans men
tai life. What, after all, Is there to-
day in life, when life's issues are SO
profound and even tragic, that will
unity all ones pOwers-the powers
of the mind and OF the affections
will prayer? When I pray in secret
| am unified as man. If man is 10
be re-made, If he is to be made whole
so that his various parts shall be no
longer fragments, each aiar from the
other, he must be divnely unified.
But, my brother, If that is TO be your
experience, Let us pray" Here is
the Master coming quietly from the
fields OF Galiloc into your heart and
mine, urging upon us, as the old,
deep harmonies Of the religions OF
all ages sweep into His soul, urging
as, not only th~t we should pray, but
pray alone. We see Him at Gcthsc-
mane, at the very crisis of His life,
leaving Peter and James and John
behind, and going alone to pray |
think the most significant announce
ment with regard to Saul, who was
to become Paul, and his experience
on the road TO D2mascus was made
unConSciOusly by The one who said.
Behold. ne prayCth." What an en-
tire transformation, What a pro-
phecy OF his future,
DO You think that Christ is calling
YOU to an easy task when lie says:
shut the door?" DO YOU even know
the pathway back 90 the Old closet of
early days? The road is now all
ovCrgroWn Eut since that day there
have grown up bramblGs over the
pathway. First Of all, we must find
this path, if we are 20 find our man
hood and womanhOod. is IL not an
astounding fact how liltlo secret
prayer there has been i'm our lives?
How this passion for publicity has
linked itself to our willingness to re-
main away from the secret place.
True, a while ago. when we were in
trouble, we found our way back
How sweet it wasi But that was not
secret prayer, for we did not shut
the door" 1t was prayer with the
door wide open, through which we
were looking back at the things from
which we were trying to escape. You
say, Il can get back to that place. "
Are you quite sure that you can?
If so, shut the door" How we like
to peek out and see what the majority
are thinking - how our neighbors
feel about things How We want the
door Just a little way open i'm order
lllol We may Htdl Nut COuHhN VI liN'
claims of good causes, in which we
are interested! Surely. there is moth
ing wrong about that. shut the
door" Let us take the words OF
Jesus into our hearts to-day as sim
ply as we can and sincerely accept
them. Shut the door" why.
surely" YOU say, that is something
/ can do with one hand. while |
grasp other things with the other
hand" No, both hands must he in
side. There must be no effort To
grasp things without. "Wcll," you
say, what shall | shut the door
against, there are SO many things
with which | must keep in touCh?"
! don't know; lie says, Shut the
door" But. YOU reply. there is
my church, my family, my relatives
my dear friends" O. poor soul, Il
seems such ordinary TAX, does 1t not,
in the presence cf the great, sweet
Being, Who is saying. Shut the
door?' | must be alone with God,
must feel again my personal rola.
tionship 10 my Father, | must realize
again that if there were only on,
being i'm the world, and were that
hofpU ,vbfIn Tho y,,,va1 ,,py.,v-, -,,l