Newport weekly independent., 1902-06-27

| ldhce ana beauty to such a scene as the world had never before seen ana never again will see until the one who on that day was the center or that Joy-intoXicated throng shall aSaln come in the triumph and reioic- Ing or Heaven to be received as King by the nation which then rejected Him Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
 | Does His successive journeys run:
 M HIS Kingdom stretch from shore to shore LII moons shall wax and wane no more"
 sounds of Joy and of Weeping.- While the multitudes reioiced, and nailed Jesus as King, the heart of our Aora was being wrung with the agony ol HIS rejection and the coming de- structlon of His beloved city. As He reached the summit of the Mount of ollves He beheld the city and wept over It. Jesus knew that many in that throng who were now praising l1lm would in few short days be cry Tag for His blood. With that infinite wisdom of His Divine nature He was able to penetrate the shallowness of the passing emotion, and see beneath the germ of unbelet and the Das s1on born of hell. If Jesus had turned to that multitude that day and plainly told them that their song of praise was only the prelude to the tragic strains of the crucifixion, that the same hands that were scattering branches and flowers in His path would ere long be frantically throwing dust into the air and crying: "Crucify
 
 been as emphatic in their protesta- tions that such thing could not be, as was Peter when His Lord told him that before the cock should crow twice he would deny Him thrice.
 We rejoice in the present moment of ease and satisfaction and superficial pleasure, while our Lord may be just at hand viewing us with tear-dimmed eye as He realizes what the next mo- ments, or days or years may bring forth. Now, we may be with the throng which is praising Him, our voices may be raised in helping to swell the hymn which floats out on the breeze from church window and steeple. our feet and hands may be busy with the eXternalities of church life and Christian service, and to-mor- row, when the day of testing comes and we must come out and be sepa- rate we may be numbered with those whose cry is: ''We will not have this Man rule over us" Unless the will be- longs to God, unless it has been sur rendered to His control, man knows n ot at what instant there may flash out in his life that which will identify him with the enemies of Jesus Christ.
 Teach me, Lord, my true condition, Bring me childlike to Thy knee;
 Stripped of every low ambition, Willing to be led b1 Thee.''
 The Motley Throng.-Three ele- ments are markedly noticeable in the multitudes which surrounded our Lord during His triumphal entry into Jeru salem and the proclaiming Him as King. There were the few true believ- CTS in Christ as the Saviour of the world and the promised Messiah; there were the greater number of curious, un- thinking spectators who were quick to catch the spirit and enthusiasm of the moment and lend their voices to the popular cry; and lastly there were the avowed enemies of Christ, who contest ed every foot of ground which Jesus trod, and endeavored to thwart His every move.
 The crowd that surrounded our Lord that day represented in miniature the people of the world to-day in their re- lation to God and His Christ. If you had been there on the side of Mount Olivet that momentous day. in which class would you have been found? Not many to-day would be found, it is true, Christ, for this is day of popular re- ligion and common recognition of Jesus Christ as a great leader, if not as the Saviour of the world. But would you have been numbered with the few believing disciples, or would your heart have deceived you. and while to- day you were hailing Him as King. tomorrow you would yield to the popular cry, and shout with the frenzied crowd: "Away with Him?' Self estimates are dangerous and un- reliable. It is easy to look at our selves with the natural eye and judge that we would have stood with the few faithful ones. It was easy to be- long to that rejoicing throng as it hailed the Lord as King, but in the dark hour on Calvary,
 "If we had been among the throng that saw
 the lowly Saviour die,
 If We had heard the cruel song, the heart
 less jest, the mockery
 Would we who now His triumph sing
 Have hailed him then as Lord and King?