The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-09-05
A Blessing or . Curse.

with the Scotch thistle, which the farm
ers find it impossible to exterminatA on
the other hand, the forests and fields are
fragrant and lauen with the sweetness of
honey, which has been and is still one Of
the blessings of the western slope of the
Rocky mountains. Even so does every
Christian carry with him some thistle
plucked from the old man, or honey
from the new man, with which to bless
or curse men, according as he makes
choice for God. How precious is our
influence; how we should watch and
guard it.-Words and Weapons.
Tho Bible Book for Workers.
It III one of the characteristics of the
Bible, that it is written as if its object
were to get work out of men. It exhorts
every faculty to action. It sends its
charges thrilling along every fibre. It
worries Incidence into action. It sends
strong, crisp current of oxygen into
shrunken lungs. 1t shocks spiritual
paralysis into life. Has it never occurred
to you that it is among an activc-minded
and a quick-handed people that the
Bible finds its home7 The south, with
its slumberous atmospheres, its lazily-
moving vapors, its case and lassitude,
with its heavy abundance Of vegetable
life, does not seem the proper abode of
the Bible. It was written by men who
were born and reared in a cooler air.
From their earliest growth they had
lived in q land of mountains and torrents
and waves; and through their images and
similtudcs they carried the stir and ac-
tion of nature into the sacred books.
There are entire chapters in the Bible
that are full of winds and waves and the
roarings of tempest. There are passages
in the New Testament that sound Like
the splashing of rain and the shrek of
circling winds. Here you find the frag-
rance of a lily, and anon a verse which
rises upon the mind as a breeze comes
to the senses when it has blown through
and taken to itself the fragrance of a
pine. The Bible is therefore, as you see
even in its verbal expression, book of
action. It is full of stir and rustic and
movement. It is quick, lively and ac-
tive,-more like a sanitary commission
than nunnery, more like battlefield
than convent. Golden Rule.
Christ has taught US that if our eye be
single, our whole body shall be full Of
light. By this beautiful figure he pre-
sents to US the very highest attainment
of Christian character. By the single
eye we understand singleness of purpose,
constant, undertaking aim in all things
to please God and to do his will. 1t is
the same thought expressed by the apos-
tie when he exhorts us, "whether we eat
or drink, or whatsoever we do, to do all
to the glory of God" What higher state
of perfection than this-a state in which
the heart and mind are true to God as
the needle to the pole-can any man at
tain2 The fullness of blessing, promised
as resulting from this state, shows that it
embraces all we can hope to attain in this
life. Singleness of purpose and fullness
of blessing in the service of God is our
highest attainment and our purest JOY on
earth. Christian Union.
There is certain class of unbelievers
who are forever telling us that the reason
why they do not become Christians is that
there are so many hypocrites in the
church. This is the strangest excuse,
for it is not reason. Suppose there are
hypocrites in the church, what of it2
They won't be in heaven, but in hell,
when the judgment is concluded. And
if O man refuses Christ, no matter what
nav be his reason, he will at length be
in hell, and then ne and the hypocrites
will be together. 1t is in effect to say,
''Rather than be Christian and church
member in which there are some hypo-
critics, with whom I must live in out
ward fellowship for few years, I will
reject Christ, lose my own soul and live
in hell with the hypocrites forever. -
Children's Record.
Christ is the key to the history of the
world. Not only does all harmonize with
the mission of Christ; all is subordinated
to it. When saw this it was to me as
wonderful and surprising as the light
which Paul saw on his way to Damascus
-Von Muller.
In Springfield, Mass, on q recent sun
day, ten clergymen called on their par
ishioners for an expression of opinion IN
regard to restricting the liquor traffic.
Slips of paper were distributed in the
news with the words: "The undersigned
desires to sustain the aldermen IN the
utmost restriction of license" and re.
ceived many hundred signatures.
The Hon. B. Fl. Hill, of Atlanta, Ga,