Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-09-23
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quicker than a key ever unlocked q hand
cuff, quicker than the bayonets of revo-
luton pried open the Bastile, you may
be liberated and made a free son or q
free daughter Of God. You have only
to choose between serfdom and emanci-
patton, between O chain and o coronet,
between Satan and God. Make up your
mind and make it up quick. When the
king of Sparta had crossed the Hellespont
and was about to march through Thrace,
he sent word to the people in the differ
ent regions asking them whether he
should march through their countries as
q friend or an enemy. by all means as
q friend" answered most Of the regions;
but the king Of Macedon replied: II will
take time TO consider it," Then" said
the king Of Sparta, ''let him consider it,
but meantime we narch-we march,"
So Christ, our King, gives us our choice
between his friendship and his frown,
and many Of US have long been consider
ing what we had better do; but mean
time he marches on, and our opportuni
ties are marching by. And we shall be
the loving subjects Of his reign o. the
victims of our own o~bduracy. So / urge
you to precipitancy rather than slow de-
liberation, and l write all over your
soul the words of Christ | saw inscribed
on the of Princess Elizabeth
in the Isle of Wight, the words to which
her index finger pointed in the open
Bible when she was found dead In her
bed after a lifetime Of trouble: Come
unto me, all ye who are weary and
heavy laden, and / viii give you rest"
Is there a drunkard here2 You may, by
the Saviour's grace, have that fire OF
thirst utterly extinguished. Is there q
defrauder here2 You may be made q
saint. Is there a libertine here? Yon
may be made as pure as the light.
When q minister in an outdoor meeting
in Scotland was %eulogizing goodness,
there were hanging around the edge OF
the audience some of the most depraved
men and women. and the minister said
nothing about mercy for prodigals. And
a depraved woman cried out: ''Your
rope is not long enough for the like of
u.s." Blessed be God, our Gospel can
fathom the deepest depths and reach to
farthest wanderings, and here is a rope
that is long enough to rescue the worst:
''Whosoever will"
But why take extreme cases, when we
all have been or are now the captives OF
sin and death? And we may through
the great Emancipation drop our shackles
and take a throne. You have looked at
your hand and arm only as being useful
now, and q curious piece Of anatomy,
but there is something about your hand
and arm that makes me think they are
an un~developed wing. And If you
would know what possibilities are sug-
gested by that, ask the eagle that has
looked close into the eye of the MONDAY
sun; or ask the albatross that has struck
its claw into the black locks Of the tenn
pest; or ask the condor that this morn
ing is descending to the highest peak Of
Chimborazo. Your right hand and arm
and your left hand and arm, two IN
developed wings, better get ready for the
empyrean.
Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wing,
Thy better portion trace.
There have been chains famous in the
worlds history, such rs the chain which
fastened the prisoner Of Chillon to the
pillar, into the staple of which / have
thrust my hand, on the isolated rock of
the Lake Of Geneva; such as the chain
which the Russian exile clanks on his
way to the mines of Siberia: such as the
chain which Zenobia, the captive queen,
wore when brought into the presence Of
Aurelian. Aye, there have been races
in chains, and nations in chains, and
there has been n world in chains; but,
thank God, the last one of them shall
be broken, and under the liberating
power Of the omnipotent Gospel the
shackles shall fall from the last neck and
the last arm and the last foot. But these
shattered letters shall all be gathered up
again from the dungeons and the work.
houses and the mines and the rivers and
the fields, and they shall again be welded
and again strung link TO link, and pol
ished and transformed until this world,
which has wandered Off and been "A
recreant world and lost world, shall by
that chain be lifted and hung TO the
throne of God, no longer the iron chain
Of oppression, but the golden chain Of
redeeming love. There let this old
ransomed world swing forever! Roll
on, We years, roll on, we days, roll on,yc
hours, and hasten the glorious consumma-
ton.