The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-11-02


stars, some of them sweep . wide circuit
and some Of them . small circuit, hut 90
far Is they are genuine they get their
light from the great central sun around
whom they make revolution. Let each
| one keep in his own sphere. The solar
system would soon be wrecked if the stars
instead of keeping their own orbit should
! go 10 hunting down other stars. Minis.
tiers of religion should never clash. But in
all the centuries of the Christian Church
| some of these stars have been hunting an
Edward Irving or a Horace Bushnell or an
Albert Barnes; and the stars that were in
pursuit of the other stars lost their own
| orbit and some of them could never again
| find it. Woe to the heresy hunters, The
best way to destroy error Is to preach the
truth. The best way to scatter darkness is
to strike light. There is in immensity room
enough for all the stars, and in the Church
room enough for all the ministers. The
ministers who give up Righteousness and
| the truth will get punishment enough any.
how, for they ere 1.-THE wandering stars
for whom is reserved the blackness of
. darkness forever" But l should like as a
| minister when / am dying to be able
truthfully to say what q captain of the
English army fallen at the head of his
column and dying on the Egyptian battle
field said to General Woiseley. who came
to condoIe with him: "Iled them straight;
didn't l lead them straight, General?"
God has put Us ministers as captains in
this battlefield of truth against error.
Great at last will be our chagrin if we fall
leading the people the wrong way; but
great will be our gladness if when the bat
tie is over we cen hand our sword back to
our great Commander, saying: Lord
Jesus, we led the people straight; didn't
we lead them straight?'
Those ministers who go off at tangent
and preach some other gospel are not stars
but comets, and they flash across the heav-
ems a little while and make people stare,
and throw down q few meteorc stones.
and then 60 cut of S ght if not out of ex-
istence. o, brethren in the ministry, let
US remember that God calls us stars, and
our business is to shine and to keep our
own sphere, and then when we get done
trying to light up the darkness of this
world we will wheel into higher spheres.
and in US shall be fulfilled the promise
they that turn many to righteousness
shall shine as the stars forever and for
ever" All. the ministers are not all
some would have you think! Forgive
me if, having in your presence at other
times gloritied the medical profess
sion and the legal profession and
the literary profession. I glorify my
own. l have seen them in their homes
and heard them in their pulprts, and a
grander array of men never breathed. and
the Bible figure is not strained when it
Ia than wi ni FOL
of glorious ministers have already taken
their places on high where they shine even
brighter than they shone on earth: Ed
ward n. Kirk of the Congregational
Church. Stephen H. Tying of the Epi,co-
pal Church, Matthew Simpson of the Meth
odist Church. John Bowling of the Baptist
Church, Samuel K. Talhage of the Pres
byterian Church, DR.. Dewitt of the Re-
formed Church. John Chambers of the
Independent Church, and there stop. for
it so happens that 1 have mentioned the
seven stars of the seven churches.
1 pass on to another mighty Bible seven
and they sre the seven seals. st. John
in vision saw a scroll with seven seals,
and be heard an angel cry: "Who is
worthy to loose the seals thereof" Take
eight or ten sheets of foolscap paper, paste
IL.
and have the scroll at seven different
places sealed with sealing wax. You I'M
roll the scroll till you come to one OF these
seals, and then you can go no further until
you break that seal, then unroll again
until You come to another seal and YOU
can go no further until you break that
seal; then you go on until all the seven
seals are broken. and the contents
of rha oil ts rAI
that scroll with seven seals held by
the angel was the prophecy of what was
to come on the earth: it meant that
the knowledge of the future was with
God, and no man and no angel was
worthy to open it; but the Bible says
Christ opened it and broke all the seven
seals. He broke the first seal and I'M
rolled the scroll. and there was painting
of white horse, and that meant prosper
ity and triumph for the Roman Empire,
and so it really came to pass that for
ninety years virtuous Emperors succeeded
each other, Nerva, Trajan and Antoninus.
Christ in the vision broke the second seal
aud uurolled again and there was paint !
ing of a red horse, and that meant blood |
shed, and so it finally came to pass,
and the next ninety years were
Then Christ broke the third seal |
and unrolled it, and there was painting |
of a black horse, which in oil literature |
means famine, oppression and taxation; |
and so it really came to pass. Christ wen, |
on until He broke all the seven seals and |
opened the scroll. Well the future 4 all |
OF US is a sea ed scroll, aud am glad that
no one but Christ can open it. Do not let |
Us join that class of Christians in our day |
VITO are trying to break the seven |
seals of the future. They are trying to |
peep into things they have no business
with. They try to fortell what is going |
to come to them and what is going to come !
on the earth. They know nothing about it.
Christ is the only one who can break the |
seal OF the future. Bible prophecy was
not written to help US to tell things in the |
fur ure, but to have US. when the things
actually do come to pass, compare them
with prophecy and so learn Gods fore
and the inspiration of the
Scriptures. But you go into the study of
the prophecies in order to find out what is
going to happen year from now, or
twenty years from now, or one thousand
years from now, and will make proph-
scy of my own, and that is that you will
have your brain added, il you do not pos
lively get into a public or private insane
asylum, where the greatest of expounders
and preachers OF prophecy ended his life
a few years since, and where you may re-
gale the visitors of the institution
BY incoherent mumblings over some
thing from Daniel or Revelations
about the leopard which means
Greece, and the bear, which means
II edo-Persia. and the image with the great
toes. What a mental wreck did the per-
'istent attempt to forestall events make Of
hat miracle of preachers, Edward Irving
If London. 1t would take several mad
houses to hold the demented victims Of
he i-nnrnr,er nsa Of The rrnnhecias Of