The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-03-09

line. that He may pass down from Cal
vary to Jerusalem, and thence on and
out all around the world. The battle
is fought The victory is achieved. The
triumphal march is begun. Hark tc
the hoofs of the warriors steed, and
the tramping of great multitude! for
He has many friends now. The hero OF
earth and Heaven advances Cheer
Cheer! "Who is this that cometh from
Edom, with dyed garments from Boz.
rah, travelling in the greatness of His
strength"
We behold here a new revelation of a
blessed and startling fact People
talk of Christ as though He were going
to do something grand for us after
awhile. He has done it. People talk
as though. ten or twenty years from
now, in the closing hours of our life,
or in some terrible pass of life, Jesus
will help us. He has done it already.
He did it 1861 years ago. You might
as well talk of Washington as though
he were going to achieve our national
independence in 1850 as to speak OF
Christ as though He were going to
achieve our salvation in the future.
He did it in the year of our Lord 80,
1861 years ago, on the field of Bazrah,
the Captain of our salvation fighting
unto death for your and my emancipa-
ton Ali we have to do is to accept
that fact in our heart of hearts, and
we are free for this world and we are
free for the world to come. But lest
we might not accept, Christ comes
through here to-day, travelling in the
greatness of His strength" not to tell
you that He is going to fight for you
some battle in the future, but to tell
you that the battle is already fought,
and the victory already won.
You have noticed that, when soldiers
come home from the wars, they carry
on their flags the names of the battle
| fields where they were distinguished.
The Englishmau coming back has on
his banner Inlzermann and Balaklava;
the Frenchman Jena and Eylau; the
German Versailles and Sedan. Aud
Christ has on the banner He carries as
conqueror the names of ten thousand
battlefelds He won for you and for me.
He rides past all our homes of bereave-
ment-by the door bell swathed in sor-
row, by the wardrobe black with woe,
by the dismantled fortress of our
strength. Come out and greet Him to-
day. o, We people! See the names of
all the battle-passes on His flag. Ye
who are poor read on this ensign the
story of Christ's hard crusts and pillow
less head. Ye who are prosecuted read
here of the ruffians who chased Him
from His first breath to His last.
Mighty to soothe your troubles, mighty
to balk your calamities, mighty to
tread down your foes, travelling in the
greatness of His strength" Though
His horse be brown with the dust of
His march, and the fetlocks be wet
| with the carnage. and the bit be red
with the blood of your spiritual foes,
He comes up now, not exhausted from
| the battle, but fresh as when He went
into it-coming up from Bozrah, 'trav-
cling in the greatness of His strength. "
You know that when Augustus, and
Constantine, and Trajan, and Titus
came back from the wars what time
there was. You know they came on
| horseback or in chariots, and there
| were trophies before and there were
| people shouting on all sides, and there
were garlands flung from the win
dow. and over the highway triumph
al arch was sprung. The solid ma
sonry to-day at Beneventum, Rimini
for those heroes. And shall we let our
| Conqueror go without lifting any ac-
| claim? Have we not flowers red
enough to depict the carnage, white
enough to celebrate the victory, fra
grant enough to breathe the joy?
| Those men of whom l just spoke
dragged their victims at the chariot
| wheels; but Christ, our Lord, takes
those who once were captives and in
vites them into His chariot to ride,
while He puts around them the arm of
His strength, saying: Il have loved
thee with an everlasting love, and the
waters shall not drown it, and the fires
shall not burn it, and eternity shall
not exhaust it."
If this be true, / cannot see how any
man can carry his sorrows great
while. If this Conqueror from Bozrah
is going to beat back all your griefs,
why not trust Him? Oh! do you not
feel under this gospel your griefs fall
ing back, and your tears drying up, as
you hear the tramp of a thousand il
lustrious promises led on by the Con-
queror from Bazrah, travelling, travel
ing, in the greatness of His strength?
On that Friday which the Episcopal
church rightly celebrates, calling it
Good Friday" your soul and mine
were contended for. On that day
Jesus proved himself mightier than
earth and hell; and when the lances
struck Him, he gathered them mp into
a sheaf, as a reaper gathers the grain,
and He starked them. Mounting the
horse of the Apocalypse, He rode down
through the ages, travelling in the
greatness of His strength" On that
day your sin and mine persisted, if we
will only believe it
There may be some one here who may
say: Il don't Ike the color of this Con-
queror's garments. You tell me that
His garments were not only spattered
with blood of conflict, but also that
they were soaked, that they were sat
urated. that they were dyed in it."
admit it You say you do not like that
Then l quote to you two passages of
Scripture: without the shedding of
blood there is no remission" SIN the
blood is the atonement" But it was
not your blood. 1t was His own. Not
only enough to redien His garments
and to redden His horse, but enough
to wash away the sins of the world.
Oh, the blood on His brow, the blood
on His hands, the blood on His feet.
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