The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-07-02

her sister Ruth and her mother-in
law, Naomi, will arrive there. Bu
while these continne in the journey
they commenced, O1pah after awhile
gets discouraged and turns bacl
This is the history of many soul
Perhaps it was during revival O.
religion they resolved upon Chris
tian life, and made preparations tt
leave Moab. Before that they wert
Indifferent to the sanctuary, churches
were necessary evils. The minister
almost always preached poor sermons
because they had not the heart tc
hc;I them. They thought the breaG
was not good because their appetite
was poor. Religion did very vel
for inyaIds and the aged, but they
had no desire for it. Suddenly &
change came upon their soul. They
found that something must be done
Every night there was u thorn in then
pillow. There was a gall In then
wine. They found that their pleas
rres were only Flashlights ola swamp
that rise out of decay and death
Losing their self-control they were
startled by their own prayer, .God
be merciful to me a sinner" They
did not suspect it, but the Holy
Ghost was in their soul. Without
thinking what they were doing they
brushed the dust off their family
Bible. The ground did not feel as
firm under them nor did the air seem
as bright. They tried to dam back
the flood of their emotions, but the
attempt failed, and they confessed
their anguish OF soul before they
meant to. The secret was out. They
wanted to know what they must do
to be saved.
Alas! Alas! Starting out for heaven
is very different thing from al1iv-
ing there. Remember Lots wife.
She looked back with longing to the
place from which she came, and was
Half way between Sodom
and the City of Refuge that strange
storm comes upon her, snd its salt
and birthstone gather on her gar
ments until they are so stiffened she
cannot proceed, nor can she lie down,
because of this dreadful wrapping
around her garments and limbs; and
long after her life has gone she still
stands there so covered up by the
strange storm that she is called a
pillar of salt as some sailor on ships
in the wintry tempest stands covered
with a mail of ice. Ten thousand
times ten thousand men have been
half way between Sodom
and the City of Refuge. Orpah
might as well never have started as
afterwards to turn back. Yet multi
tudes have walked in her footsteps.
Go among those the least interested
in sacred things and will find that
they We're once out of the land OF
Moab. Every one Of them prayed
right heartily and studied their Bi-
bles; and frequented the sanctuary,
but Lots wife looked back wistfully
to Sodom, and Orpah retreated
from the company OF Ruth and Naomi.
It is an impressive thought that af-
ter Orpah had gone so far as &C
tualiy to look over into the land OF
Bethlehem she turned back and died
in Moab.
We talk about taking up the cross
and following Jesus, but that cross
is not half so heavy as the burden
which the sinner carries. It isa very
solemn thing to be a Christian, but
it is more solemn thing not to be a
Christian. There are multitudes
who, afraid of the self-denials of the
Christian, rush into the harder self
denials of the unbeliever. No yoke
but Christ's, however tight and gall
ing! Orpah goes back to her idola.
tries, but she returns weeping; and all
who follow her will find the same
sorrow. Just in proportion as Cos
pei advantages have been numerous
will be the disturbance of the heart
that Will not come to Christ.
Again: This subject teaches that
a religious choice and the want of it
divide families. Ruth and
Orpah and Naomi were tenderly at
tached. They were all widows, and
their life had been consecrated by a
baptism of tears. In the fire Of trial
their affections had been forged. To-
gether they were so pleasantly uni,
ted, you can hardly imagine them
separated. Yet a fatal line is drawn
dividing them from each other, per
haps forever. Naomi cannot live in
a heather country. She must SO
into Bethlehem, that there among the
pious she may worship the true God
Ruth makes a similar choice, but
Orpah rebels. "And they lifted up
their voice and wept again, and Or
pah kissed her mother-in-law, but
Ruth claye unto her" The history
of this family of Elimelech is the
history OF many families of this day,
How often it is that in a circle of re-
lativas, while they look alike, and
walk alike, and tslk alike, there is q
tremendous difference. Outwardly
united in the afectional relations ot
this life, they are separated. in the
most important respect. Some now
are the children of the light, and 9th
ers the children OF darkness. These
ere alive IN Christ, and those are deac
in sin. Ruth in the land Of Bethle
hem, Orpah in Moab. Of the same
family are David and Solomon, wor
shippers of the most High God, anc
Adoniiah and Absalom, who live an(
die the enemies of all righteousness
Belonging to the same family was
the holy and devout Eli, and tht
reckless Phineas, and Hophni. iona
than Edwards, the good, and Pierre
point Edwards. the bad, belong tx
the same family. Aaron Burr, the
dissolute, had a Most excellent father
Dying, yet immortal hearcr, by tht
,o1o,ooi+,- of Tho ,,ora,,to1 oD1 fi11ol