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


them the preference; but if you really
think tnat Christ is as truS Gworthy as
they are, then deal with him rs fairly.
NOh." says some one in II light way,
81 believe that Christ was born in
on the cross" DO you believe it with
youi head or your heart? l will illus
tiate the diilerepce You are in your
own house. In tho morning you open
a newspaper, and you read how Capt.
BraVeheart on the sea risked his life
for the salvation Of his passengers.
lou say: what Al grarH fellow he
must have beeu! His tumiiy deserve
very well of the cOuntry.n you Iu'l
! tho newspaper and sit down Mt the la
ole, and perhaps do not think Of that
incident again. That is historical
faith But nos you are on the sea,
aud 1T Is night, and you are asleep,
and ale awakened oy the shrek of
"tirc!' You rush out on the deck
You hear, amid the wringing Of the
hands and the fainting, the cries: NO
hope! we are lost! we are lost" The
sail puts out lis wings of fire, Tie ropes
mako :. burning ladder in the night
heavens, the spirit of wreck Kisses in
waves, nad on the hurricane deck
shakes out is banner Of smoke and
darkness.
"Down with the life boats" cries
the captain. ''Down with the life
boats" People rush out into them.
Th" boats are about full Room only
for one more man. You are standing
on the deck beside the captain. Who
shall il be? You or the captain? The
captain says: "Gou.n You lump 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 OK
clAln,tt!uns, with grief at his loss and
with JOY at your delivcrencc. Thai is
saving faith. IL other words, what
you believe with all the heart, and
hciieve in regard TO your self. On
this hinge turns my sermon; aye. the
salvation OF your immortal soul.
Mrs. Hcmana, Mrs. Sigourney, Dr..
Young and almost all the poets have
said handsome things uhou; death.
There is nothing beautiful about it.
When we stand by the white and rigid
features 0: those whom We love, and
they give answering. pre- ssure of tho
hand, and nc returning kiss Of the iiD,
Nc do "nt want anybody poctizinG
around @bout us. Death is loathsOme-
ness, and midnight, and the wringng
Of the hoart until the tcndri5 suaD
and cur iii the torture unless Christ
hc with liz. ! confess to you to an in
finite fear. consuming horror, of
death unless Christ he with me. l
would rather so into a cave of wild
beasts or a jungle Of reptiles than into
the gave, unless Christ goes with
me. Will you tell me that l 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 aas lit,
and the further OH iu life l 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
trlhutcd, shall I add no JOY to the
MERRY Christmas' or the. "Happy
New lcar?' All, do not point down
to tho hole in the ground. the grave,
aud call it beautiful place; unless
therr he some supernatural illumina-
iiom, | shudder back from it. My
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 row with
! out single 3hudder. Now my ankle
ty Is act about DEATH my anxiety is
th"t may live Alright, for know that
If my life is consistent when | 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 7 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
garmenD What darkness can fall up
on my eyelids then, amid the heaven.
| ~ daybrcak? 0 death, / will not fear
| thee then! 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: so death, /
will be thy plague. O grave, will be
thy destruction"
20 be saved is to wake up in the
/ Christ was upon earth how happy he
made every house he went into, and
when ho brings us up to his house
mole music IN it than is 20 be heard in
all the oratorics Of eternity. Talk
not about banks dashed with enlores-
ccn"H. Jesus is the chief bloom of
heaven. We shall SEQ the very face OF
that bcamed sympathy in Bethany,
and AXE 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 steer
Toward that goal | run. [ shall be
satisfied when ! awake in his likeness
Ga, broken hearted mon and women
how sweet ii will be in that good land
to pour all your hardshipa, and be.
reaVomcnts. and losses into The loving
ear oi Christ, and then have him ex-
plain why it was best for you to be
sick, and why it WAS best for you to be
widowed, and why it was best for yol
TO be prosecuted, and why it was bes
for you to be tried, and nave Hiu
point to an elevation proportionate t,
your dis4uietude hero, saying: "Yol
suffered with me on earth, come Ii,
now and be glorifed with me in heav
en-.
S;omo one went into ~ house wher
} there had been good deal of trouble