The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-11-15


savedt' might talk of a great many
other things; but that is the
message, and so | declare it.
Jesus never flattered those to
whom He preached. He said
to those who did wrong, and who were
offensive in His sight: "Ye generation
of vipersl We whited sepulchersl how
can We escape the damnation of hell?''
Paul the apostle preached before a
man who was not ready to hear him
preach. What subject did he takef
Did he say: ''Oh! you are a good man.
very fine man, a very noble man?"
No; he preached of righteousness to a,
man who was unrighteous; of temper
ance to man who was a victim of bad
appetites; of the judgment to come to
a man who was unfit for it. So we
must always declare the message that
happens to come to us Daniel must
read it as it is.
A minister preached before James L
of England, who was James VI. of
Scotland. What subject did he take?
The king was noted all over the world
for being unsettled and wavering in
his ideas. What did this minister
preach about to this man who was
James /. of England James VI of
Scotland? He took for his text James
first and sixth: He that wavereth is
like a wave of the sea driven with the
wind and tossed" Hugh Latimer of
Tended the king by a sermon he
preached; and the king said: Hugh
Latimer, come and apologize Il
WILL" said Hugh Latimer. So the day
was appointed, and the kings chapel
was full of lords, and dukes, and the
mighty men and women of the coun-
try, for Hugh Latimer was to apollo
gize. He began by saying: Hugh
Latimer, bethink theei Thou art in
the presence of thine earthly king,
who can destroy thy body. But be-
think thee, Hugh Latimer, that thou
art in the presence of the King of
Heaven and earth, who can destroy
both body and soul in hell fire" Then
he preached with appalling directness
at the kings crimes.
Another lesson that comes to us to-
night: There is great difference be-
tween the opening of the banquet of
sin and its close. Young man. if you
had looked in upon the banquet in the
first few hours, you would have wished
you had been invited there and conld
sit at the feast. ''Oh! the grandeur of
Belshazzar's FEAST" you would have
said; but you look in at the close of
the banquet. and your blood curdles
with horror. The King of Terrors has
there "A ghastlier banquet; human
blood is the wine, and dying
groans are the music Sin has
made itself a king in the earth. 1t has
crowned itself. 1t has spread a ban
quet. 1t invites ali the world TO come
to it. 1t has hung in its banqueting
hall the spoils of all kingdoms, and
the banners of all nations 1t has
gathered from all music. 1t has
strewn, from its wealth, the tables,
and floors, and arches. And yet how
often is that banquet broken up; and
how horrible is its endl Ever and anon
there is . handwriting on the wall A
king falls. Agreat culprit is arrested.
The knees of wickedness knock to-
gether. Gods Judgment, like an armed
host, breaks in upon the banquet; and
that night is BelshazZar, the king of
the Chaldeans, slain.
Here is a young man who says, II
cannot see why they make such fuss
about the Intoxicating cup. Why, it
is exhilarating! 1t makes me feel well.
can talk better, think better, feel
better cannot see why people have
such a prejudice against it." A few
years pass on and he wakes up and
finds himself in the clutches of an
evil habit which he tries to break
but cannot; and he cries out, ''Oh
Lord God! help me- 1t seems as
though God would not hear his prayer;
and in an agony of body and soul he
cries out: at biteth like serpent and
it stingeth like an adder" How bright
it was at the start! How black it was
at the last!
Here is man who begins to read
loose novels. They are charming" he
says; II will go out and see for myself
whether these things are so" He
opens the gate of a sinful life. He
goes in. A sinful spirit meets him
wit. her wand. She waves her wand,
and it is all enchantment. Why, it
seems as if the angels of God had
poured out phials OF perfume in the
AS he walks on he finds
the hills becoming more radiant with
foliage, and the ravines more resonant
with the falling water. On! what a
landscape he sees! But that
sinful sprite, with her wand, meets
him again; but now she reverses
the wand, and all the enchant-
men: is gone. The cup is full of
poison. The fruit turns to ashes. All
the leaves of the bower are forked
tongues of kissing serpents. The flow
ing fountains fall back in a dead pool
stenchful with corruption. The lur-
ing songs become curses and screams
of demoniac laughter Lost spirits
gather about him and feel for his
heart, and beckon him on with Hail
brother, Hail, blasted spirit. hailr'
He tries to get out. He comes to the
front door where he entered and tries
to push it back, but the door turns
against him; and in the jar of that
shutting door he hears these words:
This night is Belshazzar, the king of