The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-12-08
to themselves: IT will seek after high

Christ walked with them; nor
whether they lived in a mansion
or in a hut, if they dwelt un-
der the shadow of the Almighty; nor
whether they were robed in French
broadcloth or in homespun, if they had
the robe of the Saviour's righteousness;
nor if they were sandaled with morocco
or calf skin, if they were shod with the
preparation of the gospel Now you
see peace on their countenance. Now
that man says: what a fool was to
be enchanted with this world. Why,
have more satisfaction in five minutes
in the service of God than had in all
the first years of my life while l was
gain-getting. like this evening of
my day greal better than 1 did the
morning. In the morning l greedily
devoured the prey; but now it is even
ing, and l am gloriously dividing the
SPOIL
My friends, this world is poor thing
to hunt. 1t is healthful to go out in
the woods and hunt. 1t rekindles the
luster of the eye. 1t strikes the brown
of the autumnal leaf into the cheek.
1t gives to the rheumatic limbs the
strength to leap like roe. Christie
pher North's pet gun, the muckle-mou'd
Meg, going off in the summer in the
forests, had its echo in the winter time
in the eloquence that rang through the
university halls of Edinburgh. 1t is
healthy to go hunting in the fields; but
tell you that it is belittling
man to hunt this world. The
hammer comes down on the gun
cap, and the barrel explodes and
kills you instead of that which you are
pursuing. When you turn out to hunt
the world. the world turns out to hunt
you; and as many sportsman aiming
his gun at panther's heart has gone
down under the striped claws, so, while
you have been attempting to devour
this world, the world has been devour-
ing you. So it was with Lord Byron.
So it was with Coleridge. So it was
with Catherine of Russia Henry III.
went out hunting for this world, and
it's lances struck through his heart.
Francis |. aimed at the world, but the
assassin's dagger put an end to his am
bition and his life with one stroke.
dow of her castle:
From the top Of all nv trust
Mishap hath laid me in the dust
The queen dowager of Nevarre was
offered for her wedding day costly
and beautiful pair of gloves, and she
put them on; but they were poisoned
gloves. and they took her life. Better
bare hand of cold privation than a
warm and poisoned glove of ruinous
success. ''Oh," says some young man
in the audience, II believe what you
are preaching. am going to do that
very thing. In the morning of my life
l am going to devour the prey, and in
the evening shall divide the spoils of
Christian character. only want a lit
tie while to sow my wild oats, and then
l will be good" Young man, did you
ever take the census of the old peo-
pie? How many old people are
there in your home? One, two, or
none? How many in vast assemblage
like this? Only here and there gray
head, like the patches of snow here and
there in the fields on a late April day.
The fact is that the tides of the years
are so strong that men go down under
them before they get to be go, before
they get to be so, before they get to
be 40. before they get to be 80; and if
you, my young brother. resolve now
that you will spend the morning of
your days devouring the prey, the
probability is that you will never divide
the spoils in the evening hour. He
who postpones until old age the re-
ligion of Jesus Christ postpones it
forever. Where are the men who, thir-
ty years ago, resolved to become Chris
tians in old age, putting it off a
certain number of years? They never
got to be old. The railroad collision,
or the steamboat explosion, or the slip
on the ice, or the falling ladder, or the
sudden cold put an end to their oppor-
tunities. They have never had an OPP
portunity since. and will never have an
opportunity again. They locked the
door of Heaven against their souls, and
they threw away their keys. They
chased the world, and they died in the
chase. The wounded tiger turned on
them. They failed to take the game
they pursued. Mounted on a swift
courser, they leaped the hedge, but the
courser fell on them and crushed them.
Proposing to barter their soul for the
world, they lost both and got neither.
While this is an encouragement to
old people who are still unpardoned, it
is no encouragement to the young who
are putting off the day of grace. This
doctrine that the old may be repentant
is to be taken cautiously. 1t is medi-
cine that kills or cures The same
medicine given to different patients, in
one case it saves life and in the other
it destroys it This possibility of re-
pentance at the close of life may cure
the old man while it kills the young.
Be cautious in taking it.
Again: My subject is descriptive of
those who come to a sudden and radi-
cal change. You have noticed how
short time it is from morning to
night-only seven or eight hours. You
know that the day has a very brief
life. Its heart beats twenty-four
times, and then it is dead. How quick
this transition in the character of
these Benjamites. ''In the morning
they shall devour the prey, and at
night they shall divide the spoils-" Is
it possible that there shall be such
transformation in any of our charac-
tiers? Yes man may be at
o'clock in the morning an Abide
vouring wording, and at o'clock at
night he may be a peaceful, distribu-
tive Christian. Conversion is instan-
taneous A man passes into the
kingdom of God quicker than down the