The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-03-06

OUT ElS discourse, Wnlic 0coERo VIM.
field, with the manner and the voice and
the art of an actor, overwhelmed bis
! auditory. 1t would have been q differ
ent thing il Jonathan Edwards had tried
to write and dream about the pilgrim .
progress to the celestial city, or John
Bunyan had attempted an essay on the
human will.
Brighter than the light, frssher than
the fountains, deeper than the seas, are
all these Gospel themes. Song has no
melody, flowers have no sweetness, sun
set sky no color compared with those
glorious themes These harvests of grace
spring up quicker than we can sickle
them. Kindling pulpits with their fire,
| and producing revolutions with their
power. lighting up dying beds with their
glory, they are the sweetest thought for
the poet, and they are the most thrilling
ii lustratlon for the orator, and they offer
| the most ntenses scene for tho artist, and
| they are to the ambassador Of the sky all
enthusiasm. Complete pardon for direst
guilt. Sweeteet comfort for ghastliest
agony. Brightest hope for grimmest
death. Grandest resurrection Cor darkest
sepulcher. Oh, what Gospel to preach!
Christ over all in it, His birth, his snf-
fering, his miracles, his parallels. his
sweat, his tears, his blood, his atone
ment, his intercession-what glorious
themesl Do you exercise faith7 Christ
is it's object Do we have lovef 1t fastens
on Jesus Have we fondness for the
churchs It is because Christ died for it.
Jesus went ahead, the herald and fore
runner.
The royal robe of Demctrius was so
costly, 80 beautiful, that af cr no bad
| put it off no one ever dared put it on;
but this robo of Christ, richer than that,
| the poorest and the wannest and the
| worst may wear. "Where sin aboundotL
grace may much more abound"
"Oh, my sins, my sins," said Martin
Luther to Staupitz, ''my sins, sins! !"
The fact is. that the brawny German
| student had found q Latin Bible that
made him quake, ard nothing else ever
did make him o. Ike; aud when he found
how, through Chris,. he was pardoued
and saved, he wrote i n friend, saying:
"Comc over and join us great and awful
sinners saved by the grace Of God. You
seem to be only aluDdrc sinner, and
you don't much cxfci the ulrrcy Of God
but we that have hr"n such awful sinners
we praise his grace The norc now that we
have been redeemed" Can it be that
you are so desperately egotstical that
you feel yourself in first rate spirit
| ual trim, and that from the root of the
| hair to the tip of the toe you are scar
| less and immaculate2 What you need
is looking glass, and here it is in the
Bible. Poor, aud wretched, and misera-
| bic, and blind, and naked from the
| crown of the head to the sole of the foot,
| full Of wounds and putrefying Sores
| No health in us. And then take the fact
that Christ gathered up all the notes
| against us and paid them, ami then offer
| ed US the receipt,
And how much we need him in our
| sofrowl We are independent of cir
| cumstances if we have Ills grace. Why,
He made Paul sing in the dung con, and
under that grace, st. John from dosolate
Patmos heard the blast Of the apocalyp-
tic trumpcts. After all other candles
have been snuffed out, this is the light
that gets brighter and brighter unto the
| perfect day; and after, under the hard
hoofs of calamity, all the pools of world.
| ly enjoyment have been trampled into
deep nre, at the foot of the eternal rock
the Christian, from cups of granite lily
trimmed and vine covered. puts out the
thirst Of his soul.
| Again, remark that Christ is ABOVE
| all In dying alleVlatlons.
| Saladin, the greatest conQueror Of his
day, while dying, ordered that the tunic
he had on him be carried after his death
| on his spear at the head Of his army, and
that then the soldier, ever and anon,
should stop and say: "Behold, all that
is left of Saladin, the emperor and con-
querorl Of all the states he conquered,
of ali the wealth he accumulated, moth
ing did he retain but this shroudl" I
have no sympathy with such behavior, or
such absud demonstration. or with much
that we hear uttered in regard to depart
ure from this life to the next. There
is commonsensical idea on this subject
that you and need to conaider-that
there are only two styles Of depart
ure.
A thousand feet underground. by light
of torch toilng ia miners shaft, &
ledge Of rock may fall uuon uS, and we
may die miners death. Far out at Gea,
falling from the slippery ratlnes and
broken on the halyardS, VIC may die 8
sailors death. On mission Of mercy in
hospital, amid broken bones, and reekine
leprosies, and raging fevers, we may die
battle, serving God and our country
|
riage may '1ll over us, and we may die ,
patriots death. But, after all, thero art
only TWO styles of departure-the deati
of the righteous, and the death Of til,
wickod-and we all want. to die tn,
former.
| God grant that when that hour come
3 you may be at home. You want tn
hand Of your kindred in your hand
You want your children to Surrount
you. You want the light on your pill
t low from eyes that have long rehecte
{ your love. You want the room still
( You do not want any curious stranger
q stauding around watching you. Yo
:. want your kindred from Afar to heA
f your last prayer. think that is tn
o wish of all of us. But is that allG Ca
b earthly friends hold us up when the bi
d lows Of death come up to the girdle
Q Can human voice charm open heaven
e gatei Can human hsnd pilot us throug
q tho narrowJ Of death into heaven
t harbor2 Can any earthly friendshi
| ahield na fran the arroWa OF DEATH nm