The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-06-27
HAIL TO THE KING.
Thoughts Suggested by the Corona
ton of the King of England.
Sermon by the "Hishway and Byway"
Preacher I'm Which He DiscOurses
on Jesus TriumphaI Entry Into
Jerusalem and His Crown
of ThOrna.


cry out.-Luke l9:4O.
During the present week the elabo-
rate and magnificent coronation cere-
monies of King Edward VII. are to be
carried out in all of their brilliant
elaborateness, and the eyes of the
world, as it were, will be turned in
the direction of Merry Old England"
and festive London. The few will see
the actual browning of the king in
Westminster abbey, the thousands and
hundreds of thousands will catch
glimpse of the orgeously-robed king
as he passes in triumph through the
streets to the abbey, and their threats
will swell with the popular acclaim.
AS the vast crowds sway and throb I'M
der the tense excitement and enthusi-
asm of the occasion and the mighty
thunder of their voices splits the air
and rolls through London's gayly-
decked streets, the millions in the dis
tant sections of the city will catch up
the refrain and cry: Hail to the
king"
The setting of our text carries us
back to the period in worlds history
when the Light of God was just begin
ming to burst through the dreadful
darkness of the centuries preceding,
and the scene enacted is similar in
some of its details to that upon which
the world is soon to gaze in England.
Similar in that a King was there re-
ceiving the homage and acclaim of the
multitudes over whom it was His right
to reign, but oh, how dissimilar, for
the triumphal entry as King leads to
the crown of thornS and the death on
the cross. The shouts of the people
are soon to be changed from BLESSED
be the King that cometh in the name
of the Lord: peace in Heaven, and
glory in the highest" to the hoarse,
mad cry of Cruelty Him! cruelty
HIM"
Our text gives us the response of
Jesus to the jealous, angry criticism of
the Pharisees, who objected to His be-
ing hailed as the Heaven-sent King.
Behind Him lies Bethany, where at
His omnipotent command the tomb
was forced to give back its dead and
the sorrow of that home where Jesus
loved to tarry was turned to blessed
ioy. Lazarus in the midst of the multi
tudes is a living witness to the power
of Jesus and His right to reign. The
changed skin of the leper, the seeing
eyes of the blind, the Strengthened.
strengthened limbs of the lame and
the halt. the rational, intelligent bear
ing Of those possessed with devils, all
tell their story and swell the enthusi-
asm of the multitudes. In the imme-
date presence of such mighty works,
and so many living witnesses. Jesus
s1.1,4 f,,l
and be accorded the homag e which it
was His right to receive, if but for
brief moment. And eff these should
hold their peace, the stones would i'm
mediatelv cry out" Think of it! The
cold. hard. unfeeling stones lying by
the roadside would burst with the
story of a Heaven-sent King and pro-
claim their glad message. if the human
heart so insensible to the gift which
God had sent into the world. sh ould re-
main untouched and human lips refuse
to proclaim Him the King. And it
would have been even so, but thanks
be to God there were some that day
into whose hearts had come the reali-
cation that King Emanuel God with
us) was even then present. and they
On that picturesque and beautiful
roadway leading from Bethany up
through the palm and fower-fringed
path winding its ascent up the sides of
Mount Olivet and down the steep de-
scent through the valley of the Kedron
and on into Jerusalem man and ma
ture were found for few brief mo-
ments in perfect accord with the Di-
vine will and purpose. The foliage of
the trees was never greener and more
luxuriant, the bright-hued flowers
were never more brilliant, the birds
never sang sweeter or clearer than on
that morning when Jesus, in fulfill
ment of Scripture, rode triumphantly
as King to the scene of His rejection
and His ignominious death. AS He
passed along the way with the shouts
of the multitudes and the fresh voices
of children ringing in His ears, the
trees bent their swaying branches in
graceful obeisance the flowers nodded
their fragrant tribute and the birds
circling in the air above sent forth
their notes of glad greeting and wor-
shipful praise, and then sped on in adj
vance of the rejoicing throng, filling
the air with their glad song. All Jeru-
salem is stirred, and, moved by one i'm
pulse, it catches the refrain and goes
forth to meet the coming King. Will
ing, eager hands catch the bending
branches of the trees, which gladly
give of their luXuriance to carpet the
ground over which the King is to pass.
The flowers skirting the roadside fair
" spring into the hands of the happy
children in their eagerness to lend
their fragrance and beauty to such a
scene as the world had never before
seen and never again will see until the
One who on that day was the center
of that joy-intoXicated throng shall
again come in the triumph and reioic-
by the nation which then rejected
Him.
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does His successive journeys run;
His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore
Till moons shall wax and wane no more"
Sounds of Joy and of Weeping
While the multitudes rejoiced, and
hailed Jesus as King, the heart of our
Lord was being wrung with the agony
of His rejection and the coming de-
struction of His beloved city. As He
reached the summit of the Mount of
Olives HE beheld the city and wept
over it, Jesus knew that many in
that throng who were now praising
Him would in few short days be cry
wisdom of His Divine nature He was
able to penetrate the shallowness of
the passing emotion, and see beneath