The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-01-02

|
from the saloon so that you hear it as you
pass by, but it is hollow laughter; in it is the
| Swapping of heart-Strings and the rattle ot
~'i-..- saa>S Happy! that young man
happy! Let him Nil nigh the powi; ne cam
not drown an upbradins conscience. Let
| the deep rumble and the sharp
/ crack cannot overpower the voices
! of condemnation. Let him whirl in the dance
! of sin and temptation and death. All the
! trillancy of the scene cannot make nm 1Or-
get the last look Of his mother, as he left
| home. when she said to him: Now, my son.
you Will DO right, L am sure you will do
nlun happy' Why. across every night
there fits shadows OF eternal dark
| ness: there are adders coiled up in
every cup: there are vuitures . OF
despair striking their iron beak into his
heart there are skeleton fingers of grief
! pinching at the throat. l come in amid uhe
clicking of the glasses and under the flashing
of the chandeliers, and | cry: Woe! WOE!
The way of the uD .odly shall perish.
There is no peace, saith my God. to the wicked.
The way of the transgressors is hard" Oh,
my friends, there is more Joy in one
drop Of Christian satisfaction than in whole
rivers Of sinful delight. Other wings may
be drenched OF the storm and splashed of the
tempest. but the dove that comes in through
the window of this heavenly ark has wings
iike the dove covered with silver, and her
feathers with yellow gold.
Again / remark, religion IS an adornment
in the style Of usefulness into which it in
ducts a man. Here are two young men.
The one has fine culture, exquisite wardrobe,
plenty of friends, great worldly success, but
he lives for himself. His chief care is for
his own comfort. He lives uselessly. He
dies unregretted. Here is another young
man. His apparel may not be so good, his
education may not be so thorough. He
lives for others. His happiness is to make
ouners happy. He is as self-denying as tnat
dying soldier, falling in the ranks, when he
said: Colonel, there is no need Of those boys
tiring themselves by carrying me to the
hospital; let ME die just where am" So
this young man Of whom / speak loves God,
wants all the world to love him, is not
ashamed to carry bundle of clothes up that
dark alley to the poor. Which OF those
young men do you admire the better? The
one sham, the other prince imperial.
Oh, do you know of anything, my henrer.
that is more beautiful than to see young
man start out for Christ. Here is some ona
falling; he lifts him up. Here is vagabond
boy; he introduces him to mission school.
Here is a family freezing to death; he carries
them scuttle of coal. There are elght nun
dred millions periShing in midnight heathen
darkness; by all possible means he tries to
send to them the Gospel. He NAV be laughed
at, and he may be sneered at and no may DO
caricatured, but he is not ashamed to 60
everywhere, saying: 81 am not ashamed OF
the Gospel of Christ. 1t is the power or God
and the wisdom Of God unto salvation"
Such young man can go through every,
thing. There is no force on earth or Ill nell
that can resist him.
show you three spectacles. Spectacle the
first: Napoleon passes by with the host that
went down with him to Egypt, and up with
him through Russia, and crossed the CONT
nent on the bleeding heart OF which he set
his iron heel, and across the quivering flesh
of which he went grinding the wheels OF ms
guu-carriageS-in his dying moment ASKING
his attendants to put on his military boots
for him.
Spectacle the second: Fo!taire, bright and
learned and witty and eloquent, with tongue
and voice and stratagem Internal. warning
against God and poisoning whole klngdoms
with his infdelity, yet appiauded by the
clappins hands of thrones and empires and
continents-his last words, in deiirium sup
last words: Crush that wretch
Spectacle the third: Paul-Paul insight
ficant in person, thrust out from all refined
association, scourged. spat Oil, bounded like
a wild beast from city to city, yet trying TO
make the world good and heaven full; an.
nouncing resurrection to these who mourned
at the barred gates OF the dead; speaking
consultations which light up the eyes OF
widowhood and orphanage and want with
glow of certain and eternal releases: un-
daunted before those who could take his life,
his cheek flushed with transport, and his eye
on heaven; with one hand shaking defiance
at all the foes Of earth and all the principal
tiles of hell, and with the other hand beclion-
ing messenger angels to come and bear him
III
offered, and the time of my departure is at
hand: 1 have fought the good fight. / Rave
finished my course. have kept the faith:
henceforth there 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 infidel they were tossed
like sea-gulls in a tempest, drenched Of the
wave and torn Of the hurricane, 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 hoated
away into the calm, clear summer of heaven,
brighter than the dove, its wings covered with
silver, and its feathers with yellow gold.
Oh, are you not in love with srch a religion
"a religion that can do so much for man
while he lives and so much for man when
he comes to die: / suppose you may have
noticed the contrast between the departure OF
q Christian and the departure OF an indel
Deodorus, dying in chagrln because he
could t,a not compose psrea 81 l0fSS the e@Sa otSar
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 tho
Scotch minister who said to his friends:
II Hs hsvs no die interfit f Is ds to Thetnfr shs
be with the Lord, and if / live the Lord shall
be with me- Or the last wor,ls OF Wash.
ington: 'sIt is we'll" Or the last words Of
Mcintosh, the learned and the great,
"Happy!' Or the last word of Hannah
Mere, the Christian poetess: Joy" Or
those thousands of Christians who
ceive my spirit. Come, Lord Jesus, come
quickly" 80 death. where is thy sting:
D grave where is thy victory:h Behold the
contrast, Behold the charm OF the one. be.
hold tine darkness Of the other. Now. L
know it is very popular in this day for
young men to think there is something
more charming in skepticism than IN
religion. They are ashamed of the o!d-fash-
ioned religion Of the cross. and they pride
themselves on their free thinking on ali these
subjects. My young friends. want to tell
you what know from observation that
while skeptcism is beautiful land at the
st1rt, it is the great Sahara Desert at The
last
Years ago minister's son went of from
home to collage. At college he formed the
acquaintance of a young man whom | shall
cali Ellison. Ellison was an intdel Ellison
scoffed at religion, and the minister's son
soon learned from him the iniidelitv, and
when he went home Oh his vacation
broke his fathers heart by his
denunciation of Christianity. Time passed