The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-01-22
,rs have broken in, Nav God arm us

ers have broken in. May God arm us
all for this work OF snatching royal
souls from death to coronation. Can
you imagine any sublimer work ,han
1Eis soui saving? That was what
flushed p;rui 'schccll With enthusiasm;
tha. was what led MUnson to FISK
his life amid Bornesian cannibals; that
was what sent DR.. Abeel to preach un-
der the consuming skies of China; that
was what gave courage to Phocus IN
the Third century When the mill
tary officers came to put him to death
for Christ's sake, he put them TO bed
that they might rest while he himself
went out, and in his own garden dug
his grave, and then came back and
said: i am ready" but they were
shocked at the idea Of taking the Life
of their host. He said: 1t is the will
of God that should die. and he stood
on the margin of his own grave and
they behc@ded him. You say it IS a
mania, i foolhardincss, fanaticlsm.
Rather would l call it glorious self
abnegation, the thrill Of eternal salts
faction, the plucl<ing CT Joash from
death, and raising him to coronation.
GODS ALTAR THE TRUE REFUGE.
The third thought I hand to you
from my text is that the church of Cod
is a good hiding place. When Je-
hoSheba rusheS into the nursery Of the
king and picks up Joash, what shall
she do with him? Shall she take him
to some room in the palace2 No; for
the official despeladoes Will hunt
through every nook and corner of that
building. Shall she take him to the
residence of some wealthy citizen2 No;
that citizen would not dare to harbor
the fugitive But she has to take him
somewhere. She hears the cry Of the
mob in the streets; she hears the
shrek OF the dying nobility: SO she
rushes with Joash unto the room of
the temple, into the house of God, and
then she puts him down. She knows
that Athaliah and her wicked assassins
will not bother the temple great
deal; they are not apt to go very much
to church, and so she sets down Joash
in the temple. There he will be hear
ing the songs of the worShipers year
after year; there he will breathe the
odor Of the golden censers; in that sa-
cred spot he will tarry, secreted until
the six years have passed, and he come
to enthronement.
Would God that We were as wise as
Jehosheba, and knew that the church
of God is the best hiding place. Per
haps our parents took US there in early
days; they snatched US away from the
world and hid US behind the baptismal
fonts and amid the Bibles and the
psalm books. O, glorious inclosUre!
We have been breathing the breath Of
the golden censers ali the time, and we
have seen the lamb on the altar and we
have handled the phials which are the
PRAYERS of all saints, and we have
dwelt under the wings of the cheru-
BIN. Glorious inclosure! When my
father and mother died, and the prop
erty was settled up, there was hardly
anything left; but they endowed US
with property worth more than any
earthly possession, because they Indus
in the temple. And when days of
temptation have come upon my soul l
have gone there for shelter; and when
assaulted of sorrows, I have gone there
for comfort, and there I mean to live.
I want, like Joasn, to stay there until
coronation / mean to be buried out
of the house of God.
0 men of the world outside there,
betrayed, caricatured and cheated Of
tho world, why do you not come In
through the broad, wide open door Of
Christian communion2 Iwish l could
act the part of Jehosheba today, and
steal you away from your perils and
hide You in the temple. How few Of
US appreciate the fact that the church
of God is a hiding place. There are
many people who put the church at so
low a mark that they begrudge it
everything, even the few dollars they
give toward it. They make no sacri-
fees. They dole little out of their
surplusage They pay their butchers
bill, and they pay their doctors bill,
and they pay their landlord, and they
pay everybody but the Lord, and they
come in at the last to pay the Lord in
his church, and frown as they say:
'.There, Lord, it is; if you will have
it, take it-now take it, take it; send
me receipt in full, and don't bother
me soon again"
SEEK GoDLY SOCIETY.
tell you there is not more than one
man out cf thousand that appreci-
ates what the church is. Where are
the souls that put aside one-tenth for
Christian institutions = one-tenth OF
their income? Where are those who,
having put aside that one-tenth, draw
upon it cheerfully? Why, it is pull,
and drag, and hold on, and grab, and
clutch; and giving is an aftiiction to
most people when it ought to be an ex-
h:iaration and a rapture. Oh, that God
would remodel our souls on this sub
ject, and that we might appreciate the
house of God as the great refuge. If
your children are to come up to lives
of virtue aud happiness they will
come up under the shadow of the
church. If the church does not get
them the world will.
All, when you pass away-and it
will not be long before you do-when
you pass away It will be a satisfaction
to see your children in Christian soci-
ETY.. You want to have them sitting
at the holy sacraments. You want
them mingling in Christian associ-
ations. You would like to have them
die in the sacred precincts. When you
are on your dying bed, and your little
ones come up to take your last word,
and yor look into their bewildered
faces. you will want to leave them
u, Ier the church's benediction. I
ont care how hard you are, that
is so. I said to a man of the
world: Your son and daughter are
going to join our church next Sun
day. Have you any objectlonsW
Bless you," he said, ''objections9 I
wish all my children belonged to the
church. 7 don't attend to those mat