Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1892-02-29

LILY Ii AClIlc. w liz SlC LOU ciCU Ill UiidI
way. You all want to get the truth
out you want the truth to come to
you. You do not want to go to it,
There are people who fold their arms
and say: L am ready to become
christian at any time. If l am to be
saved shall be saved, and If I am to
be lost [ shall be lost" All, Jerusa-
lem will never come to you'll You
.lust go to Jerusalem The religion
IF 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
Eschol, the angels Of God the cup
bearers. Goad on the camels; Jeru-
salem will never come to you; you
must go to Jerusalem.
The Bible declares it, 1.-The queen
Of the south"-that is, this very
woman I 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! a greater than Solomon is
! here" God help me to break up the
infatuation Of those people who are
sitting down in idleness expecting to
be saved. ''Strive to enter in at the
straight 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 vio-
lence Urge on the camels.
Again, my subject impresses me
with the fact that religion is a sur
prise to any one that gets it. This
story of the new religion in Jerusa-
lem, and Of the glory Of King Solo
mon, who was a type of Christ-that
story rolls on and on, and is told by
every traveller coming back from
Jerusalem. The news goes on the
wing of every ship and with every
caravan, and you know a story en-
larges as it is retold, and by the time
that story gets down into the south
ern part of Arabia Felix, and the
Queen of Sheba hears it, it must be a
tremendous story. And yet this
queen declares in regard to it, al
though she had heard so much and
had her anticipations raised SO high,
the half-the half was not told her.
RELIGION A WONDERFUL SURPRISE.
So religion is always a 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 Wis
ions of glory, and ministers of re-
igion have sounded 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. 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 luxuriance of
his attendants, and the loneliness of
his face, and the joy of his service,
he exclaims with prayers, with tears,
with signs, with triumphs, 1.-The half
the half was not tod mer
Iappeal to those in this house who
are Christians. Compare the idea
you had of the JOY of the Christian
life before you became a Christian
with the appreciation of that joy
you have now, since you have be-
come a Christian, and you are will
ing to attest before angels and men
that you never in the days of your
spiritual bondage had any apprecia-
ton of what was to come. You are
ready today to answer, and If | gave
you an opportunity in the midst of
this assemblage, you would speak
out and say in regard to the discov-
cries you have made of the mercy,
and the grace, and the goodness of
God, The half-the half was not |
told met!
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 patted
by the hand of a babe. Ships of Tar
shish bringing cargoes for Jesus, and
the hard, dry, barren, winter
bleached, storm SCARED, thunder
split rock breaking into floods of |
bright water. Deserts into which |
dromedaries thrust their nostIils, be- |
cause they were afraid of the simeon
deserts blooming into carnation