The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-02-24
1.-THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD" /"
Adams Evangelical
Luther Church,

| ~ w. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
| st. John, S-12 Then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, am the light of the world;
he that followeth me shall not walk in dark
ness, but shall have the light of life
Jesus, when uttering these words was
teaching in the temple at Jerusalem. 1t
is thought that this remarkable state
ment was drawn from his lips by the
rising sun driving away the night filling
the land with his blt ssipg and his light o,
from the great lamps in the temple
which were lighted in the evening dur
ing the festival season, or from the pillar
of light that went before the children Of
Israel, being to them light and protec-
tion. The sun is the light and life OF
the na'ural world; without it all things
would die. The great lamps in the
temple directed the world to the temple
where light and knowledge would be
received. The fiery pillar lead perish
ing nation to land where they might
live and prosper. So Jesus says, I am
the light OF the world. The emphasis
must be placed upon the personal
pronoun, L. Jesus says am the resur.
rsction and the life. l am the way, the
truth and the life.
He sa,s, am the light of this world
Il signifies then that the world was in
darkness. We need not look far to find
evidences of this, that the world was in
darkness The il f11ences of disobedi-
ence which were started in the garden
but lead to denser darkness and confu.
sion as the years pass by. What heath
en- nation has ever of itself grown no oler
aad better? The Language of history
everywhere teaches that the world is in
darkness and that moral darkness will
become denser until the nation and
people will disappear. This has every
where been proven true in the history
of the world. Look at the nations
which have disappeared, that had at
tanned some degree of eminence in
civilization; but they have disappeared
because they had no life and light from
the Son of God. The natural sun is the
light of the world. Not only its light
but also its life. The sun is the world
light and the worlds life. IT you want
plant or an animal to die, just take
them away from the light and warmth
and blessings of the sun, and the worl
will be done. Do you want a nation
or people to perish and die, then TAXI
away from them the Son of right
eousness and the work will be done
But if you want nation or people Il
prosper, to live, to ennoble themselves
and others with whom they come il
contact, then give them the light of the
Son of God. The question is sometimes
asked, what do we want with thos'
half savage people of the Philippine
Islands? Why not sail away from then
and never look back? A heathen, an
inidel, might or would do that, but n
Christian can think of doing such
thing, unless it would be in a cowardl,
spirit to shirk ths duty which God ha
placed upon us. The duty of the hou
is to shield them from the greed of tn
ssl6sh nations, to give to them the or
p ortunities of a Protestant Christia
!, civilization, and in the future these de
} luded and deceived people will kiss th
hand that thus protected and save
them. It will be like some missionar
work in other islands of the Pacifi,
The father killed the first missionar,
but the son laid the corner stone of th
Christian church and Christian colleg
So those who have been deludet
deceived and outraged may now strih
the hand of the friend, but the futul
will find in them a people who wi
, love and adore, and in their gratitut
would serve this friend. The world
to be redeemed through the suffering
the innocent. The blood of tho
Americans shed at Manila was sacrt
> blood-shed for the redemption
humanity. Where one falls now t.
thousand will arise in the future
those for whom they died to honor al
revere their memory. Oh, how Il
island at our door, the island of Cuba,
@ already beginning to blossom and
bloom as the rose. Persons, who recent
/. visited that isla1 d, who had been the
o six months ago, say that no one CT
conceive the won derful change that b
/. already taken place. What will it
: when these people fully understand Il
benign purpose of this Christian peopl
y Thus will it be with those islands in Il
far E ,st. Those people will make wol
derful progress and make unto ther
# selves history that will be the Joy
e the American people.
The time will come when those wi
l. have opposed the christian movemen
of the present will be ashamed
= what they have done and their star
fame instead of shining more bright
= will become DINNER and DINNER until
will finally go out with those who q
e forgotten. History will again repeat
E. self. What has taken place in the ps
i will take place in the epoch maxi
'e period of the present. No man howey
great he may be can array himself agair
s. the clear movements of Providence.
God is in these movements and he
ee then no man can stand in his way. R
cent developments have indicated Gle.
a ly that G DDS hand is in all occurren,
IT of the present. Who ia there who I