The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-02-22

makes no final difference what you be-
lieve. or how you act-you are bound
for Heaven. anyhow. There they sit,
side by side, in Heaven: Garfield, and
Guiteau. who shot him; Lincoln, and
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated
him; Washington, and Thomas Paine,
who slandered him; Mana Sahib, and
the missionaries, whom he dubbed TO
death at Cawnpore; Herod, and the
children whom he massacred; Paul,
and Nero, who beheaded him. As a
result of the PRONUNCIATION OF such
a mongrel and conglomerate.
heaven there are millions of people
f, in Christendom who expect to
go straight to Heaven from their
seragliNs, and their inebriation. and
their suicides, when among the loudest
thunders that break over the basaltic
island to which st. John was expatri-
ated, was the one in which God an
nounced that 1.-THE abominable, and the
, murderers, and whoremongers. and
sorcerers, and idolaters. and all liars.
shall have their place in the lake
which burneth with fire and brim-
|
correct what | said when | declared
the Gospel was buried fifty fee. deep;
it is buried n thousand feet deep. Had
the glorious Gospel been given full OPP
portunity, l think before this the
world would have had no need OF pull
| pit, or sermon. or prayer or church.
but nksgiving AMI hoslnnas would
have resounded in the temple
| to which the mountains would
have been pillars. and the blue
skies the dome, and the rivers the
| baptistery, and all nations the worship
ers in the auditorium of the outspread
world. But so far from that. as | re-
marked in the opening sentence of this
sermon. the greatest novelty of our
| time is the Gospel. And let me say to
the hundreds and thousands of edu-
to enter the Gospel ministry from the
theological seminaries of all denomina-
tions, on this and the other side of the
seas, that there is no drawing power
like the glorious Gospel. Him hath
God lifted up to draw all men unto
Him." Get your souls charged and
surcharged with this Gospel. and you
will have large audiences. and will not
have to announce in order to assemble
such audiences, Sunday night sacred
concert, with a brief address by the
pastor: or the presence of BLACK Pat
tbs, ;" or Creole MINISTRIES, or some new
exposure of Tammany, or sermon ac-
companied by magic lantern or stere-
Opticon views.
The glorious Gospel of the blessed
God as spoken of in my text will have
more drawing rover, and when that
Gospel gets full swing it will have a
momentum and power mightier than
that of the Atlantic ocean, when under
the force of the September equinox. it
strikes the Highlands of the Navesink.
The meaning of the word Gospel is
good news" and my text says it is
glorious good news, and we must tell
it in our churches, and over our dry
goods counters, and in our factO-
ries, and over our threshing ma
chimes, and behind our plows, and
on our ships decks, and in our par
lors. our nurseries. and kitchens, as
though it were glorious good news, and
not with a dismal drawl in our voice,
and a dismal look on our faces, as
though religion were a rheumatic
twinge, or a dyspeptic pang. or n ma
larial chill, or an attack on nervous
prostration. With nine "blesseds" or
''happys" Christ began his sermon on
the Mount: Blessed the poor: blessed
Al. Ill al
blessed the hungry; blessed the merci
full: blessed the pure; blessed the
peacemakers; blessed the prosecuted;
blessed the reviled; blessed, blessed:
happy, happy, happy. Glorious good
news for the young. as through Christ
they may have their coming years
ennobled, and for a lifetime all the
angels of God, their coadjutors and
all the armies of Heaven, their allies.
Glorious good news for the middle
aged, as through Christ they may have
their calamities disentangled, and their
courage rallied, and their victory over
obstacles and hindrances made forever
sure. Glorious good news for the aged,
as they may have the sympathy of Him
of whom st. John wrote: His head
and his hairs were white like wool, as
white as snow" and the defense of the
everlasting arms. Glorious good news
for the dying, as they may have minis
tering spirits to escort them, and open
ing gates to receive them, and a sweep
of eternal glories to encircle them, and
the welcome of a loving God to en-
bosom them.
Oh, my text is right when it speaks
of the glorious Gospel. 1t is an invita-
ton from the most radiant Being that
ever trod the earth, or assembled the
heavens, to you and me to come and be
made happy. and then take after that
a royal castle for everlasting residence,
the angels of God our cup-bearers. The
price was paid for all of this on the cliff
of limestone about as high as this house,
about seven minutes walk from the
wall of Jerusalem, where with an
agony that with one hand tore down |
the rocks, and with the other drew
a midnight blackness over the heav- |
ems, our Lord set us forever free. |
Making no apology for any one of
the million sins of our life, but |
all of them, we can point to
that cliff of limestone and say: There |
was paid our indebtedness, and God |
never collects bill twice" Glad am
1 that all the Christian poets have ex-
erted their pen in extolling the match
less One of this Gospel. Isaac Watts,
how do you feel concerning Him? And
he writes: Il am not ashamed to own |
my Lord Newton, what do you
think of this Gospel? And he, writes: