Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-05-09


D from its two great mountains. from the
one mountain intoning the command
. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor, (" and from the othel
! mount making plea for kindness and love
and blessing rather than cursing. Yes
we are going to have a national religion
There are two kinds of national relig'
| ion. The one is supported by the state
and is a Dlatter of human politics, and i
has great patronage. and under it mel
will struggle for prominence without ref
erence to qualifications, and its archbishop
is supported 10y a salary of SO. 900 year
and there are great cathedrals with al
the machinery of music and canonicals
and room for ], 900 people, yet an audience
of fifty people, or twenty people, or ter
or two.
We want no such religion as that, nc
such national religion; but we want thi;
kind of national religion-the vast major
ity of the people converted and evangel-
lied, and then they will manage the secu-
lar as well as the religious.
Do you say that this is impracticable?
No The time is coming just as certain as
there is God aud that this is His book
and that He has the strength and the hon.
esty to fulfill His promises. One of the
ancient Emperors used TO pride himself
on performing that which his counselors
said was impos sible, and | have to tell
you to-day that mans impossibiIities are
Gods easies. Hath He said and shall
He not do it? Hath He commanded and
will He not bring it to pass:" The Chris
tian religion is coming to take possession
of every ballot box of every school house.
| of every home of every valley, of every
mountain, of every acre of our national
domain. This Nation, Notwithstanding
| all the influences that are trying to de-
stroy it, is going to live.
Never since, according to John Milton,
when Satan was hurled headlong flaming
| from the ethereal skies in hideouS ruin
and combustion down." have the powers
of darkness been so determined to win this
continent as they are now. What jewel
| it is-a jewel carved in relief the cameo
of this planet, On one side of US the At
lantic ocean, dividing US from the worn
out governments of Europe. On the other
side the Pacific ocean, dividing US from
the superstitions of Asia. On the north OF
US the Attic sea, which is the gymnasium
in which the explorers and navigators de-
velop their courage. A continent 10, SOC
miles long, Il, 000,0 spare miles, and all
of it but about ons-seventh capable OF
rich cultivation. One hundred millions of
population on this continent of North and
South America-one hundred millions, and
room for many hundred millions more.
All fora and all fauna, all metals and all
precious woods, and all grains and all
fruits. The Appalachian range the back
bone, and the rivers the ganglia carrying
life al through and out to the extremities.
Isthmus of Darien, the narrow waist of q
giant continent. all to be under one gov
eminent, and all free, and all Christian,
and the scene of ChriSt's personal reign
on earth if. according to the expectations
of many good people. He shall at last set
IN His throne in this world. Who shall
have this hemisphere, Christ or Satani
Who shall have the shore of her inland
seas, the silver of her Nevadas, the gold of
her Colorados, the telescopes Of her obser-
vatories. the brain of her universities, the
wheat of her prairies, the rice OF her
savannas, the two great ocean beaches
the one reaching from Baffin-s bay to
Terra del Fuego and the other from
Behring straits to Cape Horn-and all the
moral and temporal and spiritual and ever
lasting interests of a population vast be-
yond all human computation! Who shall
have the hemisphere? You and l will de-
eide that or help to decide it, by con-
scientious vote, by earnest prayer, by
maintenance of Christian institutions, by
support of great philanthropies, by put
ting body, mind and soul on the right side
of all moral, religious and national move
ments.
All! it will not be long before it will not
make any difference to you or to me what
becomes of this continent so far as earth
ly comfort is concerned. All we will
want of it will be seven feet by three and
that will take in the largest, and there |
will be room to spare. That is all of this |
country we will need very soon-the |
youngest of US. But we have an anxiety |
about the welfare and happiness of the
generations that are coming OH, aud it |
will be grand thing if, when the arch |
angels trumpet sounds we find that our |
sepulcher. like the one Joseph of Arima-
thea provided for Christ, is in the midst |
of garden.
One of the seven wonders of the world |
was the white marble watch tower of |
Pharos of Egypt Sostratus, the architect |
and sculptor, after building that watch |
tower cut his name on it. Then he COW |
cred it with plastering and to please the |
King he put the monarch's name on the |
outside of the plastering; and the storms
beat and the seas dashed in their fury and |
they washed off the plastering and they
washed it out, and they washed it down,
but the name of Sostratus was deep cut in
the impershable rock. So across the
face of this Nation there have been
a great many names written, across
our finances, across our religions,
names worthy of remembrance, names
written on the architecture of our churches
and our schools and our asylums and our
homes of mercy, but God is the architect
of this continent and He was the sculptor
Of all its grandeurs, and long after through
the wash of the ages and the tempest OF
all other names shall be obliter-
ated the Divine Signature and Divine
Name will be brighter and brighter as the
go by, and the world shall
see that the God who made this continent
has redeemed it by His grace from all its
SORROWS and from all its crimes.
Have you faith in such thing as thati
After all the chariots have been I'M
wheeled and after all The war chargers
have been crippled the chariots which
Elisha saw on the morning of his peril
will roll on in triumph, followed by all
he armies of Heaven on white horses.
Tod could do it without US, but He will
not The weakest of us. the faintest of
Us, the smallest Drained of us, shall have
a part in the triumph. We may not
lave our name, like the name of
Sostratus, cut in the imperishable rock
md conspicuous for centuries. but we shall
De remembered in better place than that
md in the heart OF Him who came 10 re-
leem US and redeem the world and our
James will be seen close to the signature