The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-02-20

was, and in the night you put your hand o
the doorbell. and behold it was Wrappe
with the signal Of bereavement, and yo
found that Amalekitish Death, which ha
devastated q thousand other households
had blasted yours. You so about weepsn
amidst the desolation of your once haSG
home, thinking of the bright eyes closed
| and the noble hearts stopped, and the ge1sl
hands folded, and you weep until you hsv
no power to weep. Ziklag in ashes!
A gentleman went to friend OF mine il
the city Of Washington, and asked tha
through him he might get a consulship t.
some foreign port. Ny friend said to him
'What do you want to 60 away from you
beautiful home for, into a foreign port:'
49," he replied, my home is gone! M.
six children are dead l must get away. sir
can't stand 1t in this country any longerj
Ziklag in ashes.
Why these long shadows Of bereavemen
across this audiences Why is it that in al
most every mblage black is the predomi
nant color of the apparels Is it because yo.
do not like saffron or brown or violet: o
no! You say: "The world is not so brigh
to us as it once was;n and there is story
Of silent voices. and Of still feet, and of lovet
ones gone, and when you look over the hills
expecting only beauty and lovelineSs. yoI
find only devastation and woe Ziklag !:
ashes. 10
In Ulster County, n. Y, the village c'uroa
was decorated until the fragrance Of tie
flowers was almost bewildering. The maid
ems Of the village had emptied the place OF
flowers upon one marriage altar. One OF
ba; ,l,, ;pic
ter OF Christ, who had come to take her to
to his home. With hands joined, amidst a
congratu]atory audience, the VOWS We're
taken. In three days fsom that time one OF
those who stood at the altar exchanged
earth for Heaven. The wedding march
broke down into the funeral dirgc. There
were not enough flowers now for the coffin
lid, because they had all been taken for the
bridal hour. The dead minister OF Christ
is brought to another village. He had gone
out from them less than a week before in
his strength: now he comes home lifeless.
The whole church bewailed him. The
solemn procession. moved around to look up
on the still face that once had beamed with
messages of salvation. Little children were
lifted up to look at him. And some OF those
whom he had comfortcd in days of sorrow,
when they passed that silent form, made
the place dreadful with their weeping. An
other village emptied Of its howers-some
OF them put in the shape Of a cross to sym
bolize his hope others put in the shape of
crown to symbolic his triumph. A hundred
lights blown out in one strong gust from
the open door Of sepulcher. Ziklag in
ashes!
l preach this sermon to-day because
want to rally you as Dav id rallied his
men for the recovery Of the loved and the
lost. want not only to win Heaven, but
want all this congregation to 90 along with
me- feel that somehow l have response
bility in your arrival at that great city. l
have on other Sabbaths used other induce
ments. mean to-day, for the sake OF
--.,,.. }, -. ~ try
another kind Of inducement. Do you realty
want to join the companionship OF your
loved ones who have gone! Are you as anX.
ious to join them as David and his men
were to join their familiess Then l am
here, in the name Of God, to say that you
may and TO tell you how.
Iremars, in the first place, if you want TO
join your loved ones in glory, you must
travel the same way they went. No sooner
had the half-dead Egyptian been resusci-
tated then he pointed the waye the captors
aud the captives had gone, and David and
his men followed after. So our Christian
friends have gone into another country, and
if we want to reach their companionship we
must take the same road. They repented;
we must repent. They prayed; we must
pray. They trusted 10 Christ; we must
trust in Christ. They lived religious life;
we must live q religious life. They were IN
some things like ourselves. know, now
that they are gone, there is halo around
their names; but they had their faults.
They said and did things they ought never
to have said or done. They We're sometimes
rebeliious, sometimes cast down. They
were far from being perfect. So l suppose
that when we have gone, some things in US
that are now only tolerable, may be almost
resplendent But as they were like US in de-
ficieucies we ought to be like them in TAX
ing a supernatural Christ to make up for
the deficits. Had it not been for Jesus, they
would have all perished; but Christ con-
fronted them, and said: II am the way"
and they took it.
have also to say to you that the path
these captives trod was troubled path,
and that David and bis men had to go over
the same difficult way While these cap
tives were being taken of they said:. so,
we are so tired; we are so sick; we are so
hungry" But the men who had charge OF
them said: "Stop this crying. Go on. "
David and his men also found it a hard way.
They had to travel it. Our friends have
gone into glory, and it is through much
tribulation that we are to enter into the
kingdom How our loved ones used to have
to struggle. How their old hearts ached
How sometimes they had tusSle for bread
In our childhood we wondered why there
were so many wrinkles on their faces. we
did not know that what were called Grow
feet'' on their faces were the marks OF the
black raven Of trouble. Did you never heas
the old people, seated by the evening stand,
talk over their early trials, their hardshlpS,
the accidents, the burials. the disappolnt
ments, the empty -four barrel when there
were so many hungry ones to feed, the sick
ness almost unto death, where the next dose
Of morphine decided between CHASTITY be
| reavement and an uubrozen home circle? O
YES! it was trouble that whitened their hair
| 1t was trouble that shook the cup II
their hands. It was trouble that washed
the luster from their eyes with the rain O.
tears until they needed spectacles. 1t was
trouble that made the cane necessity foI
their Journey. Do you never remember
seeing your old mother sitting, on some
rainy day, looking out Of the window, he
elbow on the windowsill, her hand to he
brow-looking out, not seeing the fallin!
shower at all (you well knew she was look
ing into the distant pasO, until the apron
came up to her eyes, because the memor,
was too much for her!
loft the big, unbiddcn tear,