The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-08-27
and, the ten thousand one hundred

uuu, LllC Lel ILUttSdLu OllC lluliliI Gu
thousand-on, on forever.
Again, 1 remark, in grace as in the
farm there must be narrowing. l re-
fer now not to Il harrow that goes over
the field i'll order to prepare the ground
for the seed, but a harrow which goes
owes after the seed is sown. lest the birds
pick up the seeds. sinking it down into
the earth so that it can take root. There
are new kinds Of harrow. but the harrow
as | remember it was made of bars Oi
wood nailed across each other, and the
undersidc Of each bar was furnished with
sharp teeth, and when the horses were
hitched to it it went tearing and lcapinT
across the field. driving the seed down
into the earth until it sprung up N the
harvest. Bereavement. sorrow, persc-
cutlon arc the Lords harrows TO sink
the Gospel truth into your heart. There
were truths that you heard thirty years
AGO. that have not affected you until re-
Gently. Some great trouble came over
you. and the truth was narrowed in, and
it has come up. What did God mean in
this country in 1857? For a century
there was the Gospel preached, but a
great deal Of it prodncedno result. Then
God harnessed wild panic to harrow
Of commercial disaster, and that harrow
went down Wall street and up Wall
street. down Third street and up Third
street, down State street and mp State
street, until the whole land was torn to
pieces as it had never been before. What
followed the harrow? \ great awaken
inc in which there were 100000 souls
brought into the kingdom Of our Lord.
No harrow, no crop.
Again, I remark, in grace as in the
farm there must be reaping. Many
Christians speak Of religion as though it
were matter ofeconomics or insurance.
They expect to reap in the next world.
Oh, no! Now is the time to reap.
Gather up the JOY Of the Christian re-
ligion this morning. this afternoon, this
night. If you have not as mach grace
as you would like to have, thank God
for what you have. and pray tor more.
You are no worse enslaved than Joseph,
no worse troubled than was Day,d. no
worse scourged than was Paul. Yet,
amid the rafting oftetters, and amid the
gloom Of dungeons, and amid the horror
of shipwreck. they triumphed in the
grace of God. The weakest man here
has 500 acres Of spiritual JOY all ripe.
Why do you not 60 and reap it: You
have been sroaning overyour inhrmitles
for thirty years. Now give one round
shout over your emancipation. You say
you have it so hard; you might have 1t
worse. You wonder why this great
cold trouble keeps revolving through
your soul, turning and turning, with a
black hand on the crank. Ah, that
trouble is the grindstone on which you
are to sharpen Your sickle. To the
fields! Wake up! Take off your green
spectacles, your blue spectacles, your
black spectacles. Pullup the corners OF
Your mouth as far rs you pull them
down. To the fields! Reap! reap!
Again, remark, in grace as in farm
inc, there is time for threshing. Itcll
you bluntly that is death. Just as
farmer beats the wheat out Of the straw,
so death beats the soul out Of the body:
Every sickness is a stroke Of the fail. and
the sickbed is the threshing floor. What.
say you, is death to a good man, only
taking the wheat out of the straw. That
is all. An aged man has fallen asleep.
Only yesterday you saw him in the sun
ny porch, playing with his grand-chlld-
rem. Calmly he received the message
to leave this world. He bade pleas
ant good-by to his old friends. The tel
egraph carries the tidings, and on swift
rail-trains the kindred come, wanting
once more to look on the face of dear
old grandfather. Brush back the gray
hairs from his brow: 1t will never ache
again. Put him away in the slumber of
the tomb. He will not be afraid of that
night. Grandfather was never afraid OF
anything. He will rise in the morning
of the resurrection. Grandfather was
always the first to rise. His voice has
already mingled in the doXology Of heav-
en-. Grandfather always did sing IN
church. Anything CHASTITY in that: No.
The threshlng OF wheat out ofthe straw.
That is all.
The Saviour folds lamb in His bosom.
The little child filled all the house with
her music, and her toys arc scattered all
up and down the stairs just as she lett
them. What if the hand that plucked
four o'clocks out Of the meadow is still?
1t will wave the eternal triumph. What
if the voice that made music in the home
is still? twill sing the eternal hosanna.
Put white rose in one hand, aud red
rose in the other hand, and a wreath OF
orange blossoms on the brow; the white
flower for the victory, the red flower for
the Sayiour's sacrifice. the orange bios
SONS for her marriage day. Anything
shastlv about that? Oh, no. The sun
went down and the flower shut. The
wheat threshed out of the straw. Dear
Lord, give me sleep" said dying boy;
the son of one OF my elders, Dear
Lord, give me Sleep" And he closed
his eyes and awoke in glory. Henry W.
Longfe!low, writing a letter Of condo
lence to those parents, said: Those last
words were beautifully poetic. Dear
Lord, give me sleep"
"'Twas not in cruelty, not in wrath
That the reaper came that day:
Twas an angel that visited the earth
And took the flower away"
So it may be with US when our work
is all done. Dear Lord, give me Sleep"
l have one more thought to present.
I have spoken Of the plowing, of the
sowing, Of the narrowing, ofthe reaplng,
Of the threshing. l must now speak a
of the garnering.
Where is hegarner? Need tell you?
Oh, no. So many have gone out from
Your own circles-yea. from your own
family, that you have had your eyes on
that garner for many year. What a
hard time some Of them had! In Geth-
semanes Of suffering, they sweat great