Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-07-11

y what is the matter of me-" A rough sailo
!, got up and said: "My lad, know. what
i the matter of you. You have found Jesus
lt is enough to make any man happy"
ri His worth if all the nations knew,
Z Sure the whole earth would love Him, too.
!, remark again Christ is precious t.
the believer, as final deliverer. You ant
| must after awhile get out of this world
Here and there one perhaps may come OF
to eighty, to ninety years of age, but you
common sense tells you that the mex
twenty-five years will land the majority o
this audience in eternity. The next tel
! years will thin out great many of thes,
family circles. This day may do the worl
for some of us. Now why do I say this
To scare your No; but just as I would
stand in your Office, if were business
man and you were business man, and tall
over risks. You do not consider it coward
ly to talk in your store over temporal risks
Is it base in us this morning to talk littl,
while over the risks of the soul, that ar,
for eternity9 In every congregation death
has the last year been doing great deal o.
work. Where is your fatherP Where i.
your mother? Your child? Your brother
Your sister? 0. how cruel does death
seem to be Will he pluck every flower
Will he poison every fountain ? Will be
put black on every door knob? Will he
snap every heart string? Can I keeI
nothing? Are there no charmed weapons
with which to go out and contend agains,
him? Give me some keen sword, sharp
ened in Gods armory, with which I may
stab him through. Give me some battle
axe that may clutch it and hew him from
helmet to sandal. Thank God, thank
God, that he that rideth on the pale horse
hath more than match in Him who
rideth on the white horse st. John heard
the contest, the paving Of the steeds, the
rush, the battle-cry, the onset, until the
pale horse came down on his launches, and
Conqueror, with uplifted voice declared it
30 death, will be thy plague o grave, /
will be thy destruction"
The sepulchre is lighted castle on the
shore of heavenly seas, and sentinel angels
walk up and down at the door to guard it.
The dust and the dampness of the grave are
only the spray of the white surf of celestial
seas, and the long breathing of the dying
Christian, that you call his gasping, is only
the long inhalation of the air of heaven. o,
bless God for what Christ is to the Christian
soul, here and hereafter!
heard a man say some time ago, that
they never laugh in heaven. do not
know where he got his authority for that.
think they do laugh in heaven. When
victors come home, do we not laugh? When
fortunes are won in day, do we not
laugh? After we have been ten or fifteen
years away from our friends, and we greet
them again, do we not laugh? Yes, we will
laugh in heaven. Not hollow laughter,
not meaningless laughter, but full, round,
clear, deep, resonant outbreak of eternal
gladness. O, the glee of that moment when
we first see Jesus! think we will take the
first two or three years in heaven to look at
Jesus; and if, in ten Thousand years there
should be moment when the doxology
paused, ten thousand souls would cry out {:
| "Sing! sing!" aud when the cry was:
"What shall we sing?" the answer would
be: ''JesusS Jesus!" O., you may have all
much about them. You may have all the
robes in heaven; do not care SO much
about them. You may have all the scep-
tres in heaven; | do not care SO much about
them. You may have all the thrones in
heaven; do not care so much about them.
| But give me Jesus-that is enough heaven
for me. 0, Jesusl long to see Thee.
Thou ''chief among ten thousand, the One
altogether lovely"
There may be some here who have come
hardly knowing why they come. Perhaps
it was as in Paul's time-you have come to
hear what this babbler sayeth; but am
glad to meet you face to face, and to strike
hands with you in one earnest talk about
your deathless spirit. Do you know, my
friend, that this world is not good enough
for you? It cheats. 1t fades. 1t dies. You
are immortal. / see it in the deathless spir-
it looking out from your eye. 1t is
mighty spirit. 1t is an immortal spirit 1t
beats against the window of the cage. I
como out to feed it. During the past week
the world has been trying to feed it with
husks. I come out this morning to feed it
with that bread of which if a man eat he
will never hunger. What has the world
done for you? Has it not bruised you? Has
it not betrayed you? Has is not maltreated
and tell me if that is not so. And yet, will
you trust it? o, wish that you could for
get me-the weak and sinful man-that l
might vanish from your sight this morning,
and that Jesus might come in. Aye, He
comes here this morning to plead for your
soul-comes in all covered with the wounds
of Calvary. He says: 80, immortal man,
l died for thee. I pity thee. I come to
save thee. With these hands, torn and
crushed, will lift thee up into pleasures
that never die" Who will reject, who will
drive Him back? When Christ was slain on
the cross, they had cross, and they had
nails, and they had hammers. You cruelty
by your sin. o, iinpenitent soul, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Here is cross, but where
are the nails? Where are the hammers?
'tAh," says some one rejecting Christ
some one standing long way off: 81 will
furnish the nails. don't believe in that
Jesus. will furnish the nails" Now we
have the nails; vino will furnish the ham,
mers? "Ah," says some hard heart, 81
will furnish the hammers" Now we have
the nails and the hammers. We have no
spears; who will furnish the spears? "Ah,"
says some one long in the habit of sin and
rejection of Christ's mercy: 81 will fur
nish them." Now we have all the instru-
ments; the cross, the nails, the hammers,
the spears; and tho crucifxion goes on. o,
the darkness; Q; the pangs! o, the tears!
o, the death! "Behold the Lamb of God
that takest away the sin Of the world"
Lord Jesus, help that man. He sits far
back to-day. He does not like to come for.
ward. He feels strange in religious as
semblage. He thinks perhaps we do not
want him. Jesus, take that trembling
hand. Put thine ear to that agitated heart
and hear how it beats. o, lift the iron
gate of that prison-house and let that man
60 free.
Lcrd Jesus, help that woman. She is a
wanderer. No tears can she weep, See,
Lord Jesus, that polluted soul, see that
blistered foot. No church for her. No
good cheer for her. No hope for her. Lord
Jesus, go to that soul. Thou wilt not stone
her. Let the red hot chain that burns to
the bone till the bloody ichor Kisses in the
heat. snap at Thy touch. o, have mercy
on Mary Magdalene.
Lord Jesus, help that young man. He
took money out Of his employers till.
Didst Thou see it7 The clerks were all
gone. The lights were down. The shutters
were up. Didst Thou see it? o, let him
not fall into the pit. Rememberest Thou
not his mothers prayers? She can pray
for him no more. Lord Jesus, touch him
on the shoulder. Touch him on the heart.
Lord, save that young man. There are
many young men here. got letter from
one of them who is probably here to-day,
and shall have no. other opportunity of
answering that letter. You say you be-
lieve in me. o, do you believe in Jesus? I
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