The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-02-06


them the preference; but if you reall,
think tnat Christ is as trustworthy a!
they are, then deal with him as fairly
Oh" says some one in a light way
IL believe that Christ was born il
Bethlehem, and ] believe that he dice
on the cross" Do you believe it with
youi head or your heart? l will illus
tiate the difference. You are in youl
own house. In the morning you open
a newspaper, and you read how Capt
Braveheart on the sea risked his life
for the salvation of his passengers
Yon say: What a grand fellow he
must have beeu His family deserve
very well of the country" You io',l
! the newspaper and sit down Mt the Ia
| Die, 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 ale awakened by the shrek of
"t1rc" You rush out on the deck
You hear, amid the wringing of the
hands and the fainting, the cries: mo
hope! we are lost! we are losln The
sail puts out its wings of fire, tie ropes
mako ~ burning ladder in the night
heavens, the spirit of wreck Kisses in
waves, aad on the hurricane deck
shakes out its banner of smoke and
darkness.
Down with the life boats!' cries
the captain. "Down with the life
boats" People rush out into them.
The boats are about full. Room only
for one more man. You are standing
on the deck beside the captain. Who
shall 1t be? You or tho captain? The
captain s0ys: YOU" You Jump in
and are saved. He stands there, and
dies. Now believe that Capt. Brave
heart sacrificed himself for his pass en-
gers, but you believe it with love, with
tears, with hot and long continued ex-
clamations, with grief at his loss and
with JOY at your deliverencc. That is
saving faith. In other words, what
you believe with all the heart, and
believe in regard to your self. On
this hinge turns my sermon; aye, the
salvation OF your immortal soul.
Mrs. Hemana, Mrs. Sigourney, DR..
Young and almost all the poets have
said handsome things about death.
There is nothing beautiful about it.
W hen we stand by the white and rigid
features OF those whom we love, and
they give answering pressure of the
hand, and no returning kiss of the liz.
We do not want anybody poetiZing
around about us. Death is loathsome-
ness, and midnight, and the wrlnging
Of the hoart until the tendrils snaD
and curl in the torture unless Christ
be with lis. confess to you to an in
finite fear, consuming horror, of
death unless Christ be with me. I
would rather go into a cave of wild
beasts or a jungle of reptiles than into
the grave, unless Christ goes with
me. Will you tell me that / am to be
carried out from my bright home, and
put away in the darkness? I cannot
bear darkness. at the first coming of
the evening l must have the gas lit,
and the further on in life 1 get, the
more like to have my friends around
about me And am to be put off for
thousands Of years in dark place,
with no cne TO speak tor When the
holidays come, and the gifts are dis
tributcd, shall [ add no joy to the
Merry Christmas" or the, "Happy
New Ncar?" All, do not point down
to the hole in the ground, the grave,
aud call it a beautiful place; unless
there be some supernatural illumina-
tlon, shudder back from it. NY
whole nature revolts at it. But now
this glorious lamp is lifted above the
grave, all the darkness is gone and the
way is clear. look into it o\g with
out single shudder. Now my anxie-
ty is not about death; my anxiety is
that ! may live Alright, for know that
II my life is consistent when l come to
the last hour, and this voice is silent,
and these eyes are closed, and hands
with which | beg for your eternal sal
Yation today are folded over the still
heart, that then I shall only begin to
live. What power is there in anything
to chill me in the last hour if Christ
wraps around me the skirt of his own
garment? What darkness can fall up-
on my eyelids then, amid the heaven
ly daybreak? 0 death, I will not fear
thee thcnl Back to thy cavern of
darkness. thou robber ofall tho earth.
Fly, thou despoiler of families. With
this battle axe | hew thee in twain
from helmet to sandal, the voice OF
Christ sounding all over the earth,
and through the heavens: 80 death, [
will be thy plague. O grave, will be
thy destruction"
70 be saved is to wake up in tho
presence Of Christ. You know when
Christ was upon earth how happy he
made every house he went into, and
when he brings us up to his house
how &reat our glee. His voice has
mole music IN it than is 90 be heard in
all the oratories Of eternity. Talk
not about banks dashed with eiIlores-
cenco. Jesus is the chief bloom of
heaven. We shall sec the very face of
that beamed sympathy in Bethany,
and take the very hand that dropped
It's blood from the short beam of the
cross. ., | want TO stand in eternity
with him. Toward that harbor I steer.
Toward that goal run. l shall be
satisfied when | awake in his likeness
On, broken hearted mon and women,
how sweet it will be in that good land
to pour all your hardships, and be-
rcaVemcnts. and losses into The loving
ear OF Christ, and then have him ex~
plain why it was best for you to be
sick, and why 1t was best for you TO be
widowed, and why it was best for you
to be prosecuted, and why it was best
for you to be tried, and nave Him
point to an elevation proportionate to
your disquietude hore, saying: "You
suffered with me on earth, come up
now and be glorified with me in heav-
en-.
Somo one went into house where
there had been a good deal Of trouble,