The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-07-21

eosu"ssion and said there we no h0N
end nothing more could BE- done
and the soul frightened up uudei
tne spiritual restorative. There 10 nc
| fever, no marasmus, NO neuralgia, no con.
sumption, no disease Of the body that the
grace Of God will not help. wish thai
over every bed Of pain and through every
hospital OF distress we might swing this
"ciuster OF campfire from the whey ardi
OF En'gedi." Christ's hand Is the softest
pulow, Christ's pardon IL the s4ronges,
stimulus, Christ's comfort 10 the mightiest
anodyne, Christ's salvation 10 the grand
est restorative. Il makes man miehtis,
than his physical distress.
Art thou weary Art thou ianguId7 Ar,
| thou sore distressed?
''Con,e 10 me- saith ons-"and coming. b.
| ct rest"
II l ask him to receive me, will he say me
nay?
Not till earth and not I'LL heaven pass awav,
Finding. following, keeping, struggling, 10 He
| sure to bless?
Saints. apostles, prophets, martyrs, answer
| "Yesp
Nero tarred and put pitch upon tie
Christians of his day, and then set them
on fire, that they might illuminate the
night round about the palace; but while
they were burning and the crowd beneat h
were jeering, louder than all the noise
went up the song Of praise and triumph
from the dying martyrs. John Bradford
came out in the presence of the instrument
Of torture that was to put MIN to death
and said: ~ am Christian now. have
never been before" And so, again and
again, the Lion of Judah's tribe has torn
to pieces the wild beasts Of martyrdom.
This grace Is also restorative for the
backslider. Who do you mean by that,
you say. l mean you who used to fire..
quent the house of God, but seldom 70
there now; you who once used to pray,
but never pray now; you who once sat at
the holy communion, but take not tho
Lords cup now; mean you who once 70.
joicsd in Christian society, but now cit
amid scoffers. Backslider! Oh, what .
suggestive word Backslider! From what
have you slid backi You have slid
back from your fathers faith, from
your early good habits. You have
been aiding back from Christ, from
the cross-sliding back from Heaven.
When = man begins to slide he
knows not whore he will 60. You have
been sliding back toward darkness. You
have been sliding back toward an un.
blessed grave, toward prscipice, the first
100000 miles Of which downward are
only small part Of the eternal plunge.
You were, perhaps, professors in the
country; you have made shipwreck in the
town. II may be that the club blasted
you; II may be that fashionable society
destroyed you; il may be the kind of wife
whom you married. You have no more
hope for heaven now than II you had lived
In Central Asia and never heard Of Christ
and the Judgment. Oh, where is that
Bible you use to readi Where 10 that
room where you used 70 prayi What
have you done with that Jesus whose
voice you once heard! Oh, muir.
dsrsd hours! Oh, mastered privileges
Oh, dead opportunities! Wake up now
and shrek in that mans ear until he shall
rouse himself from the horrible somnam.
bulism, walking, - hs does, fast asleep,
within an inch of hell. Oh, that he might
cry out now: "Golden Sabbaths, come
back! Communion seasons, come back !
Wooings Of the Holy Ghost, como back p
But they will not come. Gone! gone !
gone! Sorrow will come, but not they.
Oh. that you might save the few remain.
ing years Of your life and oonsecrate them
to Christ! have seen sad sights, have
heard sad sounds; but, ! tell you, the
ghastliest thing outside the gates Of tue
damned il q backslider's death bed Do
you not feel like having applied to your
soul this divine prerogstivei Do you
not feel like crying out with David: IRE.
store unto me the joys Of Thy salvations"
For great sin, great pardon. For deep
wounds, omnipotent surgery. For deal
ears, q divine aurist. For blind eyes. q
heavenly oculist. For the dead in sin, the
upheaval Of great resurrection.
But in the heavenly world we shall feel
the chief restorative power of religion.
This is planet Of weeping We are living
on. We enter upon life with cry AMI
leave it with long sigh. II could gath.
or up the griefs Of this audience and put
them In one sentence, and then utter H. II
would make every thing betw cen here and
the throne Of God shudder and
howl. The earth Is gashed deeI
with graves. As at the close of the
war, sometimes we saw q regiment of on,
hundred and fifty men, the fragment o.
the thousand men that went out; so, 40
stand before you can not but realize tn,
fact that you are the fragments represent
ing hundreds Of regiments of joyful asso
Citations that have been broken up forever
o, this Is u world Of sorrow! But, blessed
be God, there will be no sorrow In Heaven
The undertaken will have to have som'
other business there. In the summer tim,
our cities have bills Of mortality which arr
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. in New York thou
sand deaths in week, sometimes it hal
been two Thousand in London; bu
In that great heavenly city Their
will be not . single case Of sick
ness or death; not one black dress o
mourning, but plenty Of white robes o
joy; shaking of welcome. but nom
of separation. Why, IL one trouble shoult
attempt to enter Heaven, the shining pc
lice of the city would put it under ever
lasting arrest. II all the sorrows Of life
mailed and sworded under Apollyou
should attempt to force that gate, on
company from the tower would strike ther
back bowling to the pit Room in Heave
for all the raptures that ever knocked q
the gate, but no room for the smslles
annoyance, though slight as q summer in
sect Doxology, but no dirge; banquet
ing, but no funeral baked meats"
No darkness at all; no grief at all; n
sickness at all; no death at all. A SO,
waking up in that place will say: "Can
be that l am hereg VIII my head neve