Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1890-01-23

her great fortunes building public baths
in Constantinople and toiling for the
alienation of the masses; Queen
Clotilda, leading her husband and three
thousand of his armed warriors to
Christian baptism; Elizabeth of Bur-
gundy, giving her jewled glove to a
beggar, and scattering great fortunes
among the distressed; Prince Albert,
singing Rock of Ages" in Windsor
Castle, and Queen Victoria, incognita,
reading the Scriptures to dying
pauper.
bless God that the day is coming
when royalty will bring all its thrones,
and music all its harmonies, and paint
ing all its pictures, and architecture all
its pillars, and conquest all its scepters,
and the queens of the earth, in long
line of advance, frankincense filling
the air and the camels laden with gold,
shall approach Jerusalem, and the
gates shall be hoisted, and the great
burden of splendor shall be lifted int o
the palace of this greater than Solo
mon.
Again, my subject teaches me what is
earnestness in the search of truth. Do
you dnow where Sheba was? 1t was in
Abyssinia, or some say in the southern
part of Arabia Felix. In either case it
was great way off from Jerusalem.
To get from there to Jerusalem she had
to cross a country infested with bandits,
and go across blistering deserts. Why
did not the queen of Sheba stay at
home and send a committee to inquire
about this new religion, and have the
delegates report in regard to that re-
ligion and wealth of King Solomon?
She wanted to see for herself, and hear
for herself. She could not do this by
work of committee. She felt she had a
soul worth ten thousand kingdoms like
than any woven by Oriental shut
ties, and she wanted a crown set with
the Jewels of eternity. Bring tout the
camels. Put on the spices. Gather up
the jewels of the throne and put them
on the caravan. Start now; no time to
be lost. Goad on the camels. When
see that caravan, dust covered, weary
and exhausted, trudging on across the
desert and among the bandits until it
reaches Jerusalem, l say: There is an
earnest seeker after the truth
But there are great many who do not
act in that way. They all want to get
the truth, but they want the truth to
come to them; they do not want to go to
it. There are people who fold their
arms and say: L am ready to become a
Christian at any time; if l am to be
saved l shall be saved, and if am to be
lost l shall be lost" But Jerusalem will
never come to you; you must go to Jeru-
salem. The religion of the Lord Jesus
Christ will not come to you; you must
go and get religion. Bring out the
camels; put on all the sweet
spices. all the treasures of the
hearts affection. Start for the throne.
Go in and hear the waters of salvation
dashing 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 it: "The queen of the
south is, this very woman l am
speaking of-"the queen of the south
shall rise up in judgment against this
generation and condemn it; for she
came from the uttermost parts of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and, behold! greater than Solomon is
here" What infatuatiOn the sitting
down in idleness expecting to be saved.
Strive to enter in at the strait gate.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek,
and We shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened to you" Take the kingdom of
Heaven by violence. Urge on the
camels!
Again, my subject impresses me with
the fact that religion is surprise to
any one that gets it. This story of the
new religion in Jerusalem, and of the
glory of King Solomon, who was 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 and with every
caravan, and yOu know story en-
larges as it is retold, and by the time
that story gets down into the southern
part of Arabia Felix. and the queen Of
Sheba hears it. it must be tremendous
story. And yet this queen declares in
egard to it, although she had heard SO
much and had her anticipations raised
SO 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 it with
rattle of chain; martyrs declared it with
arm of fire; deathbeds have affirmed it
with visions of glory, and ministers of
religion have sounded it through the
lanes, and 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 re-
cited in the doxology of great congrega-
tions. And yet when a man first comes
to look on the palace of Gods mercy,
and to see the royalty of Christ, and the
wealth of this banquet, and the luxuri-
ance of His attendants, and the lowell
III h. nj Hr0
service. he exclaims with pray ers, with
tears, with signs, with triumphs: The
half-the half was not told me-"
l appeal to those who are Christians.
Compare the idea you had of the joy of
the Christian life with the appreciation
of that ioy you have now since you have
become Christian, and you are willing
to attest before angels and men that you
never, in the days of your spirital bond
age. had any appreciation of what was
to come. You are ready to- dav to an
swer 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 me-!
Well, We hear great 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 to be patted by the hand
of babe. Ships of Tarshish bringing
cargoes for Jesus, and the hard, dry,
barren, winter bleached, storm SCARED,
split rock breaking into floods
of bright water. Deserts into which
thrust their nostrils, be-
cause they were afraid of the SIMEON
deserts blooming into carnation roses
and silver tipped lilies.
1t is the old story. Everybody tells
it. Isaiah told it, John told it, Paul
told it, Luther told it, Calvin told it.
John Milton told it-everybody 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 the dust, shall
hear the voice of God and wheel into
line; and India, destroying her Jugger-
naut and snatching up her little chill
dren 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
hov, he haon