The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-08-28

of Heaven are in the petals There is
something about their foreheads that
makes you think that the hand of
Christ has been on it. saying Let
this one come to Me, and let it come to
Me SOON" While that one tarried in
the house, you felt there was an angel
in the room, and you thought that
every sickness would be the last; and
when, finally, the winds of death did
scatter the leaves, you were no more
surprised than to see q star come out
above the cloud on dark night; for
you had often said to your companion:
my dear, we shall never raise that
child" But I scout the idea that
good children always die. Samuel
the pious boy, became Samuel the
great prophet Christian Timothy be-
came a minister at Ephesus, Young
Daniel, consecrated to God, became
prime minister of all the realm. and
there are in hundreds of the schools
and families of this country to-day
children who love God and keep His
commandments. and who are TO be
| foremost among the Christians and the
philsnthropists and the reformers of
the next century. The grace OF God
never kills anyone. A child will be
more apt to grow up with religion
than it will lie apt to grow up without
it Length of days is promised to the
righteous The religion of Christ does
not cramp the chest or curve the spine
or weaken the nerves. There are no
malaries floating up from the river of
life. The religion of Christ throws
over the heart and life of child a
supernal beauty. Her ways are the
ways of pleasantness, and all her paths
are peace"
l pass on to consider the suScepti-
| bility of childhood. Men pride them
selves on their unchangeability. They
will make an elaborate argument to
prove that they think now just as they
did 20 years ago. 1t is charged to
| frailty or fraud when a man changes
| his sentiments in politics or religion,
and it is this determination of soul
that so often drives back the Gospel
! from mans heart 1t is so hard to
make avarice charitable, and fraud
honest. and pride humble, and skepti-
cism Christian. The sword of Gods
| truth seems to glance off from those
mailed warriors, and the helmet seems
battle-proof against Gods battle ak.
But childhood; how susceptible
to example and to instruction!
You are not surprised at the
record: Abraham begat Issac, and
Isaac begat jacob for when re-
ligion starts in a family, it is apt
to go all through. Jezebel a murder
ess, you are not surprised to find her
| son Jehoram attempting assassination.
o, what a responsibility upon the pa
rent and the teacher! The musician
touches the keys, and the response of
those keys is away off amid the pipes
and the chords. and you wonder at the
| distance between the key and the
| chord. And so it is in life; if you touch
a child, the results will come back
from manhood or old age, telling just
| the tune played, whether the dirge of
| a great sorrow or the anthem of
great Joy. The word that the sabbath
! school teacher will this afternoon
whisper 10 the ear of the class will be
echoed back from everlasting ages of
| light or darkness.
The home and the school decide the
republic or the despotism; the barbar-
ism or the civilization; the upbuilding
| of an empire or the overthrowing of it
| Higher than parliament or congress
are the school and the family, and the
sound of a childs foot may mean more
than the tramp of host. What. then,
are you doing for the purpose of bring
ing your children into the kingdom of
God? If they are so susceptible, and
if this is the very best time to act upon
their eternal interests, what are you
doing by way of ri hit imp1ls;on?
The brightest lig its that can be
kindle !, Christ has kindled. Let US,
old and young. rejoice that Heaven is
gathering up so much attractive. In
that far land we are not strangers.
There are tho 'e there who speak our
name day by day, and they wonder
why so long we tarry. If / ccull
count up the name of al hose who
have rome out from these fami les into
the kingdom of Heaven, it would take
me all day to mention their n1meS. A
great multitude before the throne.
You loved them once; you love them
now; and ever and anon you think you
hear their voices calling you upward.
All, yes, they have gone out from all
these families, and you want no book
to tell you of the dying experience of
Christian children. You have heard
it; it has been whispered in your ear,
o father. o mother, o brother. o sister
Toward that good land all Christians
are bearing. This snapping of heart
strings, this fight of years, this tread
of the heart reminds US that we are
passing away. Under spring blossoms.
and through summer harvest. and
across autumnal leaves, and through
the wintry snowbanks, we are passing
on. o, rejoice at it, children of God,
rejoice at it! How we shall gather
them up, the loved and the lost! !
Before we mount our throne, before |
we drink of the fountain. before we
strike the harp of our eternal ceIebra- !
ton, we will cry out: where are our
loved and lost?" And then, how we |