Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-12-04
Reading for thr Sabbath.
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATH AN.
IOriginal.]
THE GRAVEYARD.

Original.
THE GRAVEYARD.
In every civilized community there is a
small lot of land set apart for the burial Of
the dead The traveller knows it rs soon as
his eyes fall upon the spot. Like funeral
procession, no one is in danger of confound,
ing it with something else. However adorned
and decorated, it ever presents solemn ap-
pearance. What train of reflections are
suggested by graveyard! There the infant,
but few moments old, and the gray-headed
sire sleep in silence. The ashes of bitter foes
mingle together; the poor beggar and the
millionaire are placed on a level. There all
our earthly troubles end, and all our earthly
aspirations are forever blasted. The rich
and poor, the high and low, the honored and
unknown, lie there, forgotten by all but few,
and are remembered by those few only for a
short time. What small speck each of us
at last is forced to tooccupy! Those, who, when
living, could not be satisfied with thousands
of acres, are now content with q few feet.
How short and how narrow is the grave
That place in which the flesh of kings decays,
and their bones crumble into dust, is fearfully
small What rebuke to the covetous; how
humblng to the ambitious, is the grave! The
inhabitants of the graveyard never quarrel
about the chief seats. The worms make no
distinctions. They prey upon all alike.
81 KEPT THE FAITH"
These words form part of the last public
work that the great Apostle of the Gentiles
did. He was soon delivered into the hands
of Nero, the most cruel and ruthless of all
tyrants. The Apostle, then an old man.
looked back and reviewed all his past life
both public and private, and in view of death
and the Judgment, deliberately declared, 81
have fought good fight. I have kept the
faith." The last moments of almost every
man are, on some accounts, interesting; but
of such a man as Paul, the last moments and
expiring words, are intensely interesting
Right or wrong, Paul was no sham man; he
was no hypocrite-no deceiver. His words
we're not uttered for the sake of producing an
impression contrary to the sentiments of his
heart. What he said he believed, and be-
lieved with all his soul, and what he believed
he said when it was prudent so to do. tie
never, neither before nor after his conversion
thought one thing and said another. When
he said he had fought good fight, he meant
Just what he said, and when he said, 81 have
kept the fath," he was conscious that such
was actually the case. By fighting good
fight, we suppose he meant that he had, by
Gods sustaining grace, resisted the lusts OF
his own flesh, the alurements of wicked
world, and the temptations of Satan and
that he had preached Christ and him cruci-
fed, regardless of the jeopardy in which it
almost constantly placed his life. What does
he mean when he says, 81 have kept the
faith?" We might, unless we carefully ex'
anime the connection in which the words
stand, conclude that by this expression he
means that he had believed in Christ and
made a public profession of this belief, and
amid dangers and difficulties, perseveringly
maintained, to the present moment, his profes-
sion. This is true; but it is not, we suppose,
the truth taught by the words, 81 have kept
the G.ith." This is rather the truth that is
taught by the words, 81 have fought a good
fight" BY the words, 81 have kept the
faith" we think the Apostle means that he
had done the right thing in the right way.
Unless we mistake his meaning, his object
is to impress it upon the minds Of all coming
generations that he had not only resisted the
lusts of the flesh and the temptations of Sa-
tan but he had resisted in the right way. He
not only preached Christ and him cruciied,
but he preached in the proper way. This is
a most important thing. Thousands struggle
as hard as Paul did, but they accomplish
nothing, because they struggle in the wrong
way they do not keep the faith. Nothing is
more important than to do things right.
When we do what is our duty, so far as the
letter is concerned, but perform that duty in
an imprudcnt, or even unbecoming way, we
fail to keep the faith, and much, if not all the
good results which attended upon Pauls Ia
bors, are never secured by us.
USING THE WORLD.