The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-11-28

who has gone through long course OF prol-
ligacy and is beginning to pray God for
are too late: the Lord will not help such
wretch a. you; you might as we'll brace
up and fight your own way through"
And so with spite and an acuteness and a
velocity that have been gaining for six thou
sand years. he ranges up and down battling.
disappointing, defeating, affecting. de-
stroying the human race. Through his
own hand or delegated infernalism he has pur.
sued and hurt US all, and cursed every heart
and cursed every home and cursed every ma
tion and cursed every continent. He has in
stigated every war. He has rejoiced in
every pestilence. He has started every groan.
He has pressed out every sigh. He has hurled
every shipwreck Lazarettos, insane asylums,
commercial panics, plaques destroying
angels, continental earthquakes. and world
wide disasters are to him perfect glee. Can
Mormonism and the Mohamme1anism and
the wide sweep of drunkenness and fraud and
lihertinism, the Franco German war and Cr-
mean war, the North and South United States
war and rivers Of blood flowing across CON
tinents Of misery into oceans of wretched-
ness without realizing the pow"r OF the Evil
One, who reported to the Lord Almighty,
and when asked: Whence comest thou' an
swered: From going to and fro in the earth
and from going up and down in it,"
But. blessed be God! I may substitute
anthem for requiem and Halelujah Chorus
for the Dead March in Saul The New
Testament says: "The Son of God was mani
tested that he might destroy the works of the
devil" 1t prophesied that an angel
would come down from heaven with
key and chain and incarcerate and
shut up the old dragon. 1t says that
Christ came to destroy him that had the
nP hot 10
from the way Christ drove the devil out of
those possessed by him until he was glad to
hide under the bristles Of the swine Of Ca
dara, and from other violent eiectments We
know that there is in existence a power
a million-fold mightier than the diabolic.
The old lion Of death shall go down under the
stroke and roar Of the "Lion of Judah's
tribe" Yea, my text shows that Satan was
compelled to report to the Almighty and give
account of himself When God said to him:
whence comest thou?" he was forced to
answer. What means that scripture
which says that Christ shall bruise the
serpents head3 If you have ever killed a
snake the passage ought to be plain to you.
You see this old serpent the devil, has
generations and leaving his trail on
everything; but after a while it will be cor
nered, and Kissing and writhing in rage and
with crest lifted and forked tongue shot out
it will make final attack on Christ, and
Christ will advance upon it, and lifting his
omnipotent foot, that foot strong enough to
crush world, lifting that foot right
over the head of the reptile, will put
down his heel with crushing power
mashed, never to hiss or bite or shake
his old rattle again. Thank God he has al
ready received stunning blow. Hear you
not the rumbling of the Christian printing
presses and the whirling of the Gospel
chariot wheell AS many souls have
been added to the Christian Church in the
last eighty years as in the previous eighteen
centuries and that is a ratio of increase
acc!amatory with gladness. The kigdom is
coming, and l am so sure of it that do not
propose to fret and worry because it has
not already come. I may jump to get
on boat that is going off, but do not pro-
The sharp attacks Of infidelity and sin are
good sign that especial blessing is coming in
showers over all the earth. Flies bite sharp
Just before rain.
1--we do not see the full consummation ou-
children will see it. In the time Of the French
Revolution great procession of boys carried
through the streets banner with the in.
scription: "Tremble, ttyrants,; we shall grow
upr' Though we may fail to do our duty there
is a rising generation being gospelized
and coming by hundreds Of thousands from
our Sabbath schools and Christian homes
who might properly have on their banners:
"Tremble, ye powers of darkness and SIM for
we are growing up" We may not amount
to much in ourselves, but it we put our
selves in the right place we can do great
exploits. Two put under two only make
four: but placed beside two make twenty
two. Yet what you and most neeo
power to drive back this Apollyon, tnls as,
modeus, this Ahrimanes from our hearts ana
lives, Andw can do it not by our own strength
butby divinepower afforded, for here IL pas.
sage emblazoned with encouragement Whlcn
saws: "Resist the devil and he will flee from
you.n Remember it is no sin AZ all 20 DC
tempted. The best and the mightiest have
been tempted. Milton describes toao
SQUAT at the ear of eve. The sin IS IN sur
rendering. Do not feel so secure IN yourself
How do YOU account for the fact that there
are so many old men in Sing Sing and
Auburn and the other penitentiaries, serving
out their protracted sentences Tor frauas
committed in mid-lire or advanced ages, al,
though their early life had been good, ana
nothing had been suspected OF them until at
fifty or sixty years Of age the land was
struck dumb at their forgery or einCezite, m;;t,,
ment2 The clock in the steepe of old Trinity
Church striking tho hours did not remind
the recreant Wall-streeter Of the passage
of time that would soon bring to him
exposure and doom The explanation is
that Mephistopheles, Apollvon. Satan got IN
his work at that time Ths man was not
naturally bad. He was as good as any OF
YOU are, but Satan with whole battalions OF
INTERVALS swooped upon him unawares: LOOK
out for the wiles of the devil, not only
those of you who are young but the middle
aged and the oil. Outside of God you are
not safe q moment. But yield not to DIS,
heartenment. If we put our trust IN God
our best days are yet to cone,days OF VIC,
tory, days of song, days OF heaven, ana
rishteousness rhs s in all the earth are yet
to come AS the ten thousand men OF
Xenophon's army when they came to the top
OF Mount Theches and saw the waters on
which they were to sail to their homes, the
soldiers with clapping hands and waving
banners altogether shouted: 1.-The sea: ths
sear' So we to-day in our march toward
our heavenly home come up to the top OF tne
mountain of holy anticipation and look or
upon oceans of light and oceans of glory and
oceans of Joy; and thrilled as we have never
been thrilled before we clap our hands anu
wave our gospel ensigns and cry one to an
other and Shout up to the responding and re-
echoinq heavens: ''The sea: the sea-"
Cheap Intoxicants.
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