The free press., 1895-02-28

Iem where with an agony that with one
hand tore down the rocks, and with the ooiioh S
drew midnight blackness over the heavens,
our Lord set US forever free. Making ~
apology for any one OF the mllilon 7tm1 u ,oint
life. but confessing all,of them, we can poln.
to that cliff of limestone and say. There was
paid our Indebtedness, and God never col
|ects bill twice. Glad am 1 that all the
Christian poets have exerted their pen III eH-
tolling the matchless one OF this gospei
Isaac Watts, how do you feel concerning
Him? And he writes. II am moi
pInamsd Wbat Do 70 YOU 1In think Of this gospel7
And he writes, Amazing grace, how
sweet srun " the soundr' Cowper. what
10 YOU think of.Hini2 And the answer comes,
''Tiere is fountain filed with blood.
Charles Wesley what do you think OF HIM.
And he answers, Jesus. lover OF my s9uI. qtis
Horatius Bonar. what do you think OF HIM.
And he responds, II lay my sins on Jesus.
Raw Palmer; what do you think of Him. And
he writes, AMy faith looks up to Inee.
Fannie Crosby, what do you think OF Hlmf
And she writes, "Blessed assurance, Jesus Is
mine" But take higher testimony: Soio-
mon, what do you think OF HIM And tne
what do you think of Him? And the answer
is. ''Pant of renown.' David, what do you
think of Him? And the answeris is, MY shepo
herd" ST. John, what do you think OF HIM!
And the answer is. bright and morning
star" st. Paul. what do you think OF HIM
And the answer comes, "Christ l5 all IN al.
Do YOU think as we'll of Him, O man, Woo
man of the blood bought immortal SPIRIT
Yes Paul was right when he styled 1t "the
glorious gospel"
And then as druggist, while you are
waiting for him to make up the doctor rs
prescription. puts into bottle 50 many
grains of this, and so many grains OF that,
and 50 many drops of this, and 50 many
drops of that. and the intermixture taken,
though sour or bitter, restores to health.
50 Christ, the Divine Physician, prepares
this trouble of our lifetime and that disap-
pointment. and this persecution, and that
hardship. and that tear, and we must take
the intermixture, yet though it be q bitter
draft. Under the divine prescription 1t ad-
ministers to our restoration and spirltuaf
health, ''all things working together for
God" Glorious gospel!
And then the royal castle into which we
step out of this life without so much as soil-i
ing our foot with the upturned earth OF the'
grave. "They shall reign forever" Does
not that mean that you are, If saved, to be
kings and queens, and do not kings and
queens have castles? But the one that you
are offered was for thirty-three years an
abandoned castle, though now gloriously in
habited. There is an abandoned royal castle
at Amber, India. One hundred and seventy
years ago king moved out of it never to
return. But the castle still stands in indie
scribable grandeur, and you go through
brazen doorway after brazen doorway,
and carved room after carved room
and under embellished ceiling af-
ter embellished ceiling, and through
halls precious stoned into wider halls prec-
ious stoned, and on that hill are pavlions
deeply dyed and tasseled and arched the fire
of colored gardens cooled by the snow of
white architecture; birds in the arabesque 50
natural to life that while you cannot hear
their voices you imagine you see the flutter
of their wings while you are passing; walls
pictured with triumphal procession; rooms
that were called "Alcove of Light and
HAL of Victory;" marble, white and black,
like a mixture of morn and night; alabaster,
and mother of pearl and lacquer work.
Standing before it the eye climbs from step
to latticed balcony, and from latticed bal
cony to oriel and from oriel to arch, and
from arch to roof and then descends on lad
der of all colors. and by stairs of perfect
lines to tropical gardens of pomegranate and
pineapple. Seven stories of resplendent
architecture But the royal castle provided
for you, if you will only take it on the pre-
scribed terms. is grander than all that; and,
though an abandoned castle while Christ was
here, achieving your redemption is again oc-
cupied by the 'chef among ten thousand"
and some of your own kindred who have
gone up and waiting for you are leaning
from the balcony. The windows of that
castle look off on the Kings gardens where
immortas walk linked in eternal friend
ship. and the banqueting hall of that castle
has princes and princesses at the table, and
the wine is ''the new wine of the kingdom"
and the supper is the marriage supper Of the
Lamb, and there are fountains into which no
tear ever fell. and there is music that trem-
bles with no grief, and the light that falls
upon that scene is never beclouded, and there
is the kiss of these reunited after long sepa-
ration. More nerve will we have there than
now, or we would swoon away under the
raptures. Stronger vision will we have there
than now. or our eyesight would be blinded
by the brillance. Stronger ear will we have
there than now, or under the roll of that
minstrelsy, and the clapping of that accla-
nation, and the boom of that halleluiah we
ould be defeated.
Glorious gospel' You thought religion
was u straitjacket that it put you on the
limits; that thereafter you must go cowed
down. No, no, no. 1t is to be castellated.
BY the cleansing power of the shed blood of
Golgotha set your faces toward the shining
pinuacles. Oh. it does not matter much
what becomes of us here-for at the longest
our stay is short-if we can only land there.
You see there are so many do want to
meet there. Joshua, my fayorite prophet,
ana JOun among t1e tVdlSeuStS. anu f'dul
among the apostles, and Wyclif among tho
martyrs, and Bourdaloue among the preach
ers. and Dante among the poets, and
Havelock among the heroes, and
our loved ones whom we have SO much
missed since they left us so many darlings of
the heart, their absence sometimes almost
unbearable, and, mentioned in this sentence
last of all because want the thought climac-
teric, our blessed Lord, without whom we
could never reach the old castle at all. He
took our place. He purchased our ransom.
He, wept our woes. He suffered our stripes.
He died our death. He assured our resurrec-
tion. Blessed be His glorious name forever!
Surgng to His ear be all the anthems Facing
Him be all the thrones!
Oh, want to see it. and will see 1.-THE
day of His coronation. On a throne already.
Methinks the day will come when in some
great hall of eternity all the Nations of earth
whom He had conquered by His grace will
assemble again to crown Him. Wide and
high and immense and upholstered as with
the sunrise and sunsets of 1000 years. great
audience room of heaven. Like the leaves
of an Adirondack forest the rausomed multi
tudes, and Christ standing on IL high place
surrounded by worshipers and subjects They
shall come out of the farthest past led on by
the prophets; they shall come out of the