The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-01-08

| lauSned 10 Gne lake, ana the lake laughed TO
| the sun, and from horizon to horizon, under
the saffron sky the water was all turned into
wine.
learn from this miracle that Christ is not
impatient with the luxuries of life. 1t was
| not necessary that they should have that
wine. Hundreds Of people have been mar
r;ed without any wine We do not read that
any Of the other provisions fell short. When
Christ made the wine it was not necessity,
but positive luxury. I do not believe that
| He wants us to eat hard bread and sleep on
hard mattresses, unless we like them the
| best. l think, if circumstances will allow,
| we have right to the luxuries of dress, the
| luxuries OF diet and the luxuries of residence.
| There is no more religion in an old coat than
in new one. We can serve God drawn by
! golden-plated harness as certainly as When
we go a-foot. Jesus Christ will dwell with
! us under fine ceiling as well as under
thatched roof; and when you can get wine
made out of water, drink as much Of it as
| you can.
What is the difference between q Chinese
mud hovel and an American home? WHAT'S
the difference between the rough bear skins
| of the Russian boor and the outfit of an Ameri-
can gentleman? No difference, except that
which the Gospel Of Christ, directly or indi-
: ypnquished all the world, suppose every
! house will be MANSION, and every garment
robe, and every horse an arch-necked courser
and every carriage glittering vehicle, and
| every man King, and every woman Queen,
! and the whole earth paradise; the glories of
| the natural world harmonizing with the
| glories of the material world until the very
bells Of tho horses shall jingle the praises OF
the Lord.
learn, further, from this miracle, that
| Christ has no impatience with festal joy,
| otherwise He would not nave accepted the
| invitation TO that wedding. He certainly
would not have done that which increased
the hilarity. There may have been many in
that room who were happy, but there was
not one Of them that did so much for the joy
of the wedding party as Christ Himself. He
was the chief Of the banqueters. When the
wine gave out, He supplied it; and so, take
it. He will notd deny us the joys that are posi-
lively feStal
think the children Of God have more
right to laugh than any other people, and to
| clap their hands as loudly. There is not q
single joy denied them that is given to any
other people Christianity docs not clip the
wings of the soul. Religion does not frost
the flowers. What is Christianity?
I take it to- be simply a procla:,
maHa FS oF sho all h2He The ensave ?a and
J if man accepts the terms of that proclama-
tion and becomes freo has he not q right to
be merry? Suppose father has an elegant
mansion and large grounds. To whom will
he give the first privilege Of these grounds?
Will he say: my children, you must NOT
these trees, or pluck this fruit. These are
for outsiders. They may walk in
them" No father would say anything like
that. He would say: 1.-THE first privilegesin in
all the grounds, and all Of my house, shall be
for my own children" And yet men try to
make us believe that Gods children are on
the limits, and tho chief refreshments and
enjoyments Of life are for outsiders, and not
for His own children Itisstark atheism. Their
is no innocent beverage too rich for Gods
child to drink; there is no robe too costly for
him to wear; there is no hilarity too great
for him to indulge in, and no house too
splendid for him to live in. He has a right
70 the joys of Garth; he shall have right to
the joys Of heaven. Though tribulation,
and trial, and hardship may come unto him,
let him rejoice 'Rejoice in the Lord ye
righteous, and again say, rejoice"
remark again that Christ comes to us in
the hour Of our extremity. He knew the
wine was giving out before there was any en-
barrassmcnt or modification. Why did He
not perform the miracle sooner? Why wait
until it was all gone, and no help could come
from any source, and then come in and per-
form the miracle? This is Christ's way; and
when He did come in, at the hour of extrem-
ity, lie made first rate wine, SO that they
cried out: "Thou hast kept the good wine
until now" Jesus in the hour Of extremity!
He seems to prefer that hour.
In a Christian home in Poland great poverty
had come, and on the week day the man was
obliged to move out Of the house with his
whole family. That night he knelt with his
family and prayed to God. While they were
kneeling in prayer there was tap on the
window pane They opened the window, and
there was q raven that tho family had
fed and trained, and it had in its bill ring
all set with precious stones, which was
royal family. It was taken up to the
Kings residence and for the hon
csty of the man in bringing it back he had q
house given to him, and garden and farm.
Who was it that sent the raven tapping on
the window? The same God that sent the
raven to feed Elijah by the brook Cherith.
Christ in the hour Of extremity
You mourned over your SINS You could
not find the way out. You sat down and
said: "God will not be merciful. He las
cast me off," but in that the darkest hour
of your history, light broke from the throne
and Jesus said: 20 wanderer, come home.
| I have seen all thy sorrows. In this, the
hour of thy extremity, I offer thee pardon
and everlasting lifen'
Trouble came. You were almost torn to
pieces by that trouble. You braced your
Self ND against it. You said: II will be a
stole, and will not care;" but before you had
got through making tho resolution it broke
down under you. You felt that all your re-
sources were gone, and then Jesus came.
"In the fourth watch Of the night" the
Bible says. "Jesus came walking on the sea."
Why did He not come in the first watch OF
in the second watch or in the third watch
do not know. He came in the fonrth, anu
gave deliverance to His disciples. Jesus in
the last extremity
wonder if it will be so in our very last
extremity. We shall fall suddenly sick, and
doctors will come, but i'll vain. Wo will try
bathings, but all in vain. Something will
say: ''You must co." No one to hold us
back, but the hands of eternity stretched out
to pull us on. What then? Jesus will come
to u.s. and as We say: Lord Jesus, am
afraid of that water; ! cannot wade through
to the other side," he will say: "Take
hold of My ARM" and we will take
hold of His arm, and then He will put His foot
in the surf of the wave, taking us down
deeper, deeper, deeper, and our soul VIII cry:
"Ail Thy waves and billows have gone over
me.n They cover the feet, come to the
knee, pass the girdle and come to the head,
and our soul cries out. "Lord Jesus, can
not hold Thine arm any longer" Then Jesus
will turn around, throw both His arms about
us and set us on the beach, far beyond the
tossing of the billows Jesus in the last e1'
tremity.
That wedding scene is gone now. The
wedding ring has been lost, the tankards
have been broken, the house is down; but
Jesus invites us to grander wedding. You
know the Bible says that the church is the
| .,,;rc aud tIa ord will after awhiIa