The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-07-21
ord JESUS, who beautiRes and adorns and

religion Is OF no value TO merchant unless
it keeps him from putting false labels on his
goods; or to the plasterer, unless it keeps him
! from putting up ceiling which he knows
will crack in six months; or to the driver,
! unless it keeps him from lashing his horses to
| eight miles an hour when the thermometer is
| at ninety; OF to the farmer, unless it keeps
him from putting the only sound pippins on
| the top Of the barrel; or to the shoemaker,
| unless it keeps him from substituting brown
paper for good leather in the soles In other
words, the religion of Christ is good for
everything or it is good for nothing.
| The grace of God never afe:ts us by
piecemeal If the heart is changed, the head
| is changed, and the liver is changed, and the
| SPLEEN is changed and the hands are changed,
and the feet are changed, and the store is
changed, and the house is changed, and every.
| thing over which man has any influence
comes to a complete and radical change. The
religion of the Lord Jesus Chr st is not pot
of hyacinthS, to be set in parlor bay win.
dow for passers-by to look at and to be ex-
amined by ourselves only when We have
company, but it is to he a perfume filling
all the room of the heart as "a cluster OF
campfire from the vineyards Of Engedi.'
The trouble is men do not take their religion
with them. The merchant leaves it outside
the counter lest it disturb the goods Tho
housekeeper will not let her religion trail its
robes IN the kitchen on washing day. The
philosopher will not let his religion come in
amid the batteries, lest it get a galvanic
/ shock But tell you unless your religion
goes with you everywhere, it goes nowhere
That religion was intended to color all the
heart and the life.
But mark you, it was bright color. For
the most part it was au orange dye made Of
this campfire plant one of the most brilliant
of all the colors: and so the religion Of Jesus
Christ casts no blackness or gloom upon the
soul. 1t brightens up life; it brightens up
everything There is no more religion in
funeral tha u there is in a wedding no more
religion in tears than in smiles. David was
no fettcr when he said he cried out of the
depths of hell than he was when he said
that his mouth was filled with laughter
and his tongue with singing. The best men
that I have ever known have laughed the
lou,lcst. Religion was intended to brighten
up all our character. Take out the sprig of
cypress from your coat and put in "a cluster
OF campfire from the vineyards Of Ensedi.",
all her paths arc peace" Ihave found it so.
There arc hundreds in this house who have
found it So
lrcu,ark again, that the campfire plantof
the text was Symlnl Of Jesus Ch"ist be-
cause it is o mighty restorative. You know
that there is nothing that starts respiration
as soon in one who has tainted as camphor, as
we Hufolt. III upOu q VI huHhhSt-
chief, the effects are almost immediate.
Well, this campfire plant of the text, though
somewhat different from that which we
have, was pun2ent aromatic, and in that
respect it becomes type of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the Tghticst Of re-
storutives. l have carried this cam
phire plant into tho sick room, after
the doctors have held their consultation
anl sad there was no hope and nothing moro
ny1 hn anil lNri i0l N
untlcr the spiritual restorative. There is no
fever, no marasnuS, no neuralgia, no con-
sumption, no disease Of the body that tho
grnce of God will not help. ] wish that over
every hc OF pain and through every hospital
OF distress we might swing this ''clustcr OF
campfire from tile vineyards Of Enge!li."
Christ'S hand is the softest pillow, ChrstS
par(lon is the strongest stimulus, ChriSts
comfort is the mightiest anodyne, ChristS
salvation is tho grandest restorative. It
makes man nightier than his physical dis
treSS.
Art thou woarya Art thou languidl Art
thou sore distressed!
"Come with me-" saith One-"and coming,
lie at rest"
If ask Him to receive me, will he say me
nay!
Not till earth and not till heaven pass away.
Finding, following, keeping, struggling, is
Ilc ire to bless!
Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, answer
yes!
Nero tarrcd aud put pitch upon the Chris
tianS Of his day, and then set them Oh fire,
that they might illuminate the night round
about the palace, but, while they were burn
ing, and tue crowd beneath were jecring,
louder than ali the noise went up the song Of
praise and triumph TO the dying martyrs
John Bradford came odt in presence Of the
instrument OF torture that was to put him to
death and said: IL am Christian now; /
have never been before" And SO again aud
again the lion of Judah's tribe has torn to
pieces the wild beasts of martyrdom.
This graz Q is also restorative for the back
slider. Who do you mean by thatl You say.
I mean you who used to frequent the house
Of God, but seldom go there now; you who
once nsed to pray, but never pray now; You
who once sat at the holy communion, but
take not the Lords cup now; | mean you
who once rejoiced in Christian society, but
now sit among scoffers. Backslider! On,
what suggestive world Backslider! From
what have you slid back? You have slid
back from your fathers faith, from your early
good habits. You have been sliding back from
Christ, from the cross-sliding back from
Heaven. When a man begins to slide he
knows not where he will go. You have been
sliding back toward darkness. You have been
sliding back toward an unblessed grave,
toward precipice, the first ten million miles
of which downward are only small Fart Of
the eternal plunge. You were, perhaps, pro-
fessors in the country; you have made ship
wreck in the town. 1t way be that the
club blasted you; it may be that fashionable
society destroyed you; it may be the kind
of wife whom you married. You have no
more hope for Heaven now than il
you had lived in Central Asia and never
heard of Christ and the Judgment. Oh,
where is that Bible you used to read' Where
is that room where you used to pray? What
have you done with that Jesus whose voice
you once heard? Oh. murdered hours! Oh.
massacred priyileges! Oh, dead opportuni-
ties! Wake up now and shrek in that mans
ear until he shall rouse himself from the hor-
rible esomnambuism, walking, as he does fast
as;eep, within an inch of he'll. Oh, that he
might cry ont now: "Golden Sablaths,
come back! Communion seasons come backI
Wooings of the Holy Ghost, come back"
But they will not come. Gone, gone gone!
Sorrow will come, but not they. Oh, that
you might save the few remaining years OF
your life and consacrate them to Christ! l
have seen sad sights-I have heard sad
sounds; but tell you the ghastiiest thing
outside the gates of the damned is back
slider's deathbed, Do you not feel like hay
ing applied to Your soul this divine restor-
ative! Do you not feel like crying out with
David: "Restore unto me the joys of thy
savation?' For great sin, great pardon; for
deep wounds, omnipotent surgery; for d al
ears, a divine aurist; for blind eyes,
heavenly oculist: for the dead in sin, the
upheaval of q great resurrection.
But in the heavenly world we shall feel tho
chief restorative power of religion. This is
planet Of weeping We are living on. We enter
uron life with a cry and leave it with a long