The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-01-02
spectscl. the ,h,r<, raul-Paul insie

fined association, scourged, spat on,
bounded like q wild beast from city to
city, yet trying to make the world good
and Heaven full announcing resurrection
to those who mourned at the barred gates
OF the dead; speaking consultations which
light up the eyes Of widowhood and or.
phanage and want with glow Of certain
and eternal release; undaunted before
those wo cvsid take his life, his cheek
flushed with tras .port, and his eye on
Heaven; with one hand shaking defiance
palities Of hell, and with the other hand
reckoning messenger angels to come and
bear him away, as he says: 81 am now
ready to be offered, and the .ime Of my de-
parture is at hand; have fought the good
fight have finished my course, l have
kept the faith; benceforth thers is laid up
for me crown of righteousness which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me-"
Which of the three spectacles DO you
most admire? When the wind Of death
struck the conqueror and the infldel they
were tossed like sea-gulls in tempest
drenched of the wave, and torn of the hur-
ricane, their dismal voices heard through
the everlasting storm; but when the wave
and the wind of death struck Paul. like an
albatross, he made throne of the tempest
and one day floated away into the calm,
clear summer of Heaven, brighter than the
dove, its wings covered with silver, and
the feathers with yellow gold. Oh! are
you not in love with such religion--a re-
ligion which can do so much for man
while he lives, and so much for mai
when he comes to die! / suppose
you may have noticed the contrast be-
tween the departure of a Christian and
the departure of an infidel, Deodorus, dy.
ing in chagrin because he could not com.
pose joke equalto the joke uttered at the
other end Of his table. Zeuxis, dying in a
fit of laughter at the sketch OF an aged
woman-a sketch made by his own hand.
Mazarin, dying playing cards, his friend
holding his hands because he was unable
to hold them himself. All that on one
side, compared with the departure Of the
Scotch minister, who said to his friends:
IL have no interest as to whether live or
die; if die, shall be with the Lord, and
if l live the Lord shall be with me-" Or
the last words of Washington: st is
WELL" Or the last words of Mcintosh,
the learned and great: ''Happy"
Or the last word OF Hannah More
the Christian poetess: "Joyw Or
those of thousands of Christians who
have gone. saying: Lord Jesus, re.
ceive my spirit. Come, Lord Jesus, come
quickly" "Oh death! where is thy stingl
o grave where is thy victory" Behold
the contrast! Behold the charm of the
one; behold the darkness of the other
Now. know it is very popular in this day
| for young men to think there is something
more charming in skepticism than in reli.
| gion. They are ashamed Of the old-fash.
toned religion Of the cross, and they pride
themselves on their free thinking on al
these subjects. My young friends, want
to tell you what l know from observation
that while skeptlcism is beaut iful lane
at the start, it is a great Sahara Desert Al
the last. Years ago minister.
| son went off from home to college. At coll
| l,ge he formed the acquaintance Of Q
| young man whom / shall call Ellison. Eli.
son was an infldel. Ellison scoffed at reli'
| gion, and the minister's son soon learned
from him the infdelity, and, when he wen
home on his vacation, broke his father.
heart by his denunciations Of Christianity
Time passed on and vacation came, and thu
minister's son went off to spend the vaca'
ton, and was on a journey and came to I
hotel. The hotel-keeper said; al am sorry
that tonight shall have to put you in {
room adjoining one where there is a very
sick and dying man. can give you no 9th
er accommodation" 'Oh" said the young
college student and minister's son, 'tha
will make no difference to me, except tn,
matter of sympathy with any body tina
is suffering" The young man retired to hi
room, but could not sleep. All nigh
long he heard the groaning Of the sicl
man, or the step of the watchers, and hi
soul trembled. He thought to himself
"Now, there is only thin wall b.tweer
me and departing spirit. How, II Eli
son should know how feel: How. II Eli
son should find out how my heart FILTERS
What would Ellison say il he know my
skepticism gave ways" He slept Dot. II
the morning, coming down, he said to til,
hotel.keeper: How is the SICK man!'
"Oh," said the hotel.keeper, ne 10 dead
poor fellow! The doctors told us 70 coulc
not live through the night" "Ws:!," sait
the young man, what was the sick one'
name? Where is he from?" "Well," sal,
the hotel.keeper, che is from Providence
College," Providence College! What i
his nameW ELLISON" "Ellison?" Oh
how the young man was stunned! 1t wa
his old college, without an
hope. 1t was many hours before tn
young man could leave that. hotel
lie got on his horse and starte,
homeward, and all the way h,
heard something saying to him: dead
Lost! Dead! LOST" He came to no sat
isfaction until he entered the Christia,
life, until he entered the Christian minis
try, until no becams one Of the most emf
nent missionaries Of the cross, the creates
Baptist missionary the world has eve
seen since the days Of Paul-no superio
to Adoniram Judson. Mighty on earth
mighty in Heaven-Adoniram Judsou
Which do you like the best, Judson'
skepticism or Judson's Christian life
Judson's suffering for Christ's sake, Jud
sons almost martyrdom? Oh, young man
take your choice between these two kind
of lives Your own heart tells you thi
morning the Christian life Is more admira
BILE, more peaceful, more comfortable an,
more beautiful.
Oh, il religion does so much for man OF
earth what will it do for him in Heaven
That Is the thought that comes to me now
II soldier can afford to shout: "Huzza !!
when he goes into battle. how much NOR