Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-06-10

the limitations of life, said to his sol
diers. when / am dead, my spirit
shall return and throb in countless
revolutions" He believed that though
his plans should be cut short by mex
orable death. his followers would be-
come so imbued with his deathless
ambitions that they would carry out
his purposes. But the great French
man sleeps under a FURNISHED dome
In Paris and his dream of worldwide
dominion has come TO naught. He
wanted to make Europe tremble at
his power; made it tremble, then died,
now, there are none so poor as to do
him reverence.
This is the universal fate OF man.
We build our castles in the air and
they dissolve like the baseless fabric
of a dream. We formulate our plans,
make our schedules, guard against
all contingencies, spread our arms
from pole to pole, stride like a Col
ossus over land and sea, set in mo-
ton influences to go on forever-and
death crashes down upon the work we
have laid out, and in an hour scat
tiers il to the four winds of heaven.
Men fret and beat their wings against
the bars, but no way has yet been
discovered to overcome the difficulty.
From the beginning of history death
has upset the calculations, and de-
stroyed the plans. and annulled the
purposes of every human being-saye
one. The mOnarchs of the house OF
Hapsburg or OF the house of Stuart
have all persisted. The Henrys and
the Georges of England and the
Louises of France have come TO an
end. but Christ the first, the last,
the only lives forevermOre.
There Is but one being in this uni
verse who is living in both worlds
lie could say. Before Abraham was
I am" and He could also say. LOT l
am with you always. even unto the
end 81 the world" Sixty years after
Jesus Christ. the eonqueror Of death,
broke out Of the grave. lived and COM
muned with men for % days on earth
and then was translated bodily in
their presence. ne was seen by John.
tho apostle. who. with divinely inspir-
"a pen. wrote the description OF the
Wonder Worker as he appeared in his
heavenly Enrb That description in
the FIRST chapter ~ Revelation, de-
fes the art 81 the photographer, but It
reveals the fact that though beyond
the vision Of our human eyes. Christ
a yet living in both worlds. oversee
ing the movement Of redemption,
personally present in the midst OF His
church.
n Is a beautiful picture. Seven can
dlesticks symbollzing the universal
church. Every church is a candle
stick. Within each church, and among
all churches. the Christ is seen the
center and source of light. See him,
his holiness figured by spotless robe
and feet of burning brass; his wis
dom symbolized by head and hair as
white as snow; his vision typifed by
eyes as a flame of fire; his commands
revealed by a sharp two-edged sword;
his servants expressed by the stars
in his right hand; his final judgment
taught by "the keys of death and OF
hell"
And what John saw in Patmos has
already been demonstrated by the
march of time. All history centers
around the church If we could cut
out the sacred threads which are WOW
en- into the warp of life, nothing would
be left but shreds. A world without
the history of the church would be a
library whose shelves contained in
stead of books painted blocks of
wood. The history of the world thus
far has been the history of uninter-
rupted progress of Christ across the
ages. His death stopped nothing. He
"began to do and teach" in Palestine
before His Crucifixion. He continued
ITO do and teach" in all the world
after His Crucifixion. And He will
never conclude until the world is re-
deemed. The conqueror on the white
horse rides on to victory even before
men hear the ring of the chargers
hoofs. Above and over each human
factor one mighty will supremacy
writes a history in which man is but
a factor to help on the progress
of the everlasting truth.
This is the teaching Of the ages,
written on every page of history from
Adam to Abraham. from Abraham to
Christ. from Christ to your preacher.
Cotton is not king. The South thought
it was and was overwhelmed. Com
merce is not king. Great cities
thought II was and have persisted.
Culture is not king. Greece thought 1t
was and lost the candle out of her
candlestick Gold and silver are not
king: nor oil. nor iron, nor steel Only
Christ is king. and before His scep-
tire every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess,
God has prepared the way. He has
been marching through the centuries.
We do not bow at an empty tomb, in
sadness. we do not kiss cruciflx in
fearful retrospect, we look up into the
shining battle-face of a living, present
Commander, bearing the sword Of con-
Quest. leading forth his sacramento
hosts for the evangelization Of O
world. The only thing we need TO be-
come conscious of is the recognition
OF the invisible captain of the Lords
hosts on the field of battle and be In
tent to hear the clarion bugle blasts
with which He commands the For
ward. march," and in response to that