The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-10-25

- An&ASu the sbuOuSduu6i Oh -CnrI9tlAus III.
stitutions whose only object it is ia
multiply copies OF the Scriptures and
spread them broadcast around the
world !? They have exterminated un-
tn Instead Of one or two copies of the
Bible In our houses We have eight OF
ten. and we pile them up In the COR
ners Of our Sabbath school rooms and
send great boxes of them everywhere.
Is they get on as we'll as they are now
going on in the work of determination,
4 do not know but that our children
may live to see the millennium. Yea,
Il there should come time OF perse-
icution In which all the known Bibles
of the earth should be destroyed, all
pulpits and in our families extinglish
ed, in the very day that infidelity and
sin should be holding jubilee over the
universal extinction. there would be
In some closet of a backwoods church
secreted copy of the Bible, and this
Joash Of eternal literature would come
out and come up and take the
throne, and the Athaliah OF infidelity
and persecution would fly out the back
door Of the palace and drop her miser-
able carcass under the hoofs OF the
horses Of the kings stables. You can
not exterminate Christianity. You
cannot kill Joash.
The second thought hand you from
my subject is that there are oppor-
tunities in which we may save royal
life. You know that profane history
is replete with stories OF strangled
monarchs and of young princes who
have been put out of the way. Here
is the story Of young king saved.
How Jehosheba, the clergyman's wife,
must have trembled as she rushed into
the imperial nursery and snatched up
Joash! How she hushed him lest
by his cry he hinder the escape! Fly
with him, Jehosheba! You hold in
your arms the cause Of God and good
government. Fail, and he is slain.
Succeed, and you turn the tide Of the
worlds history in the right direction.
1t seems as If between that young king
and his assassins there is nothing but
the frail arm Of woman. But why
should we spend our time in praising
this bravery of expedition when God
asks the same thing Of you and me-?
All around us the imperiled children
of a great king. They are born Of AL
mighty parentage and will come to a
throne or a crown II permitted. But
sin, the old Athaliah. goes forth to the
massacre. Murderous temptations are
out for the assassination. Valens, the
emperor, was told that there was
somebody in his realm that would
usurp his throne and that the name OF
the man should begin with the letters
T, H, 3, o, d. and the edict went forth
from the emperor's throne, XIII ev-i
erybody whose name begins with T, H.
E, o, d. And hundreds and thou
sands were slain, hoping by that mas
sacre to put an end to that one usurp-
er. But sin is more terrific in its de-
1t matters not how you
spell your name, you come under the
knife, under its sword, under Its doom,
unless there be some omnipotent relief
brought to the rescue. But, blessed
be God, there is such a thing as deliv-
ering a royal soul. Who will snatch
away Joash?
Instruction for Chi dren.
This afternoon in your Sabbath
school class there will be prince of
God, some one may yet reign as king
forever before the throne; there will
be some one In your class who has a
corrupt physical inheritance; there
will be some one in your class who
has father and mother who do not
know how to pray; there will be some
one in your class who is destined to
command in church or state, some
Cromwell to dissolve parliament;
some Beethoven to touch the worlds
harp strings, some John Howard to
pour fresh air In the lazaretto, some
Florence Nightingale to bandage the
battle wounds, some Miss Dix to
soothe the crazed brain, some John
Frederick Oberlin to educate the be-
sotted, some David Brainerd to change,
the Indians warwhoop to Sabbath
song, some John Wesley to marshal
three-fourths of Christendom, some
John Knox to make queens turn pale,
some Joash to demolish idolatry and
strike for the kingdom Of heaven.
There are sleeping in your cradles by
night, there are playing in your nur-
series by day, imperial souls waiting
for dominion, and whichever side the
cradle they get out will decide the
destiny Of empires. For each one Of
those children sin and holiness con-
tend-Athaliah on the one side, Jeho-
sheba on the other But hear people;
say: What's the use of bothering
children with religious. instruction?
Let them grow up and choose for
themselves. Don't interfere with their
volttion. Suppose some one had said
to Jehosheba: Don't interfere with
that young Joash. Let him grow up
and decide whether he likes the palace
or not; whether he wants to be king.
or not. Don't disturb his volition.p
Jehosheba knew right well that UNI
less that day the young king was res
cued he would never be rescued at all.
I tell you, my friends, the reasons we.
don't reclaim all our children from.
worldliness Is because we begin too
late. Parents wait until the children
lie before they teach them the value OF
truth. They wait until their children
swear before they teach them the i'm
portance Of righteous conversation.
They wait until their children are all