The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-12-11

darkness. But as long as this throne stands,
and this everlasting river flows, and those
garlands bloom, and these arches Of victory
remain to greet home heavens conquerors,
50 long shall see Thee, Jesus of my choice;
Jesus of my song; Jesus of my triumph-for-
ever and forever-face to facem
l;si The idea l y Of my texts is just as true when
come to some pass in life thoroughly inex-
plicable? You say: "What does this mean?
What is God going to do with me now? He
tells me that all things work together for
good. This does not look like it. You con-
tiDue to study the dispensation, and after a.
while guess about what God means 'sHe
means to teach me this Think He means to
teach me that. Perhaps it is to humble my
pride. Perhaps it is to make me feel more
dependent Perhaps to teach me the uncer.
tainty of life." But after oil, it is only a
guessma looking through the glass, darkly.
to s % unedng dis ha Shss in do tRou be kne
not now; but thou shalt know hereafter"
You will know why God took to Himself that
only child. Next door there was household
Of seven children. Why not take one from
that group, instead Of your only one! Why
single out the dwelling in which there was
only one heart beating responsive to yoursF
Why did God give you child at all, If He
meant to take it away? Why fill the cup Of
your gladness brimming, if He meant to dash
it down? Why allow all the tendrils of your
heart to wind around that object and then,
when every fibre of your own life seemed to
be interlocked with the child's life, with
strong hand to tear you apart, until you fall
bleeding and crushed, your dwelling desolate,
your hopes blasted, your heart broken? Do
you suppose that God will explain that? Yea
He will make it palmer than any mathemat
ical problem-as plain as that two and two
make four. In the light Of the throne you
will see that it was right-all right. 'Just
and true are all Thy ways, Thou King Of
Saints"
Here is man who cannot get on in the
world. He always seems to buy at tie
wrong time and to sell at the worst disad-
vantage. He tries this enterprise, and fails;
that business, and is disappointed. The man
next door to him has lucrative trade, but
he lacks customers. A new prospect opens.
His income is increased. But that year his
family are sick; and the profits are expended
in trying to cure the ailments He gets q
discouraged look. Becomes faithless as to
success. Begins to expect disasters. Others
wait for something to turn up; he waits for
it to turn down. Others, with only half as
much education and character, get on twice
al @ means ne he says PERHAPS ri riches he " Would
spoil me. Perhaps poverty is necessary to
keep me humble. Perhaps might, if things
were otherwise, be tempted into dissipa-
tions." But there is no complete solution of
the mystery. He sees through glass, dark
ly, and must wait for higher unfolding.
Will there be an explanation2 Yes; God
will take that man in the light Of the throne,
and say: "Child immortal, hear the explara-
tion You remember the falling Of that
great enterprise. This is the explanation"
And you will answer: "It is all right!
1see, every day, profound mysteries of
Providence. There is no question we ask
oftener than Why? There are hundreds of
graves that need to be explained. Hospitals
for the blind and lame, asylums for the idio-
tic and insane almshouses for the destitute,
and world of pain and misfortune that de-
mand more than human solution. All! God
will clear it all up. In the light that pours
from the throne, no dark mystery can live.
Things now utterly inscrutable will be il
lumined as plainly as though the answer
were written on the jasper wall, or sounded
in the temple anthem. Bartimeus will thank
God that he was blind; and Lazarus that he
was cast into the pit; and Daniel that he
denned with lons and Paul that he was
numpbacked; and David that be was driven
from Jerusalem; and the sewing woman that
she could get only few pence for making q
garment; and that invalid that for twenty
years he could not lift his head from the pill
low; and that widow that she had such hard
work to earn bread for her children. You
know that in song different voices carry
different parts The sweet and overwhelm-
ing part Of the hallelujah of heaven will not
be carried by those who rode in high places,
and gave sumptuous entertainments; but
pauper children will sing it, beggars will
sing it, redeemed hod-carriers will sing 1t,
will sing it. The hallelujah will be oil the
grander for earth's weeping eyes, and aching
heads, and exhausted hands, and scourged
backs, and martyred agonies.
Again: The thought Of my texts is true
when applied to the enjoyment Of the right
eous in heaIen. think we have but little
idea of the number Of the righteous in heay-
en-. Infldels say: "Your heaven will be
very small place compared with the world Of
the lost; for, according to your teaching the
majority of men will be destroyed" 1deny
the finally lost, as compared with the multi
tude of the finally saved, will be q handful.
I suppose that the few sick people in the hos
pita1s of our great cities, as compared with
the hundreds Of thousands of well people,
would not be smaller than the number Of
those who shall be cast out in suffering, COM
pared with those who shall have upon them
the health of heaven. For we are to remem-
Der that we are living in only the beginning
of the Christian dispensation, and that this
whole world is to be populated and redeemed,
ard that ages Of light and love are to flow
on. If this be SO, the nlultitudes of the saved
will be in vast majority. Take all the con-
gregations that have assembled for worship
throughout Christendom. Put them together,
and they would make but q small audience
compared with the thousand and tens Of
thousands, and ten thousand times ten thou
sand, and the hundred and forty and four
thousand that shall stand around the
throne. Those flashed up to heaven in
martyr fires; those tossed for many years
upon the invalid couch; those fought in the
armies of liberty, and rose Us they fell;
those tlrmbled from high scaffolding, OF
slipped from the mast, or were washed Off
into the sea. They came up from Corinth,
Gennesaret's wave, from Egyptian brick
yards, and Gideon's threshing floor. Those
thousands of years ago slept the last sleep,
and these are this moment having their eyes
closed, and their limbs stretched out for the
sepulcher.
enemy stands on hill and looks through
field glass, and sees, in the great distance,
multitudes approaching, but has no idea Of
their numbers. He says: II cannot tell any
thing about them. merely know that there
arc great number" And so John, without
attempting to count, says: "A great multi
tude that no man can number" We are
told that heaven is q place of happiness; but
what do we know about happiness! Happi-
ness in this world is only a half fledged thing;
a flowery path with serpent kissing across
it; broken pitcher, from which the water
has dropped before we could drink it; thrill
Of exhilaration, followed by disastrous re.
actions. To help us understand the joy Of
heaven, the Bible takes us to river, We