The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-07-25

out Of which to drink; but Christ had moth
ing but plain cup set before Him, and il
was very sharp, and it was very sour. HI
took the vinegar.
There also is the sourness Of bereavement
There were years that passed along befor'
your family circle was invaded by death
but the moment the charmed circle was
broken, everything seemed to dissolve. Hard
ly have you put the black apparel in tn
wardrobe, before you have again to take il
out. Great and rapid changes in you
family record. You got the hous
and reioiced in it, but the charm
was gone as soon as the Grape hung on tht
door-bell. The one upon whom you most de
pended was taken away from you. A cole
marble slab lies on your heart to-day. Once
as the children romped through the house
and said: "Oh, if I could only have it still.
patience when the tops, and the strings, and
the shells were left amid floor; but oh, you
would be willing to have the trinkets scat
tered all over the floor again, If they were
scattered by the same hands. With what q
ruthless ploughshare bereavement rips up the
heart. But Jesus knows all about that. You
cannot tell him anything new in regard
to bereavement. He had only afew friends
and when He lost one it brought tears to His
his house. Now Lazarus is dead and buried,
and Christ breaks down with emotion-the
CONFUSION of grief shuddering through all
the ages OF bereavement. Christ knows what
it is to 90 throughthe house missing familiar
inmate. Christ knows what it IS to see an
unoccupied place at the table. We're there
not four Of them-Mary and Martha, and
Christ and Lazarusl Lonely and afflicted
Christ, His great loving eyes filled will
tears, which drop from eye to check, ane
from cheek to beard, aud from beard tx
robe, and from robe to floor. Oh, yes, yes
He knows all about the loneliness and the
heartbreak. He took the vinegar!
Then there is the sourness of the death.
hour Whatever else we may escape, that
ecid-sponge will be pressed to our lips.
sometimes have curiosity to know how !
will behave when come to die. Whether !
will be calm or excited--whether I will be
filled with "reminiscences or anticipation.
cannot say. But come to the point,
must and you must, In the six thousand
years that have passed, only two persons have
got into the eternal world without death, and
I do not suppose that God is going to send a
carriage for us with horses of fame, to draw
us up the sleeps Of heaven; but suppose we
will have to 90 like the preceding genera
tions. An officer from the future world
will knock at the door of our heart and
serve on US the writ of ejectment, and we
will have to surrender. And we will wake
up after these autumnal, and wintry, and
vernal, and summery glories have vanished
from our vision-we will wake up into 9
realm which has only one season, and
that the season. of everlasting love.
But you say: 81 don't want to break
out from my present associations. 1t is
so chilly and so damp to 60 down
the stairs Of that vault. Idon't want any.
thing drawn so tightly over my eyes. II
there were only some way OF breaking
through the partition between worlds with
out tearing this body all to shreds. [
wonder if the surgeons and the doctors cam
not compound mixture by which this body
and soul can all the time be kept to-
sss Est5'r Is there Sone escape aResoae eF
none. So look over this audience to-day
the vast majority of you seeming in good
health and spirits-and yet realize that in
short time all of US will be gone-gone from
earth, and gone for ever. A great many men
tumble through the gates Of the future, as it
were, and we do not know where
they have gone, and they only add
gloom and mystery to the passage;
but Jesus Christ so nightly stormed
never since been closely shut. Christ knows
what it is to leave this world, of the beauty
of which He was more appreciative than we
ever could be. He knows the exquisiteness
of the phosphoresence Of the sea; He trod it.
He knows the glories Of the>midnight heav-
ems: for they were the spangled canopy of
His wilderness pillow. He knows about
the lilies. He twisted them into His sermon
He knows about the fowls Of the air; they
He knows about the sorrows Of leaving this
beautiful world. Not taper was kindled in
the darkness He died physicianless. He
died in cold sweat, and dizziness, and hemor-
rhage, and agony that have put Him in SYM
pathy with all the dying. He goes through
and He gathers up the stings
out Of all the death pillows, and He puts
them under his own neck and head. He
gathers on His own tongue the burning
thirsts Of many generations. The sponge is
soaked in the sorrows Of all those who per-
ished in icy or fiery martyrdom. While
heaven was pitying, and earth was mocking,
and hell was deriding, He took the vinegar!
To all those in this audience to whom life
has been an acerbity-a dose they could not
swallow, draught that set their teeth on
edge and a.rasping-1 preach the omnipo-
tent sympathy Of Jesus Christ. The sister
Of Herschel, the astronomer, used to
help him in his work. He got all the
credit; she got none. She used to
SpenQ mucn VI ner Gliiie PoHSh!he euo
telescopes through which ne brought
the distant worlds nigh, and it is my am.
bit;on now, this hour, to clear the lens Of
your spiritual vision, so that looking through
the dark night Of your earthly troubles you
NAV behold the glorious constellation of
Saviour's mercy and Saviour's love- o, my
friends, do not try to carry all your ills
alone. Do not put your poor shoulder under
the Apennines when the Almighty Christ is
ready to lift up all your burdens. When you
have burden of any kind, you rush this
way and that way; and you wonder what
this man will say about it, and what that
man will say about it; and you try this pre-
scription, and that prescription, and the
straight to the heart Of Christ, knowing that
for our own SHINING and suffering race, He
took the vinegar.
There was vessel that had been tossed on
the ssas for a great many weeks, and been
disabled, and the supply of water gave out,
and the crew were dying Of thirst. After
many days, they saw sail against the sky.
They signaled it. When the vessel came
nearer, the people on the suffering ship cried
to the captain of the other vessel: "Send
Us some water. We arc dying for lack of
water" And the captain on the vessel that
was hailed responded: dip your buckets
where YOU are. You are in the mouth Of the
Amazon. and there are scores of miles of fresh
water all around about you, and hundreds
of feet Deep And then they dropped their
buckets over the side Of the vessel, and
brought up the clear, bright, fresh water,
aud put out the fire of their thirst. So hail
you to-day, after long and perilous voyage,
thirsting as you are for pardon,
and thirsting for comfort, and thirst;ng
for eternal life; and ask you what is the USE
of your going in that death-struck state,
while all around you is the deep, clear, wide,
sparkling flood of Gods sympathetic mercy.
o. dip your buckets, and drink, and live for
ever. "Whosoever will, let him come and
take Of the water Of life freely
Vet NV ,ltteranca is almost choked AZ tha