News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1890-01-16

I Jerusalem will never come to you; you must
| 90 to Jerusalem. The religion of the Lord
| Jesus Christ will not come to you; you must
| 90 and get religion. Bring out the camels !;
put on all the sweet spices, all the tfe h
| of the hearts affection. Start for the throne
Go in and hear the waters OF saivatlon
dasI1ing in fountains all around ABOUT the
| throne. Sit down at the banquet-the wine
pressed from the grapes of the heavenly
| Eshcol, the angels of God the cup bearers
| Goad on the camels The Bible declares 1t +:
| ssTbe queen of the south"-that is, the very
woman am speaking of-"the queen OF the
south shall rise up In judgment against this
generation and condemn it; for she came
from the uppermost parts of the earth 10 near
the wisdom of Solomon; and Dehoid!
greater than Solomon is here" What tnfat-
Iation, the sitting down In idleness expecting
to be saved. "StriVe to enter In at the
straight gate. Ask. and it shall be given
unto you; seek, and ye shall ma KNOCK,
Kingdom of heaven by violence. Urge on the
cames - =.
Again, my subject impresses me with the
fact that religion is a surprise TO anyone VINO
gets it. This story OF the new reHgion IN
Jerusalem, and of the glory of King So'omon,
who was a type of Christ-that story rolled
on and on, and was told by every traveller
coming back from Jerusalem. The news
goes on the wing Of every ship ana every
caravan, and you know story enlarges as II
down into the southern part of Arabia felix,
and the Queen of Sheba hears il, IL must be
tremendous story. And yet this Queen de-
clares in regard to it, although she had heard
so much and had her anticipations raised 80
high the half-the half was not told her.
So religion is always surprise TO any one
that gets it. The story of grace-an OLD
story. Apostles preached 1t with rattle OF
chain martyrs declared it with arm of fire
deathbeds have affirmed it with visions OF
-. harvn anUUn
it through the lanes and the highways, and
the chapels, and the cathedrals. 1t has been
cut into stone with chisel, and spread on the
canvas with pencil; and it has been recited In
the doXology of great congregations. ana
vet when man first came to look on the PAL
ace of Gods mercy, and to see the royalty OF
Christ, and the wealth of this banquet, and
the luxuriance of his attendants, and the
loneliness of his face, and the joy Of his ser
vice, he eXclaims with prayers. with tears,
with signs, with triumphs: "The hah-The
half was not told to mel"
Iappeal to those who are Christians. Com
pare the idea you had of the joy OF the Chris
tian life before you became Christian with
the appreciation of that joy you have now
since You have become a Christian, and you |
are willing to attest before angels and men |
that YOU never in the days of your spiritual |
bondage had any appreciation of what was to
come. You are ready today to answer and |
say, in regard to the discoveries you have
made of the mercy, and the grace, and the
goodness of God: ''The half--the half was
not told mel"
Well, we hear good deal about the good |
time that is coming to this world when it is |
to be girded with salvation. Holiness on the |
bells of the horses. The lions name patted |
by the hand of babe. Ships of Tarshish |
bringing cargoes for Jesus, and the hard, dry, |
barren, winter-bleached, storm-scarred, |
thunder-split rock breaking into floods Of |
bright water. Deserts into which drome-
.l,,-,o N1Nof- lie hnn hnxT
were afraid of the simoon-deserts blooming |
into carnation roses and silver-tipped lilies. |
1t is the old story. Everybody tells 1t. |
Isaiah told it, John told it, Paul told 1t,
Ezekiel told it, Luther told it, Calvin told it,
John Milton told it-everyb body tells it; and |
yet-and yet when the midnight shall
fly the hills and Christ shall marshal
his great army, and China, dashing her idols
into dust, shall hear the voice of God and
wheel into line; and India, destroying her
Juggernaut and snatching up her little child
rem from the Ganges, shall hear the voice of |
God and wheel into line; and vine-covered |
Italy, and wheat-crowned Russia, and all the
nations of the earth shall hear the voice of |
God and fall into line; then the church, which
has been toiling and struggling through the
robed and garlanded like a bride
adorned for her husband, shall put aside her
veil and look up into the face of her Lord the
King and say; "The half-the half was not
told me-"
every Christian-a greater surprise than
anything l have depicted. Heaven Is an old
story. Everybody talks about 1t. There is
hardly hymn in the hymn book that does
not refer to it., Children, read about it in
their Sabbath School books. Aged men put
on their spectacles to study it. We say it is
a harbor from the storm. We call 1t home,
We say it is the house of many mansions.
We weave together all sweet, beautiful, deli
cate, exhilarant words; we weave them in
LOT t,ar,x q L., |
and lily and amaranth, And yet that place
is going to be surprise to the most intelli-
gent Christian.
Like the Queen of Sheba, the report has
come to us from the far country, and many
of us have started. 1t is desert march, but
we urge on the camels. What though our
feet be blistered with the way? We are
to the palace. We take all our loves
and hopes and Christian ambitions, as frank
incense and myrrh and cassia, to the great
King, We must not rest. We must not
halt. The night is coming on, and 1t is not
safe out here in the desert. Urge on the
camels. l see the domes against the sky, and
the houses of Lebanon, and the temples and
the gardens. See the fountains dance in the
sun and the gates flash as they open to let In
the poor pilgrims.
send the word up to the palace that we are
coming, and that we weary of the march
Of the desert. The King will come out and
say: ''Welcome to the palace; battle In these
waters; recne on these banks. Take this
cinnamon and frankincense and myrrh and
put 1t upon censor and swing it before the
altar" And yet, my friends, when heaven
bursts upon us it will be greater surprise
than that-Jesus on the throne, and we made
ike him All our Christian friends surround
ng us in gloryl All our sorrows and tears
md sins gone by foreverl The thousands
md thousands, the one hundred and forty and
our thousand. the great multitudes that no
nan can number, will cry, world without
md: "The half-the half was not told mew