The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-12-16
The City Without a Church.

The Revelation 21:1-4, ola. 22-
27; 22:1-5.
The City Without a Church.
Noting reveals the audacity of the
Bible better than its picture of heaven
AS if delighting to set at naught all
common conceptions, the Revelations
final portrayal of the triumph and
bliss of the kingdom of Christ is
city, and a city without Church!
Ordinarily. we hold up the city as
the home of evil, the incarnation of
temptation, the stronghold of sin.
Thousands of good people are grow
! ing gray over the probl ans OF the
modern city. the puzzle OF the TWEEN
tieth century. Yet here is the inspired
picture of [ goal of all goodness, the
climax of the triumph of righteous
ness, and it is a city.
AS if to make the paradox more
bewildering, the city which was re-
vealed to the eyes of the Seer of Pat
mos held no church. To our way OF
| thinking, the Church is the saving
salt of the city, the best thing about
bad case. Nevertheless, in heaven
there will be no Church, as we know
the Church. But all that the Church
| typifies and seeks will be there. On
this point, I strongly urge a reading
of Henry Drummonds brilliant ad-
dress, 1.-The City Without a Church"
A Picture of Triumph.
| Bewildering as is this Book of the
Revelation, let its main purpose be
kept in mind and it is essentially clear.
That purpose is to depict the triumph
of the Gospel of Christ The Book
was written in a dark, dark time, to
reveal to the suffering Christians that
there's good time coming" All the
wealth of Oriental imagery, all the fig
ures of a Scripture-saturated mind,
were employed to depict the surpass-
| ing excellence of the glory that was in
store for the friends of Christ. The
| Book of the Revelation is an illustra-
| ton of the truth that Eye hath not
| tered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them
| that love Him.
| Mans unaided eye cannot look at
the sun, neither can human imagina-
| ton comprehend heaven. 1t is all that
we desire or conceive, and then far
more. With daring genius, one of our
younger poets, Nicholas Vashel Lind
say, has written a portrayal of heaven
that catches the very spirit of this fig
ure-filled picture in the Revelation.
His poem is called, General Booth
| Enters Heaven
Booth led boldly with his big bass drum.
The saints smiled gravely, and they said,
Hes come"
Are you washed in the blood of the
Walking lepers followed, rank rank,
| h.
Drabs from the alleyways and drugfiends
pale
Minds still passion ridden. soul-powers
frail
vermin eaten saints with moldy breath.
| Unwashed legions with the ways of death
Are YOU washed in the blood of the
Lamb"
Every slum had sent its half -a-score
The round world over-Booth had groaned
for more.
Every banner that the wide world flies
rlfa-x- fr1V slaraf Il
Big voiced lassies made their banjos bang
Tranced, fauatical, they shrieked and sang,
| Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb? ~
BuH-necked convicts with that land make
Looms with bazoos blowing blare, blare,
On. on, upward thru the golden air
Are you washed in the blood of the
i Lamb?"
Booth died blind, and still by faith he
trod,
Eyes still dazzled by the ways of God
Booth led boldly and he looked the chief
Eagle countenance in sharp relief,
Heard a-flying. air of high command
Unabated in that holy land
Jesus came from out the courthouse
Stretched his hands above the passing
Booth saw not but led his queer ones
Round and round the mighty Court House
square.
Yet in an instant all that blear review
Marched on spotless, clad in raiment new
The lame Strengthened, withered
limbs uncurled
And blind eyes opened on a new sweet
world.
Drabs and vixens in flash made whole
Gone was the weasel-head, the snout, the
sages and sibyIs now. and athletes clean
Rulers of empires, and of forests green.
The hosts were sandaled and their wings
Are You washed in the blood of the
But heir noise played havoc with the
angel-choir-
Lamb"
Oh. shout salvation. it was good to see
f Flee ban nIa P Pattied and the tamboHrnes
Jing jing- jingled in the hands OF queens
And when Booth halted by the curb fol
prayer
He saw the Master thru the flag filled air
Christ came gently with a robe and crown
For Booth the soldier while the throne
knelt down.
He saw King Jesus-they were face to face
Are you washed in the blood OF the
A Real Optimism.
! Nowadays we pirate a great dea
about optimism,-and exhibit pes
simism that is fairly heather. Mos
of the advanced literature of oul
day breathes this deadly pesslmlSn
which is born of selfishness and sin
The most intellectual of American
magazines last month had an article
upon marriage that was so cynical, sc
sinister, so shallow, that one wonders
where these writers live that they are
so out of touch with normal, whole
some Christian experience of human
relationship. Much of our current
literature might have been produced
in the days of Nero or Domitian, in
satiated Rome Philosophers ano
poets and dramatists then wrote in q
mood of hopelessness and materialism
and lived worse than they wrote.
Out of that muck and mire bios
somed the fair whise lily of Christian
optimism This book of Revelation
literature's surprising picture of the
triumph of goodness and truth was