The Opelousas courier., 1890-03-01

under the hoofs of the horses of the Kings
stables. You cannot exterminate Christi
anityl You cannot kill Joasht
The second thought | hand you from my
| subject is, that there are opportunities in
which we may save royal life. You know
| that profane history is replete with stories of
~strangled Monarchs and of young Princes who
have been put out of the way. Here Is the
story of a young King saved. How
| Jehosheba, the clergyman's wife, must have
| trembled as she rushed into the imperialnurs-
cry and snatched up Joash. How she hushed
him, lest by his cry he hinder the escape.
Fly with himl Jehosheba, you hold in your
arms the cause of God and good government.
| Fail, and he is slain. Succeed, and you turn
| the tide of the worlds history in the right
direction. It seems as if between that young
King and his a~ssassins there is nothing but
the frail arm Of a woman. But why should
we spend our time in praising this bravery OF
| expedition when God asks the same thing Of
you and me? AL around us are the imperiled
children Of a great King.
They are born of Almighty parentage, and
| will come to a throne or a crown, if permitted.
But sin, the old Athaliah, goes forth to the
massacre. Murderous temptations are out
for the assassination. Valens. the Emperor,
was told that there was somebody in his realm
who would usurp his throne, and that the
name of the man who should be the usurper
would begin with the letters I. FL. e. O. D.,
aud the edict went forth from the Emperor's
throne: Kill everybody whose name begins
with 7. H.. e. o. D." And hundreds and
thousands were slain, hoping by that mas
sacre to put an end to that one usurper. But
sin is more terrific in its denunciation. 1t
matters not how you spell your name, you
coIne under its knife, under its sword, under
its doom, unless there be some omnlpotent
relief brought to the rescue. But, blessed be
God, there is such a thing as delivering a
royal soul? Who will snatch away Joash?
This EAWnn0 in u0rr Sahhnfh c07NnE
class, there will be a Prince of God-some
one who may yet reign as King forever be-
fore the throne: there will be some one in
your class VIII has a corrupt physical inner
itance; there will be some one in your class
who has a father and mother who do not
know how to pray; there will be some one in
your class who is destined to COM
mand in church or state-some Cron-
well to dissolve a parliament, some
Beethoven to touch the worlds harp strings,
some John Howard to pour fresh air into the
lazaretto, some Florence Nightingale to band
age the battle wounds, some Miss Dix to
soothe the crazed brain, some John Frederick
Oberlin to educate the besotted, some David
Brainard to change the Indians war whoop
to a Sabbath song, some John Wesley to mar
shall three-fourths of Christendom, some John
Knox to make Queens turn pale, some Joash
to demolish idolatry and strike for the king
dom of heaven.
There are sleeping in your cradles by night,
there are playing in your nurseries by day,
imperial souls waiting for dominion, and
whichever side the cradle they get out will
decide the destiny of empires. For each one
of those children sin and holiness contend
Athaliah or the one side and Jehosheba or
the other. But / hear people say: whats
the use of bothering children with religious
instruction? Let them grow up and choose
for themselves. Don't interfere with their
volitien:" Suppose some one had said to
Jehosheba: 'Don't interfere with that young
Joash. Let him grow up and decide whether
he likes the palace or not, whether he wants
to be King or not. Don't disturb his Volt
tion." Jehosheba knew right well that I'M
less that day the young King was rescued, he
would never be rescued at all.
I tell you, my friends, the reason we don't
reclaim all our children from worldliness is
til their children lie before they teach tthem
the value Of truth. They wait until their
children swear before they teach them the
Importance Of righteous conversation. They
wait until their children are all wrapped up
in this world before they tell them of a bet
late with yonr discipline. Too late with
your benediction. You put all care
upon your children between twelve
and eighteen. Why do you not put the chief
care between four and nine? 1t is too late
to repair a vessel when it has got out of the
uEY uOGASs lV Is 100 1dJG 10 save GOdSA dtbSf
the executioners have broken in. May God
arm US all for this work Of snatching royal
souls from death to coronation. Can you
imagine any sublimer work than this soul
savingf That was what flushed Paups cheek
with enthusiasm; that was what led Munson
to risk his life amid Bornesian cannibals;
hat was what sent DIR. Abeel to. preach
under the consuming skies of China; that
was what gave courage to Phocus in
the third century. When the military
officers came to put him to death
for Christ's sake, he put them to bed that
they might rest while he himself went out,
and in his own garden dug his grave, and
then came back and said: II am ready"
but they were shocked at the idea of taking
the life of their host. He said: sit is the
will of God that / should die" and he stood
on the margin of his OWN grave n they be-
headed him. You say it is a mania, a fool
hardness, a fanaticism. Rather would !
call it glorious self-abnegation, the thrill OF
eternal satisfaction, the plucking of Joash
from death, and raising him to coronation.
The third thought I hand to you from my
text is that the. church of God is a good hid
ing place. When Jehosheba rushes into the
nursery of the King and picks up Joash,
what shall she do with him? Shall she take
him to some room in the palace? No; for
the official desperadoes will hunt through
every nook and corner Of that building.
Shall she take him to the residence of some
wealthy clt1zen3 No; that citizen would not
dare to harbor the fugitive. But she has to
of the mob in the streets; she hears the
shrek OF the dying nobility; SO she
rushsS with Joash unto the room of the
temple, into the house of God, and then she
puts him down. She knows that Athaliah
and her wicked assassins viii not bother the
temple agreat deal; they are not apt to go
very much to church, and SO she sets down
Joash in the temple. There he will be hear
ing the songs of the worshipers year after
year: there he will breathe the odor of the
golden censers in that sacred spot he will
tarrY, secreted until the six years nave
passed. and he comes to en~throneInent.
Would God that we were as wise as Je-
hosheba, and knew that the church of God IS
the best hiding place. Perhaps our parents
took us there in early days; they snatched us
away from the world and hid us behind 6he
baptismaI fonts and amid the Bibles the
psalm books. o, glorious inclosurei We
have been breathing the breath of the golden
censers all the time, and we have seen the
lamb ON the altar and we have handled the
phials which are the prayers OF all saints,
and wa have dwelt under the wings OF the
cherubim. Glorious in%closurea When my
father and mother died, and the property
was settled up, there was hardly anything
left: but they endowed us with a property
worth more than any earthly possession, be-
cause they hid us in the temple. And whes
| DAYS of temptation nave come upon my soul
I have gone there for shelter; and when as
sauited of sorrows, I have gone there for
| comfort, and there I mean TO live. ] want,
like Joash, to stay there until coronation. I
! mean to be buried out of the house of God.
Oh men Of the world outside there, be
] trayed, c~aricatured and cheated Of the
/ world. why do you not com IN through the
| broad. wide open door of Christian commun
iona I wish / could act the part Of Jeho-