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

killed over the running water; and he
shall sprinkle upon him that is to be
cleansed from the leprosy seven times,
and shall pronounce him clean, and
let the living bird loose into the open
field"
The Old Testament, to very many
people, is great slaughter house
strewn with the blood, and bones, and
horns, and hoofs of butchered ami
mails. 1t offends their sight; il dis
gusts their taste; il actually nauseates
the stomach. But to the intelligent
Christian the Old Testament is
magnificent corridor through which
Jesus advances. AS He appears at the
other end of the corridor, we can only
see the outlines of His character;
coming nearer, we can desc.y the fea-
lures. But when, at last, He steps up
on the platform of the New Testament,
amid the torches of evangelists and
apostles, the orchestras of Heaven an.
nounce Him with a blast of minstrelsy
that wakes up Bethlehem at midnight.
There were u great many cages of
birds brought down to Jersulem for
sacrifice-sparrows and pigeons, and
turtle doves. | can hear them now,
whistling. caroling and singing all
around about the temple. When a
leper was to be cured of his leprosv, in
order to his cleansing two of these
birds were taken; one of them was
slain over an earthen vessel of running
water-.that is, clear fresh water, and
then the bird was killed. Another
bird was then taken, tied to a hyssop
branch, aud plunged by the priest into
the blood of the first bird; and then
with this hyssop branch, bird-tipped,
the priest would sprinkle the leper
seven times, then unite the bird from
the hyssop branch and it would go
soaring into the heavens. Now open
your eyes wide, my dear brethren and
sisters, and see that that first bird
meant Jesus and that the second bird
means your own soul
There is nothing more suggestive
than Gagged bird In the down of its
breast you can see the glow Of south
ern. chimes; in the sparkle of its eye you
can see the flesh of distant seas; in its
voice you can hear the song it learned
in the wild wood. IT is child of the
sky in captivity. Now, the dead bird
of my text, captured from the air,
suggests the Lord Jesus, who came
down from the realms of light and
glory. He once stood in the sunlight
of Heaven He was the favorite of
the land. He was the Kings son.
Whenever a victory was gained, or a
throne set up, He was the first to hear
it. He could not walk incognito along
the streets for all Heaven knew Him.
For eternal ages He had dwelt amid
the mighty populations of Heaven.
No holiday had ever dawned on the
city when He was absent. He was not
like an earthly prince, occasionally is
suing from a palace heralded by Il
troop of clanking horse guards. No;
He was greeted everywhere as brother
and all Heaven was perfectly at home
with Him.
But one day there came word to the
palace that an insignificant island
was in rebellion and was cutting itself
to pieces with anarchy. | hear an
angel say: Let it perish. The Kings
realm is vast enough without the is
land The tributes to the King are
large enough without that We can
spare it," Not So" said the Prince,
the Kings Son; and | See Him push out
one day under the protest of great
company. He starts straight for the
rebellious island. He lands amid the
excavations of the inhabitants, that
grow in violence until the malice of
earth has smitten Him, and the spirits
of the lost world put their black wings
over His dying head and shut the sun
out. The hawks and vultures swooped
upon this dove of the text until head
and breast and feet ran blood--until,
under the flocks and bealIs of dark
Oness, the poor thing persisted. No
wonder it was the bird that was taken
and slain over an earthen vessel OF
running water. 1t was child of the
skies. 1t typifed Him who came
down from Heaven in agony and blood
to save our souls. Blessed be His glo-
rious name forever
/ notice also, in my text, that the
bird that was slain was a clean bird.
The text demanded that IL should be.
The raven was never sacrificed, nor the
cormorant, nor the vulture. 1t must
be clean bird, says the text; and II
suggests the pure Jesus-the holy Je-
sus. Although He spent His boyhood
in the worst village on earth, although
DlaSphemleS were pouTeu luto MS ear
enough to have poisoned anyone else
He stands before the world perfect
Christ Herod was cruel Henry VIII
was unclean, but point out a fault OF
our King. Answer me, We boys who
knew Him on the streets of Nazareth
Answer me, ye miscreants who saw
Him die. The skeptical tailors have
tried for 1900 years TO find out one hole
in this seamless garment, but they
have not found il. The most ingeni
GUS and eloquent infidel of this day, IL
the last line of his book all of which
denounces Christ, says: "All age
must proclaim that among the sons o
men there is none greater than Jesus.