The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1886-02-19

we want divine grace, when bereavemea
comes into the house, which erst was full
Of sunny locks and greetings at the door
! and kisses flung by little hands from thu
/ window as you went down the front steps
and the doves in the nest cry because thu
hawk swoops, and the heart stops. oh, Il
mt away garments that never will b.
worn again, to gather up from the hool
| TOYS that never again will strew the carpet
\ and to 90 with q sense of suffocation through
| the desolated household that once rang
| with childish merriment! Oh, my God
| who can stand that without thy grace t.
help, without thy grace to smooth, with,
out thy grace to comfort? Oh, you viii
| want Christ in your first trouble, and sc
I beg Of you this morning to take him a.
| yours.
You say you are strong and well. So an
/. You say that life is buoyant and beau.
full. So it is to me. But sickness will come
to you and it viii come to me. We shall
be told we can not go out, the door win be
closed against the world, there win be two
watches, and some will order silence on
the stairs, saying, "Hush, hush !" and in
your dream you will hear the dash OF
water, which You viii take to be the beat
ing Of the-wave Of the Jordan against your
pillow, and you win hear a sound at the
gate which you will take to be the paving
of the pale horse. Obi then you and win
want q physician; we will want Christ
to come in and put his arms around US
and say: "Fear not; all is well, all is
well.n
But there is one more pass Of great inn
portance, Of which must speak-one tre-
mendous crisis, when we win want God. I
say that not more to you than do to my
self. We VIII want God IN that crisis
And that pass is the last hour.
Isuppose we all would like to expire at
home. We want our friends in the room,
some to recite the promise, some to sing,
one to hold the hand. We want to look up
in faces that have been familiar to us o
good while and we win have messages to
give. II we are parents, we will want to
tell our children how they ought to act
when we are gone, what principles they
ought to adopt, how near thcy ought to
live 10 God. 49,
And il we have aged parents living, wa
win want to tell our children how they
ought to act toward the old people-how
they ought to care for them after wc
are gone. think when we leave
this world we win all have .
message to give to somebody. When that
hour comes We will want Christ, We win
want divine friend to stand by US, and to
say that all shall be wen in the future.
"When thou passest through the waters L
win be With thee, and through the rivers
know very well that If we go out Of this
world, my brother, without Christ, we take
. leap into the dark.
Who would want to 60 out Of the world
like that when he can go in triumph inde-
scribable! like Pail, saying: 81 have
fought the good fight, have finished my
course, have kept the faith; henceforth
there II laid up for me . crown Of right
eousness which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, viii give me.n Or that other battle
shout: 10 death, where Is thy sting! o
grave, where is thy victory Thanks be
unto God who giveth me the victory through
my Lord Jesus Christ"
Wen, there are good many men in this
house who say: "What you have declared
this morning II the truth, but am 20 far
gone in sin that there is no hope for me-"
Oh, my brothers! there you make great
mistake. / stand here this morning to de-
clare there u hope for any man who wants
to come TO God. Let the wicked forsake
his way, Ard TIA uufiehteous man his
thought, and let him return unto the Lord,
who win have mercy, and INTO our God,