Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1915-10-21

by the use of an herb, but alas, the
crepe was soon hanging from his
door and portion of his garden was
given for burial place for his dead.
So the awful conflict has continued.
God trying by the forces of right
eousness to restore the world to its
Edenic glory, and the devil getting
every man and woman he can to join
his forces to defeat the purpose of
God by polluting every stream that
flows from the fountain of blessing.
Which side of this fight is to have
your undivided support?
iii.
The third wonder is that the worl
should be so extremely fascinating.
When man became the master in this
great workshop, the world he soon
fell in love with his shop and the
work of his own hands, and what
ever else he might have lost in the
fall, this love he die not lose. It has
grown upon him down through the
centuries until some have worship
ped shop and work as their gods. This
love is not wrong in itself until it ex-
halts man and debases God, until 1t
enhances the world and deteriorates
heaven, until il augments time and
diminishes eternity. God so loves the
world that Jesus died for it; man so
loves the world that he lives and dies
with it. He has unpacked his goods
here for permanent abode as If he
would choose a wigwam in prefer
ence to kings palace. He has be-
come so enchanted by the bagpipe of
commerce that he cannot hear the
celestial orchestra. He sips at the
polluted pools of society while the
water of life, clear as crystal, flows
by unnoted, of which should he drink
he would never thirst. He counts him
self rich when he comes in possession
of few toys and tools fthis shop,
though he has neither treasures laid
up in heaven nor title to mansion
in the skies. He consults Dunn and
Bradstreet and the New York Ex-
change to determine his profit and
loss but gives little heed TO the in
fallible Rating Bureau of the Abes,
from which comes these statements,
what is a man profited, il he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul" $50 is he that layeth up
treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God "Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the
earth"
How fascinated men are with the
world, and what is the world?
Vertically, it is Gods Titanic, in
which He embarked His mortal
children to voyage, upon the sea of
time, from the Eden of long ago in
to the Paradise of the Soul. And un-
fortunate seamen we have been.
Scarcely had anchor been lifted and
sail spread for this heaven-bound
journey until a pirate came abroad
who would misread our chart, put
error in our compass, break the helm
and let the ship drive like hulk at
sea. He would put upon us his near
sighted goggles and enhance our Wis.,
ion of the vessel until il appears an
enduring palace, embellished with
the finest works of art and in the
fogs of disbelief he would envelop
the lighthouse of faith and obscure
the vision of the City of Gold. Go
down in the bulkheads, o you ship
carpenters and sound her ribs. We
have sprung an irreparable leak. This
ship is as certainly doomed as was
the one in which Paul was voyaging
to Rome. You may be blind in your
fascination of the furnishings Of this
ship If you will, and be deaf to the
call of danger until the life boat de-
parts leaving you to so down with
the wreck, but, sir, | had rather float
upon a bloodstained cross into the
harbor of Heaven than to ride gold
trimmed mahogany finished, uphol-
stored vessel until she gives one last
lurch and plunges into hell.
Nv.
The fourth wonder of the world
is the absurd hope of its many pas
sengers that the cargo of the vessel
will save them from the wreck. Men
may be slow to admit that they are
trusting in their material possessions
and temper attachments to deliver
them whei the vessel of this worlu
fails them, but that such hope exists
with many is evident by the implicit
confidence they place in these things.
For one to attempt to lift himself by
pulling at his own boot straps is not
more absurd than TO trust in the
things of this world to save when
the world itself is destroyed. 1t
would be as sane for one on sink
ing ship at sea to buckle bags of
gold about his body for life pre-
servers as for one to appear in the
drapery of fame holding in his two
hands gilt tdge securities and prec-
ious gems, trusting in them to save
him when he must quit the vessel Of
this world and make Tor the harbor
of Eternity. Men struggle for riches
and rank as if they were wings upon
which they could return to heaven
like doves to their windows. The
answer to that very important ques-
ton, what must / do to be saved,
was not Seek fame and fortune and
thou shalt be saved" but it was this,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved"
Men subject themselves to hazard
Gus adventures and conquests in their
struggle for honor and gold but in the
end will give them all to satisfy that
irrepressible longing in his heart for
Ilife-everlasting life. When man
enter the valley of the shadow of
death he may approach the philos-
opher whose arms of research have
enabled him to reach far up into the
tree of life and pluck some very
choice fruits, but the golden apple of
eternal life grows entirely above his
reach. The most eminent physician
can not pluck this fruit for dying
man. and II is written in the law Of
the Lord, Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver
them in the day of the Lords wrath. :"
If you had all the gold in the
world. you could not go to the ceme-
terry and bring back the loved one
with the bloom of life upon her cheek