The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-01-08

i
| is done chOos-- earthly scoff to heav-
! emily reclamation. and a cattle pen to a
kings palace, frigid zone of earth to
atmosphere of celestial radiance.
have no time to lose, for bark We to
the grOan that grows mightier while
wait! Farewell! FAREWELL 'Ye know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich. yet for your
sakes He became poor"
Was there ever a contrast so over
towering as that between the noon
day of Chrises celestial departure AMI
the midnight Of His earthly arrival:
Sure enough. the angels were out that
nj Int in the sky, aud an especial me-
teor acted as escort. but all that was
from other worlds. and not from this
world. The earth made nc demonstra
tion of welcome. If one of the greal
princes of this world steps out at a de
pot, cheers rcsOund. and the bands
play. and the flags wave. But for the
arrival of this missionary prince of the
skies not "a torch Jared. not a trumpet
blew, not plume fluttered. All the
music and pomp were overhead. Our
world opened for Him nothing better
than barn door. The raiah of Cash
mere sent to Queen Victoria a bed
stead of carved gold and canopy that
cost $3.50, OOO but the world had for the
Prince of Heaven and earth only lit
ter of straw. The crown jewels in the
tower of London amount to SIS COO. 900.
but this mem Der of eternal royalty
had nowhere to lay His head. To know
how poor He was ask the camel drivers,
ask the shepherds, ask Mary, ask the
three wise men of the east, who after
ward came to Bethlehem. To know
how poor He was. examine all the rec
ords of real estate in all that oriental
country. and see what vineyard, or
what field He owned.
Not one. OF what mortgage was He
the mortgagee? OF what tenement
was He the landlord? OF what lease
was He the lessee? Who ever paid II i'm
rent? Not owning the boat on which
He sailed. or the beast on which He
rode, or the pillow on which He slept.
He had so little estate that in order to
pay His tax He had to perform a mira
Gle. putting the amount of the assess
ment in a tish's mouth and having it
hauled ashore. And after His death
the world rushed in to take an inven-
tory of His goods and the entire aggre-
gate was the garments He had worn,
sleeping in them by night and travel
ing in them by day, bearing on them
the dust of the highway and the satu-
ration of the sea. St. Paul in my text
hit the mark when he said of the mis-
sionary prince: For your sake He
became poor"
The world could have treated Him
better if it had chosen. It had all the
means for making His earthly condi-
tons comfOrtable Only d few years
before when Pompev. the general, ar
rived in BrindiSi he was greeted with
arches and a costly column which cele-
bratei the 12.OOo.OJO people whom he
had killed or conquered. and he was al
Lowell u wear MS n umDhal roje in the
senate. the world hal applause for i'm
perial butchers. lufreting for the Prince
of Peace. P.euty e golden chalices
for the favored 10 drink out of. but our
Prince must put His lips 10 the bucket
of the well by the roadside after he
had begged for drink. Poor? Born
in another mans barn. and eating at
another mans table. and cruising the
lake in another mans tomb Four in
spired authors wrote His biography,
and innumera lie lives of Christ have
been pu olished, but He composed His
autobiography in most compressed
way. He said. Il have trodden the
wine press alone"
Poor in the estimation of nearly all
the prosperous classes. They called
Him Sa bbath-breaker. wine-bibber.
traitor. blaspdemer, and ransacked the
dictionary of opprobrium from cover
to cover to express their detestatiou. !
can think now OF only two well TO do
men who espou>ed His cause-Nicode-
mus and Joseph Of Arimathea. His
friends for the most part were people
who. in that climate where Opthdlmia
or Inflammation of the eyeball sweeps
ever and anon as a scourge. had be-
come blind, sick people who were
anxious to get well, and troubled peO-
pie in whose family there was some
one dead or dying. If He had purse at
all it was empty, or we would have
heard what the soldiers did with the
contents Poor? The pigeon in the
dove cote. the rabbit in its burrow. the
silkworm in its cocoon, the bee in its
hive is better provided for, better off.
better sheltered. Aye, the brute crea-
ton has a home on earth, which Christ
had not. 4 poet saws:
II on windy days the raven
G Mol like a d InCing skin,
Not the less he loves his haven
On the bosom Of the elf.
II almost with eagle piniOn
Ger the Alps the chanois roam.
Yet he has some small dominion
Which no doubt he calls his home.
But the Crowned Prince of all heav-
emily dominiOus has less than the
raven, less than the chamois. for de
was homeless. Ave, in the history of
the universe there is no other instance
of such com No down. Who can count
the miles from the top OF the throne
TO the bottom Of the Gro $? Cleoratra
giving a banquet TO Anthony. took a
pearl worth SlCO. 600 and dissolved il