Newport weekly independent., 1902-06-27
HAIL TO THE KING.
Thoughts Suggested by the Corona
 tion of the King of England.
Sermon by the ''Highway andBywax" Preacher in Which He Discourses on Jesus Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem and His Crown
 of ThOrns.
Copyright, 1902, by A. N. Kellogg Newspa-
 per Co)

Text.-And He answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.-Luke 19:40.
 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 the direction of Merry Old England" and festive London. The few will see the actual crowning of the king in Westminster abbey, the thousands and hundreds of thousands will catch a glimpse of the orgeously-robed king as he passes in triumph through the streets to the abbey, and their throats will swell with the popular acclaim. AS the vast crowds sway and throb un- der the tense excitement and nthusi- 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 Q in 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 "Crucify 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
  was forced to give back its dead and the sorrow of that home where Jesus loved to tarry was turned to blessed joy. Lazarus in the midst of the multi tudes is 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 straightened, 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- diate presence of such mighty works, and so many living witnesses. Jesus must be exalted to His rightful place and be accorded the homage which it was His right to receive, if but for brief moment And eff these should mediately cry out" Think of it! The cold, hard. unfeeling stones lying by the roadside would burst with the story of 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 ntouched and human lips refuse to proclaim Him the King. And 1t would have been even so, but thanks be to God there were some that day into whose hearts had come the reali- zation that King Emanuel (God with us) was even then present. and they reioiced in the deliverance He brought.
 On that picturesque and beautiful roadway leading from Bethany up through the palm and flower-fringed path winding it's ascent up the sides of Mount Olivet and down the steep de- tscent through the valley of the Kedron and on into Jerusalem man and na- ture were found for a few brief mo- ments in perfect accord with the Di- vine will and purpose. The foliage of the trees was never greener and more 1uxuriant. 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 ad- vance of the rejoicing throng, filling the air with their glad song. All Jeru- salem is stirred, and, moved by one inn pulse, it catches the refrain and goes