Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1901-12-26
front column of Joshua's troops nightly

cursed all nations, and none more than
our own. Irreverence in the use of Gods
| name. Hear you it not on the streets and
in social groups, and is not profane word
sometimes thought necessary to point jo-
costly? 1rreverence for the Scriptures,
the phraseology of the Bible often intro
duced into the most frivolous conversation
and made mirth provoking. Irreverence
for the oath i'll courtroom or custom house
| or legislative hall by the conventional and
mechanical mode of its administration.
lrreverence for the holy Sabbath by the
way 1t is broken in pleasure excursion and
carousal. Jrreverence on the part of chill.
dren for their parents, insolence being
substituted for obedience. lrreverence for
rulers, which induces vile cartoons and as
sasslnation. Irreverence in church during
prayer, measuring off song and sermon by
cold, artistic or literary criticism, and in
prayer time neither bowling the head nor
bending the knee nor standing as one does
IN the presence of earthly ruler. thus show
ing more respect for a man than to the
King of kings. We ask not for genunex-
ions or circum,flexions or prostrations, but
when prayer is offered let us either bow
the head or bend the knee or let us in
some way prove that we are not indifser-
ent
No one has come to midlife who has not
been stung of ingratitude On the battle
field of Alma in 1854 wounded Russian
was crying in anguish of thirst for water.
Captain Eddington. of the English Army,
ran to him and gave him drink. As the
captain was running bv to join his regi-
ment the wounded soldier shot him. Al
most all languages have proverbs setting
forth this perversity. English proverb,
Bring up "a raven and it will pick out
your eyes" Arabic proverb. "Eat the
present and break the dish" Italian pro-
verb. The ass, after having drunk, gives
kick to the bucket" An old proverb
says, IF God were to be, SO complacent
| as to carry us on His back to Rome we
would not thank Him for His pains if He
did not also set us down in an easy chair"
You will never be happy in this world if
| YOU do not do all the good you can and
look TOR no responsive gratitude. All the
| damage did a man who is my enemy was
to take him from position where he re.
celved 500 year salary into a position
| where be has ever since received $1,000
year. He never forgave me. but has pur-
sued me with pen vitriolic ever since
lhe worst enemy YOU ever had is the man
You introduced and favored and helped.
| But be not disturbed or even irritated.
Y on are no better than your Lord
If the world had had any thankful ap-
probation of His coming it would have
| filled that Bethlehem caravansary with
flowers, which bloom there clear on into
| the December month, and Herod, instead
| OF attempting His DEATH would have sent
| chariot to fetch the infant to the palace
and the oyer and terminer of Pilates
| courtroom would have pronounced Him
| not guilty. and instead of cross and
crown of thorns it would have been coro-
| nation: with all the mighty ones of the
earth Eneeiing at the foot of His throne.
But closely allied is the other fact which
we limited at in the opening-that we will
not pass this way again. This is our only
| opportunity for doing certain things that
ought to be done. On all sides there are
| grlets we ought to sotace, hunger we ought
tn fnnlI hat 70 l., \
words that we ought to speak. generous
deeds we ought to perform. All that you
and do toward making this world better
and happier we must do very soon or
never do at all. Joshua and his troops
never came back over the way they were
| marching toward the crossing OF the Jor-
| dan. The impress of the sandal or the
| bare feet of each soldier showed in what
| direction he was going, but never did the
| impress of the sandal of any one of them
| show that he had returned. We are all
facing eternity to come. There is no re-
| so important if we could truthfully say:
81 will be back here again. The things l
neglect now | will do the next time / come
l will be reincarnated, and I will resume
| my earthly obligations. Having then more
| knowledge than | have now, l will dis
charge my earthly duties better than l
can now discharge them. l do not give
solemn farewell to these obligations and
| opportunities, but smiling and CHEEKY
| goodbye until l see them again" No,
| we cannot say that. There will be no new
| and corrected edition of the volume of our
| earthly life. After we make exit from the
stage at the close of the fifth act we can
not re-enter.
| How many millions of people have lived
and died | know not but of all the human
race who have gone only seven persons
| that | now think of have returned, the son
I pf ha at Iara MT ha
| of Main, the rulers daughter, Tabitha,
| Eutychus, Lazarus and Christ. Among all
| the ages to come L do not suppose there
| will be one more who will return to this
| life, having once left it.
At this point | ask you to notice the
| fact that my text does not call attention
| to the crossing of the Jordan, but to the
way leading thereto. We all think much
| of our crossing of the Jordan when the
march of our life is ended, but put too lit
| tie emphasis on the way that leads to the
crossing. What you and l need most to
care about is the direction of the road we
are travelling. We need have no fear of
| the crossing if we come to it in the right
way. In other words, we need not care
about death if our life has been what it
| ought to be. We will die right if we live
| right.
What an absurdity it would have been
| for Joshua and his men to have asked
each other questions like these: How can
we cross the Jordan if we get there! Will
not the water be too deep to allow us to
wade? Will we not all be so saturated
| that we may lose our lives by exposures
How many of us can swim? Had we bet
ter not wait until the annual freshet has
| subsided?" No such folly did they COM
| nit They were chiefly anxious about the
way that they had mot passed before"
and were ignorant of and to keep their
eyes on the golden covered acacia box,
wing mounted, which was the ark of the
covenant.
o hearer, stop bothering about your exit
| from sublunary scenes! By the grace of
God get your heart right and then go
| ahead. If the Lord takes care of you clear
| on to the bank on this side of the river, l
| think you can trust Him to take you from
| bank to bank, from the willows on this
| side the stream to the palms on the other
side. from the last kiss of sorrowing ones
on this side to the welcome, sanity, cheru-
bic, seraphic, defic on the other side.
One Easter morning Massena, the Mar
| shall of France, appeared with $1,000
or,,,od ,neu on tho heiuhta ahOye the town