The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-06-03

washed in summer showers y thou
spotless Son of God, impress us with
Thy innocence.
But come now to speak of this sec
ond bird of the text. We must not let
that fly away until we have examined
1t. The priest took the second bird,
tied it to the hyssop branch, and then
plunged it in the blood of the first
bird. All! that is my soul, plunged for
cleansing in the Saviour's blood.
There is not enough water in the At
lautic and Pacific oceans to wash away
our smallest sin. Sin is such an out
rage on Gods universe that nothing
but blood can atone for it. You know
the life is in the blood, and as the life
has been forfeited, nothing could buy
it back but blood. What was it that
was sprinkfed on the door posts when
the destroying angel went through the
land? Blood. What was it that went
streaming from the altar of ancient
sacrifice? Blood. What was 1t that
the priest carried into the holy of
holies, making intercession for the
people? Blood. What was it that
Jesus sweat in the garden of Geth-
semane2 Great drops of blood. What
does the wine in the sacramental cup
signify Blood. What makes the
robes of the righteous in Heaven
so fair? They are washed in the
blood of the Lamb. What is it
that cleanses all our pollution?
The blood of Jesus Christ, that
ceanseth from all sin. If a man
has become a Christian, he is no more
afraid of Sinai The thunders of
Sinai do no Brighten Him. You have,
on some August day, seen two thunder
showers meet One cloud from this
mountain, and another cloud from
that mountain, coming nearer and
nearer together, and responding to
each other, crash to crash, thunder to
thunder, booml boom! And then the
clouds break, and the torrents pour,
and they are emptied perhaps into the
very same stream that comes down so
red at your feet, that it seems as if all
the carnage of the storm battle has
been emptied into it. So, in this
Bible, | see two storms gather, one
above Sinai, the other above Calvary,
aud they respond one to the other
fash to flash, thunder to thunder
BOOM boom! Sinai says, "Woe! woew
Calvary answers, Mercy! mercy" and
then the clouds burst and empty their
treasures into one torrent, and it comes
flowing to our feet, red with the car
mage of our Lord--in which, if thy
soul be plunged, like the bird in the
text, il shall go forth free-free oh,
| wish all people to understand this,
that when man becomes Christian
he does not become a slave, but that
he becomes a free man; that he has
larger liberty after he becomes a child
of God than before he became child
of God
Why, is not a man free when he gets
rid of his sins? The sins of the tongue
gone; the sins of action gone; the sins
of the mind gone. All the transgres-
sions of 30. 40, so, 40 years gone-no
more in the soul than the malaria that
hoated in the atmosphere thousand
years ago; for when my Lord Jesus
pardons a man he pardons him, and
there is no halfway work about it.
The next thing noticed about this
bird, when it was loosened land this is
the main ideal, is, that il flew away.
Which way did it go? When you let a
bird loose from your grasp which way
does it fly? Up. What are wings for?
To fly with. Is there anything in the
suggestion of the direction taken by
that bird to indicate which way we
ought to go?
We should be going heavenward.
That is the suggestion. But l know
that we have a great many draw backs.
You had them this morning, perhaps.
You had them yesterday, or the day
before; and, although you want to be
going heavenward, you are constantly
discouraged. But | suppose when
that bird went out of the priests
hands it went by nfections-some.
times STOPPING. A bird does not shoot
directly up but this is the motion of a
bird. So the soul scars toward God,
rising up In love and sometimes de.
pressed by trial. II does not always
go in the direction it would like to go.
But the main course is right. There
is one passage in the Bible which
quote oftener TO myself than any-other:
"lle Snoweth our frame, and He re-
membereth that we are dust"
| wish, my friends, that we could
live in higher atmosphere. If a
mans whole life object is 10 make dol
lars he will be running against those
who are making dollars. If his whole
object is to get applause he will run
against those who are seeking APP
plause. But II he rises higher than
that he will not be interrupted in his
| flight heavenward. Why does that
flock of birds, floating up against the
blue sky so high that you can hardly
see them not change their course for
spire or tower? They are above all
Instructions. So we would not have
so often to change our Christian course
if we lived in higher atmosphere,
nearer Christ, nearer the throne OF
! God.
Oh We who have been washed in the
blood of Christ-ye who have been
loosed from the hyssop-branch-starl
/ l. u..l L.. II