The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-08-03

from the Brussels market place, vet Ill the
time triumphing. Notwithstanding all
the shocking reverses which the Church Of
Christ suffers, what do We see to-day!
Three thousand missionaries Of the cross
ON heather ground; 10000 ministers Of
Jesus in this land: at least 100000, 400
Christians on the earth. All nations to-
day kidding in blaze Of revival. FALL
ing back, vet advancing until the old
Wesleyan hymn will prove true:
Tie lion Of Judah shall break the chain.
And give US the victory again and again,
But there is O more marked illustration
of victorious retreat in the life of our
Joshua, the Jesus of the ages. First falling
back from an appalling height to an ap-
palling depth, falling from celestial hills
to terrestrial valleys, from throne to
manager; yet that did not seem to suffice
Him - q retreat. Falling back still further
from Bethlehem to Nazareth, from Nag
areth to Jerusalem, back from Jerusalem
to Golgotha, back from Golgotha to the
mausoleum in the rock, back down over
the precipices Of perdition until he walked
amid the caverns Of the eternal cap
tives and drank Of the wrath
Of Almighty God amid the
Ahabs and the Jezebels and the
Belshazzars. O men Of the pulpit and men
of the pew. Christ's descent from Heaven
to earth does not measure half the dis
lance. It was from glory to perdition. He
descended into hell. All the records Of
earthly retreat are as nothing compared
with this falling back. Santa Anna, with
the fragments Of his army flying over the
plateau of Mexico, and Napoleon and his
army retreating from Moscow into the aw.
full SHOWS Of Russia are not worthy to be
mentioned with this retreat, when all the
powers Of darkness seem to be pursuing
Christ as He fell back, until the body of
Him who came to do such wonderful things
lay pulseless and stripped. Methinks that
the city Of Al was not so emptied Of its in.
habitants when they went to pursue JOSH
VA, as perdition was emptied Of devils
when they started for the pursuit Of Christ
and He fell back and back, down lower,
down lower, chasm below chasm, pit below
pit, until He seemed to strike the bottom
of objurgation and scorn and torture. o,
the long, loud, jubilant shout of hell at the
defeat Of the Lord God Almighty.
But let not the powers Of darkness re-
jo,ce quite 30 soon. Do you hear that dis
turbance in the tomb Of Arimathes: I
hear the sheet rending! What means that
stone hurled down the side Of the hill:
Who il this coming out! Push him back
The dead must not stalk in this open sun
light. O, it is our joshua. Let him come
out He comes forth and starts for the
city. He takes the spear Of the Roman
guard and points that way. Church mill
liant marches mp on one side, and the
Church triumphant marches down on the
other side. And the powers Of darkness
being caught between these ranks Of celss-
tial and terrestrial valor, nothing is left Of
them save Just enough to illustrate the
direful overthrow Of hell and our Joshua's
eternal victory. On His head be all the
crowns. In His hand be all the scepters.
At His feet be all the human hearts, and
here, Lord, is one Of them.
Lesson the second: The triumph Of the
wicked is short. Did you ever see an army
in q panic. There is nothing so uncon-
trollable. II you had stood at Long
Bridge, Washington, during the opening
of our sad civil war, you would know what
men of Al looked out and saw those men
of Joshua in . stampede they expected
easy work. They would scatter them as
the equinox the leaves. q, tks Sleeful and
jubilant descent of the men Of Al upon the
men Of Joshua! But their exhilaration
vas brief, for the tide of battle turned and
these Quondam conQuerors left their miser-
able carcasses in the wilderness of Beth.
aven. So it always is. The triumph Of
the wicked is short. You make SO, 900 at
the gaming table. Do you expect TO keep
it! You will die in the poor-houss. You
made a fortune by inluitous traffic. Do
you expect to keep it! Your money will
scatter, or it will stay long enough to curse
your children after you are dead.
Call over the roll Of bad men who pros.
pered and see how short was their pros
perity. For awhile. like the men Of Al.
they went from conquest to conquest, but
after q while disaster rolled back upon
them and they were divided into three
parts; misfortune took their prosperity,
the grave took their body, and the lost
world took their soul. am always inter.
ested in the building of the theaters and
the building Of dissipating saloons. like
to have them built Of the best granite and
have the rooms made large and to have
the pillars made very firm. God is going
to conquer them and they will be turned
into asylums and art galleries and
churches. The stores in which fraudulent
men do business, the splendid banking in
situations where the president and cashier
put all their property in their wives hands
end then fail for SaOO, O00-all these insti-
buttons are to become the places where
honest Christian men do business.
How long will it take your boys TO get
through your ill-gotten gains: The wicked
do not live out half their days. For awhile
they swagger and strut and make q great
splash in the newspapers, but after awhile
it all dwindles down into a brief para
graph: "Died suddenly, July q. 1883, at
thirty-five years of age. Relatives and
friends of the family are invited to attend
the funeral on Wednesday. at two O'Clock
from his late residence on Madison square.
Interment at Greenwood" Some of them
jumped off the docks. Some Of them took
prussic acid. Some Of them fell under the
snap Of Derringer pistol. Some of them
spent their last days in . lunatic asylum.
Where are William Tweed and his ASSOC
ciates: Where are Ketcham and Swart.
won't, absconding swindlers: Where is
James Fisk, the libertine: Where is John
Wilkes Booth. the assassin: and all the
other misdemeanants: The wicked do not
live out half their days. Disembogue, o
world Of darkness! Come up, Hildebrand
and Henry H., and Robespierre, ard with
blistering and disappearing and ashen lips
hiss out: 1.-THE triumph Of the wicked is
short" Alas for the men Of Al when
Joshua stretches out his spear toward the