The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-01-29

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%|S'"sNNA MH/SW King of Terrors.
REV. DR. TALMAGE. Alas. for David. the
king. He can neither sleep nor eat,
and lies PROSTATE on his face. weeping
and wailing until the palace rings with
the cutlery of woe. What are courtly
attendants. or victorious armies, or
conquered provinces. under such cir
cumstances? What to any parent is
all splendid surrounding when his
child is sick? Seven days have passed
on. There in that great house two
eyelids are gently closed. two little
hands folded. two little feet quiet. one
heart still. The servants come to bear
the tidings to the king. but they can
not make up their minds to tell him,
and they stand at the door,
whispering about the matter.
and David hears them and he looks up
and says to them, is the child dead?"
Yes. he is dead" David rouses him
self, puts on new apparel and sits down
to food. What power hushed that tenn
pest? What strength was it that lifted
up that king whom grief had de-
throned? o. it was the thought that
he would come again into the posses
sion of that darling child. No grave
digger's spade could hide him. The
wintry blasts of death could not put
out the bright light. There would be
forge somewhere that with silver
hammer would weld the broken links.
In city where the hoOfs of the pale
horses never strike the pavement he
would clasp his lost treasure. He wipes
away the tears from his eyes. and he
clears the choking grief from his
throat, and eXclaims, Il shall go to
him"
Was David right or wrong? If we
part on earth will we meet again in the
next world? Well" says some one.
that seems to be an impossibility.
Heaven is so large a place we never
could find our kindred there" Going
into some city, without having APP
pointed time and place for meeting,
YOU might wander around for weeks
and for months. and perhaps for years.
and never see each other: and Heaven
is vaster than all earthly cities to-
gether. and how are you going to find
your departed friend in that country?
1t is so vast realm. John went up on
one mountain of inspiration. and he
looked off upon the multitude. and he
said. Thousands of thousands. Then
he came upon a greater altitude of in
spiration and looked off upon it again.
and he said. Ten thousand times ten
3 hA1 nd m hn
higher mount of inspiration. and
looked off again and he said. "A hun
dred and forty and four thousand and
thousands of thousands" And he came
On still greater height of inspiration.
and he looked off again, and he ex-
claimed. "A great multitude that no
man can number"
Now | ask, how are you going to find
your friends in such throng as that?
tanning after all a falsity? Is this doc
trine of future recognition of friends
in Heaven a guess, a myth, within, or
is it granite foundation upon which
the soul pierced of all ages may build
a glorious hope? Intense question.
Every heart in this audience throbs
right into it. There is in every soul
here the tomb of at least one dead.
Tremendous question! 1t makes the
lip culver. and the cheek flush. and the
entire nature thrill: Shall we know
each other there? get letters almost
every month asking me to discuss this
subject. | get letter in bold. schol-
arly hand. on gilt-edged paper. asking
me to discuss this question. and | say.
"Ah, that is a curious man. and he
wants a curious question solved" But
get another letter. 1t is written
with trembling hand. and on what
seems to be a torn out leaf of book.
and there and here is the mark of a
tear; and l say. "Oh. that is broken
heart and it wants to be cOmforted."
The object of this sermon is to take
this theory out of the reign of surmise
and speculation into the reign of posi-
tive certainty. People say: 1T would
be very pleasant if that doctrine were
true hope it may be true. Perhaps
il is true l wish it were true" But
| believe that can bring an accumu-
lation of argument to bear upon this
matter which will prove the doctrine
of future recognition as plainly as that
there is any Heaven at all. and that
the kiss of reunion at the celestial
gate will be as certain as the dying
kiss at the door of the sepulcher.
Now. when you are going to build a
ship you must get the right kind of
timber. You lay the keel and make
the framework of the very best mate
rails. the keelson, stanchions, plank
shear, counter-timber. knees, tran
SONS. all iron and solid oak. You
may build ship of higher material,
but when the cyclone comes on it
will go down. Now we may have a
great many beautiful theories about
the future world, built out of our
own fancy, and they may do very well
as long as we have smooth sailing in
the world, but when the storms of sor-