The Forrest City times., 1890-01-11
nll its hnrmonie. and paintine all it. nio. 1

i in long line of advance, frankinccuse filling | the air and the camels laden with gold,
 shall approach Jerualem, and the gates
 shall be hoisted, and the great burden of
 splendor shall be lifted into the palace of
 this greater than Solomon.
 Again, my subject teaches mo what is
 earnestness in tho search of truth. Doy you
 know where Sheba wasi It was in Abys-
 sinia, or some say in the southern part of Arabia Felix. h either case it was great
 way of from Jerusalem. To get from there to Jerusalem she had to cross a country in-
 fested with bandits and go across blister ing deserts Why did not the queen of She- ba stay at home and send a committee to iu-
 quire about this new religion, and have the delegates report in regard to that religion
 and wealth Of King Solomon, She wanted to see for herself, and hear for herself. She could not do this work by committee. She | felt she had soul worth ten thousand
 kingdoms like Sheba, and she wanted Q robe richer than any woven by Oriental
 shuttles, and she wanted a crown set with
 the jewels of eternity. Bring out the cam els. Put on the spices. Gather up the
 jewels of the throne and put them on the
 caravan. Start now; no time to be lost. l Goad on the camels When 1 see that car
 avan, dust covered, weary and exhausted, trudging on across the desert and among
 the bandits until it reaches Jerusalem, say; There is an earnest seeker after the l truth
 l But there arc a great many who do not
 act in that way. They all want to get tho truth, but they want the truth to come to l them; they do not want to go to it. There arc people who fold their arms and say "1 am ready to become a Christian at any time; and if 1 am to be saved l shall be
 saved, ana if l am to be lost shall be lost" 1 But Jerusalem will never come to you; you
 must go to Jerusalem. The religion of the l Lord Jesus Christ will not come to you; 1 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 heat the waters of salvation dancing in fountains all
 around about the throne. Sit down at tho banquet-the wine pressed from
 the grapes of tho heavenly Eshcol, the an
 gels of God the cup bearers. Goad on the
 camels. The Bible declares it; "The queen of the south that is this very wo-
 man 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.n What in l fatuation the sitting down In idleness ex- l pectinc to be saved, Strive to enter in at the strait gate Ask, and it shall be given 1 you seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it
 shall be opened to you.n Take the king
 dom of heaven by violence. Urge on the | camelsl
 1 Again my subject impresses me with the 1 fact that religion is a surprise to any one
 that gets it. This story of the new religion 1 in eal of h, yln cf "a ipf SOl
 onon, who was type of fChrist-that story rolled on and on, and was told by every 1 traveller coming back from Jerusalem. The
 news goes OF the wing of every ship and i with every caravan, and you know a story | enlarges as 1t is retold, and by the time that ] story gets down into the southern part Of l Arabia Felix, and the queen of Sheba hears l 1t, II must be a tremendous story. And vet l this queen declares in regard to it, although l she had heard so much and had her antici- l pations raised so high the half-the half | was not told her.
 l So religion is always a surprise to any I one that gets it. The story of grace -an 1 old story. Apostles preached it with rattle
 of chain; martyrs declared it with arm of 1 fire; deathbeds have affirmed 1t with wis l ions of glory, and ministers of religion have sounded il through the lanes, and the
 
 drals It has been cut into stone with chis l el; and spread on the canvas with pencil; ;
 and it has been recited in the doxology of 1 great congregations. And yet when man 1 first comes to look on the palace of God s
 mercy, and to sec the royalty of Christ | and the wealth of this banquet, and the l luxuriance of his attendants, and the love
 Illness Of his face, and the joy of his service, 1 he exclaims with prayers, With tears, with l signs with triumphs; "rhe half the half i was not told me Y
 1 l appeal to those who are Christians 1 Compare the idea you had of the joy Of the | Christian life before you became Chris l tian with the appreciation of that joy you 1 have now since you have become n Chris i tian, and you are willing to attes, before
 angels and men that you never, in the days | of your spiritual bondage, had any apprecia- 1 ton of what was to come Iou are ready 1 to-day to answer and say in regard 10 the | discoveries you have made of the mercy
 and the grace and the goodness of God :; 1 The the half was never told mel" 1 We'll we hear a great deal about tho 1 good time that is coming to this world 1 when il is to be girded with salvation.
 Holiness on the bells of the horses, The | lions mane patted by the hand of a babe | Ships of garshish bringing cargoes for
 Jesus, and the hard, dry, barren, winter i bleached, storm scared, thunder split rock 1 breaking in floods bright water Deserts | into which dromcdaries thrust their
 nostrils, because they were afraid of tho l simeon ueserts blooming into carnation
 roses and silver tipped lilies
 l It is the old story Every body tells it. | Isaiah told il, John told it. Paul told it. l Ezekiel told it. Luther told it, Calvin told l it. John Milton told it-Every body tells it ; l and yet~-and yet when the midnight shall 1 fly the hiils. and Christ shall marshal his l great army, and China, dashlng her idols l into tho dust, shall hear the voice of l God and wheel into line; and India, 1 destroying her juSgernaut and snatch. 1 jug up her little children from the | Gauges, shall hear the voice of God
 and wheel into line; and vine covered Italy,
 and wheat crowned Russia, and a.l the
 nations of the earth shall hear the voice of 1 God and fan into line; then the church..
 which has been toiliug and struggling
 through the centuries, robbed and garlanded
 like bride adorned for her hus band shall
 put aside her veil and look up into the face
 of hor Lord the King and say; The half
 tho half was not told me el'i
 | Well, there is coming greater surprise
 to every Christian-a greater surprise than | anything l havo depicted. Heavan is an
 old story. Every body talks anoa, 1t There
 is hardly hymn In the hymn book that | does not refer to il. Children read it in l Sabbath school books. Aged men | put on their spectacles to study it l We say il Is harbor from the
 storm. Wo call it homo. We say 1t | is the house of many mansions We weave together all sweet, beautiful, del. | icaie, exhilarant words. we weave them
 into letters, and then we spell 1t out In rose
 and lily and amarantn And yet that place | x going to be "A surprise to the most intelli | cent christian. Like tho queen of Sheba, i the renort has come to us from the far i country, and many of us have started Ii
 is desert march, but we urgo on the i camels What though our feet be blstered | with the wayl We are hastenlng to ! the palace. We take all our loves ] and hopes and Christian ambitions, | as franlSncenso and myrrh and cassia, to i the great King We must not rest Na rfNA