The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-09-03


prises. He has been with then
in the past; no trouble can overthrow
them; the storms might come dow1
from the top of Mount Hermon, anC
lash Gennesaret into foam and int,
agony, but it could not hurt them
But here is another man who
starts out in worldly enterprises. anC
re depends upon the uncertainties OF
this life. He has no God to help him
After awhile the storm comes and
losses off the masts of the ship; he puts
out his lifeboat; the sheriff and the
auctiOneer try to help him off; they
cant help him off: he must go down:
no Christ in the ship. Here are young
men just starting out in life. Your
life will be made up of sunshine and
shadow. There may be in it arctic
blasts or tropical tornadoes; l know
not what is before you, but | know if
you have Christ with you all shall be
we'll.
You may seem to get along without
the religion of Christ while everything
goes smoothly. but after awhile, when
sorrow hOvers over the soul, when the
waves of trial dash clear over the hur-
ricane deck, and the bowsprit is
shivered, and the halliards are swept
into the sea, and the gangway is
crowded with piratical disasters-oh,
what wouldyou then do without Christ
in the ship? Young man, take God for
your portion, God for your guide, God
for your help; then all is well; all is
well for time; all shall be well for
ever. Blessed is that man who puts
in the Lord his trust. He shall never
be COMPOUNDED
But my subject also impresses me
with the fact that when people start
to follow Christ they must not expect
smooth sailing. These disciples got
into the small boats, and / have no
doubt they said, What beautiful day
this is! What a smooth sea! What
bright sky this is! How delightful is
sailing in this boat; and as for the
waves under the keel of the boat, why,
they only make the motion of our little
boat the more delightful" But when
the winds swept down, and the sea
was tossed into wrath. then they found
that following Christ was not smooth
sailing. So you have found it; so /
have found it.
Did you ever notice the end of the
life of the apostles of Jesus Christ?
You would say that if ever men ought
to have had a smooth life, a smooth
departure, then those men, the disci.
pies of Jesus Christ, ought to have had
such departure and such life. st.
James lost his head. st. Philip was
hung to death on pillar. st. Matthew
had his life dashed out with halbert.
st. Mark was dragged to death through
the streets. St James the Less was
beaten to death with fuller's club.
st. Thomas was struck through with a
spear. They did not find following
Christ smooth sailing. Oh, how they
were all tossed in the tempest! John
Huss in the fire; Hugh McKail in the
hour of martyrdom; the Albigenses,
the Waldenses, the Scotch Covenanters
did they find it smooth sailing?
But why go to history when l can
fiEd all around me a score of illustra-
tions of the truth of this subject?
That young man in the store trying to
serve God, while his employer SCOTS at
Christianity, the young men in the
same store antagonistic to the Chris
tian religion, teasing him, tormenting
him about his religion, trying to get
him mad. They succeed in getting
him mad, saying: You're a pretty
Christian" Does this young man find
it smooth sailing when he tries to fol- |
low Christ? Here is a Christian girl |
Her father despises the Christian re-
ligion; her brothers and sisters scoff |
at the Christian religion; she can hard |
ly find a quiet place in which to say |
her prayers. Did she find it smooth |
sailing when she tried to follow Jesus /
Christ?
The question was asked: ''Who are
those nearest the throne?" and the an
swer came back: "These are they who
came up out of great tribulation;"-
great failing" as the original has it:
great failing, great pounding-'and
had their robes washed and made
white in the blood of the Lamb" Oh.
do not be disheartened. Oh. child of
God! take courage. You are in glo-
rious companionship. God will see
you through all these trials, and He
will deliver you.
My subject also impresses me with
the fact that good people sometimes
get very much frightened. In the
tones of these disciples as they rushed
into the back part of the boat, 1 find
they are frightened almost to death.
They say: Master, carest thou not
that we perish?" They had no reason
to be frightened, for Christ was in the
boat. suppose if we had been there
we would have been just as much af-
frighted. Perhaps more.
In all ages very good people get very
much affrighted. 1t is often so in our
day, and men say: ''Why, look at the
bad lectures; look at the Spiritualistic
societies; look at the various errors go
ing over the church of God; we are go
ing to founder; the church is going to
perish, she is going down. Oh, how
many good people are affrighted by
iniquity in our day, and
think the church of Jesus Christ and
the cauSe of rich teOuSneSS are going