The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-08-14

and with them crushed His crucifers He
could have reached up and grasped the
sword Of the omnipotent God, and with one
clean cut have tumbled them into partition.
But no; He was to die H. must die. His
life for. your life. In a European city
young man died or the scaffold
for the crime Of murder. Some
time after the mother Of this young
man was dying and the priest came in, and
she made confession to the priest that she was
the murderer and not her son; In moment
of anger she had struck her husband blow
that slew him. The son came suddenly into
the room, and waS washing away the wounds
and trying to resuscitate his father whom
some one looked through the window and saw
him, and supposed him to be tho criminal.
That young man died for his own mother.
You say: lit was wonderful that
he 1on never s1possda pssdaer hs5 Him. B9s Christ
the Son of God, died not for His mother, nor
for His Father, but for His sworn enemies.
Oh, such Christ as that-so loving, so pa
tient, 30 self-sacrificing you not TRUST
HimS I think there are many under the in
fluence Of the Spirit of God who are saying:
II will trust Him If you will only tell me
how;;" and the great question asked by thou
sands is: 'tHow2 HowT And while I
answer your question SGa,, I aig look up and and
80 often uttered in the midst Of his
sermons: 'sMaster, helpp How are you to
trust in Christ? just as you trust any
ono. You trust your partner in business
with important things. II a commercial
house gives you note payable three months
hence, you expect the payment Of that note
at the end Of three months. You have per-
feet confidence In their word and in their
ability. Or again, you go home expecting
there will be food on the table. You have
confidence in that. Now, I ask you to have
the same confidence in the Lord Jesus
Christ He says: "You believe take
away your sins, and they are all taken
away" "Whatl' you say, sbefore I pray
any more? Before read my Bible any
more? Before cry over my sins any
morep' Yes; this moment. Believe with oil
Is only waiting to get from you what you
give to scores Of people every day: What
Is thatY Confidence. If these people whom
you yyortnt trust than day Christ Gz diY thsy more
more faithful than Christ i they
have done more than Christ ever did, then
give them the preferences; but If you really
think that Christ is as trustworthy as they
are, then deal with Him as fairly. Oh"
SAYS some one in alight way: II believe that
Christ was born in Bethlehem and believe
CndD ne QleO Oh bue crOSS. Do JOu uono'o
it with your head or your hearth will Illus
srate the difference. You are in your own
house. In the morning you open news
paper and you read how Capt. Braveheart
on the sea risked his life for the salvation Of
his passengers. You say, "What grand
follow he must have beenl His family de-
servo very well Of the country" You fold
the newspaper and sit down at the table, and
perhaps do not think Of that incident again.
That Is historical faith.
But now you are on the sea, and it Is night,
and you are asleep, and you arc awakened by
the Shrek Of sslEirer You rush out on the
deck. You hear amid the wringing of tho
hands and the fainting, the cry: mo hopsl
no hopei We are lostl we are lost~ The sail
puts out its wings Of fire, the ropes make, a
burning ladder in the night heavens, tho
spirit Of wrecks Kisses In the wave, and on the
hurricane deck shakes outfits banner of smoke
and darkness. Down with the lneboatsm !,
cries the captain. "Down with the ifeboats!"
People rush into them. The boats arc about
full. Room only for one more man. You are
standing on the deck beside the captain. Who
shall it be? You or the captain? The cap
tain? The captain says: "You.n You jump
and are saved. he stands there and dies.
Now, you believe that Captain Brnveheart
sacrificed himself for bis passengers, but you
believe it with love, with tears, with hot
and long continued exclamations, with
grief at his loss, and joy, at your
That & iS saving fath sa1 tbs In Ssar osner
and believe in regard to yourself. On this
hinge turns my sermon; aye the salvation
of your immortal soul. You often go across
bridge you know nothing about. You do
not know who built that bridge you do not
know what material it is made Of; but you
COME to It and walk over it and ask no ques.
tions And here is an arched bridge blasted
from the "Rock Of Age" And built by the
architect Of the whole universe spanning tho
dark gulf between sin and Righteousness, and
all God asks you Is to walk across it; and you
start and you come to it, and you stop, and
you 60 little way on and you STOP and you
fall back, and you experiment: You ssy:
ssHow do know that bridge will hold mer'
instead Of marching on with firm step, ask.
ing no questions, but feeling that the
strength OF the eternal God Is under
you Oh, was there ever q prize profered
so cheap as pardon and heaven are offered to
you? For how much9 A million dollars?
It is certainly worth moro than that. But But
cheaper than that you can have it. Ten
thousand dollars? Less than that. Five
thousand doI1ars2 Less than that. One dol
lar3 Less than that. One farthings Less
than that. ''Without money and with
No Journey to take No penance
to suffer. Only just one decisive
action Of the soul: 'Belieye on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved:
Shall try to ten you what it Is to
be saved' / cannot tell you, No man, no
angel can tell you But L; l can AZ. hfnt N .t;t at
point tdThot shalt be saved" It means O
happy life here and peaceful death and
a blisful eternity. It is grand thing
to 20 to sleep at night and to get up in
the morning, and to do business all
day feeling that all is right between my heart
and God. No accident, no sickness. no per
secution, no peril, no sword can 90 mo any
permanent damage. am forgiven CHILD
Of God and He Is bound TO see me through.
The mountains may depart, the earth may
by the blast of the Judgment hurricane; but
life and death, things present and things tc
come are mine, Yea, further than
that-it means peaceful death. Mrs. He,
mans, Mrs. Sgourney, DR.. Young, and al
most all the posts have said handsome things
about death. There is nothing beautiful
about It. When we stand by the white and
rigid features Of those whom we love- and
they give no answering pressure Of the hand
and no returning bss Of the lip, we do not
want anybody poetizing around about us;
Death Is loath someness, and midnight, and
the wringing Of the heart until the tendrils
snap and curl in the torture, unless Christ
shall be with us. I confess to you an
infinite fear, q consuming horror Of death.
unless Christ shall be with me. l would
rather go down into cave Of wild beasts or
a Jungle of reptiles than into the grave, un-
less Christ GOES with me. Will you tell me
that am to be carried out from my bright
home and put away in the darkness? !
cannot bear darkness. At the first
coming Of the evening I must have the
Tho more I like to have my friends round