The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-08-04

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transaction into Thy hands" That is what
religion is good for, or it is COOL for nothing
There are two things, says an old proverb,
you ought not to fret about: First, things
that you can help; and, second things
which you can not help. If you can help
them, why do you not apply the remedy! II
you can not help them, you might as well
surrender first as last My dear brethren,
do no sit any longer moping about yorr
upon your stock Of unstable goods. Do you
| think that God is going to allow you, Chris
| tian man, to do business alone! God is the
| controlling partner in every firm: and
| although your debtors may abscond, although
your securities may fail, although your store
| may burn, God will, out of an inflnity of re-
| suits, choose for you the very best results
Do not have any idea, that you can overstep
| the limit that God has laid down for your
| prosperity. You will never get one inch be-
yond it. God has decided how much pros
| perity you can stand honorably, and employ
| usefully, and control righteously; and at the
end Of 1886 you will have just so many dollars
and cents, just so much wardrobe, just so
much furniture, just so many bonds and
mortgages, and nothing more will give
nd S for every yos rsnHy beyRRd aos that h g0d
is best for you, and He is going to bless you
in time and bless you for eternity; and He
will do it in the best way.
Your little child says: Papa, wish you
would let me have that knife I" "No,' you
say, 1T is sharp knife. and you will cut
yourself" He says: Il must have it. ." "But
you can not have it," you reply. He gets
angry and red in the face, and says he will
have it; but you say he shall not have it.
God treats His children. I say: 81 wish,
Heavenly Father, to get that" God says:
"No, my child" I say: II must have it,"
God says: "You can not have it." I get
angry and say: 81 will have it." God says:
You shall not have it." And 1 do not get
it. Is He not kind and loving and the best Of
fathers? Do you tell me there is no rule and
regulation in these thingsa Tell that to the
lnen who believe in no God and no Bible.
Tell it not to me.
A man OF large business concludes to go
out of his store, leaving much of his invest
ments in the business, and he says to his
sons: "Now. I am going to leave this busi-
ness in your hands, Perhaps may come
ba in little while, and perhaps not.
While I am gone you will please to look
after affairs" After awhile the father comes
back and finds everything at loose ends, and
the whole business seems to be going wrong.
he says: II am going to take possession OF
this business-you know l never fully sur
rendered it,; and henceforth consider your
it? He saves the business. The Lord
seems to let US go on in life guided by
our own skill, and we make miserable
work of it. Go1 comes down to our
shop or our store and says: "Things are 60
ing wrong; come to take charge. am mas
ter, and know what is best, and proclaim
my authority" We are merely subordi-
mates. 1t is like boy at school with a
long sum that he cannot do. He has been
working at it for hours, making figures here
and rubbing out figures there, and it is all
mixed up; and the teacher, looking over the
boys shoulder, knows that he cannot get out
Of it, and cleaning the slate, says: "Begin
again. Just so God does to u.s. Our affairs
get into an inextricable ENHANCEMENT, and
He rubs everything out and says: Begin
againl" Is He not wise and loving in so
doing!
think the trouble is that there is so large
difference between the Divine and the human
e;timate as to what is enough. have heard
of people striving for that which Is enough,
but never heard of any one who had enough.
What God calls enough for man, man calls
too little What man calls enough, God says
is too much. The difference between poor
man and a rich m Ill is only the difference in
banks. The rich man puts his money in the
Nassau Bank, or the Park Bank, or Fulton
Bank, or some other bank of that character,
while the poor man comes up and makes his
investments in the bank Of Him who runs al
the quarries, all the mines, all the gold, all
thu EARTH all heaven. Do you think man
can fail when he is backed up like that?
want to bring this truth close up to the
heart of those people In this audience who
have to calculate rigid economy, who are
perplexed how they will make the old gar
ment hold out a little longer, with whom the
great question is not which is the best invest
ment or the most lucrative security, but how
shall make the two ends meet! To such
people bring the con lolence of this Chris
tian truth.
You may have seen map on which is de-
scribed, with red ink, the travels of the chill
dren of Israel through the desert to the
Promised Land. You see how they took this
and that direction, crossed the river and
went through the sea. Do you know God
has made q map of your life, with paths lead
ing UP to this bitterness and that success,
through this river and across that seal But,
be ssed be God! the path always comes out
at the Promised Land. Mark that! Mark
that!
l remark, again, that all those things that
se,m to be but accidents in our life are under
the Divine supervision. We sometimes seem
to be going helmless and anchorless. You
say: tFIf hal some other trade; il had
not gone there this summer il had lived in
some other house." You have no right to
YOU have taken, every burden you have car
ried, is under Divine inspection, and that
event which startled your whole household
with horror, God met with perfect placidity,
because he knew it was for your good. 1t
was part Of q great plan projected long
ago. In eternity, when you come to
reckon up your mercies, you will point to
thai atiiction as one Of your greatest bless
ings. God has strange way with us. Joseph
found his way to the Prime Minister'S chair
by being pushed into pit; and to many q
Christian down is up The wheat must be
failed; the quarry must be blasted; the dia-
mond must be ground; the Christian must be
afflicted; and that single event. which you
supposed stood entirely alone, was connect
ing link between two great chains, one chain
reaching through all eternity past and the
other other chain reaching through all eter-
nifty future, so small an event fastening two
eternites together.
A missionary, coming from India to the
United States, stopped at st. Helena while
the vessel was taking water. He had his little
embankmsnt, and rock at that moment be-
came loosened, and falling, Instantly killed
the child. Was it an accident! Was it
surprise to God! Had He allowed His servant,
after life of conservation, to come to such a
trial? Not such is my God. Th ere are no
accidents in the divine mind, though they
may seem so to us. God is good, and by
every single incident Of or life, whe: her 1T
be adverse or otherwise before earth and
Heaven God will demon Strate His mercy.
II hear man say: "That idea he titles
God. You bring Him down to such little
things OH I have more thorough ap-
probation Of God in little things than have
in great things The mother does not wa
until the child has mashed its foot or broken