The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-07-09

lariher goes atlef IT,. There Is nothing
so thoroughly lost as lost sheep. i
may have been In 1857, during the finan
cal panic, or during the financial stress
IN the iall af 1873, when you got astray
You almost became an atheist. You
said. "Where is God, that honest mer
60 down and thieves prosper" You
were dogged Of creditors, you were dog
ged of the banks, you were doggcd o.
worldly disaster, and come of you went
Into mlsanthropy, some of you took tc
strong drink, and others of you fed ont
OF Christian association. and you GOT
astray. o man! that was the last time
when you ought to have forsaken God.
| Standing amid the laundering of YOUR
earthly fortunes, how could YOU get
along without God to comfort YOU. and
God to deliver you, and a God to help
you, and God TO save you? You tell
me sou bave been through, enough bu.i-
ness trouble almost to kill you. l know
1t. cannot understand how the boat
could live one hour in that chopped sea.
But do not know by what process YOU
got astray; some in one way, and some
IN another, and if you could really see
inc position some OF you occupy before
Hod This morning, your soul would burst
INTO an agony Of tears and you would
pelt the heavens with the cry, God have
mercy!' Sinai's batteries have been
numbered above your soul, and at
times you have!heard it'thunder: 1.-THE
wages of sin is DEATH" "All have sin =
ned and CO lie short of the glory of God.n
by one man sin entered into the world.
and death by sin; and 80 death passed
Vi on all men, for that all have sinncd,n
1.-THE soul that sinneth it shall die.D
When Sebastopol was being lombard
ed, two Russian irigates burned all night
In the harbor throwing a gllre upon The
trembling fortress, and some of YOU are
standing in the night of your SOUPS trou-
bic. The cannOnade and the contlayra-
tion, The multiplication of your sorrows
and troubles l think must make the
wings OF Gods lowering angels shivcr
to the tip.
But the last part of my text opens
door wide enough to let us all out and
to let all heaven in. Sound it on the
organ with all the stops out. Thrum it
on the harps with all the strings atune.
With all the melody possible let the
heavens sound it TO the earth and let
the earth tell it to the heavens. 1.-The
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us
all.' l am glad that the prophet did
not stop to explain whom he meant by
''him." Him Of the manger, him of the
bloody sweat, him OF the resurrection
throne, HIM of the crucilixion agony,
"On him the Lord hath laid the miuuty
of us ALL"
CHRIST COMES TO THE FALLEN.
"Oh," says some man, that is not
generous, that is not fair; let every man
carry his own burden and pay his own
debts" That sounds reasonable. If
have an obligation and have the means
TO meet it, and L come to you and ask
you to settle that obligation, you right
ly say, PAY your own debts" If you
and | walking down the street, both
hale, hearty and well, I ask you to car
ry me, you say, and say rightly, "Walk
on your own feet" But suppose YOU
and l were ia a regiment and was
wounded in the battle and l fell uncon-
sclous at your feet with gunshot fractures
and dislocations, what would YOU do9
\ on would call to your comrades say
ing, Come and help, this man is help
less; bring the ambulance, let us take
him to the hospital" and | would be a
dead lit III your arms, and you would
lit me from the ground where | had
fallen and put me in the ambulance and
take me to the hospital and have all
kindness shown me. Would there be
anything mean in your doing that?
Would there be anything bemeanine in
my accepting that kindness? Oh, no.
You would be mean not to 90 it. That
is what Christ does.
IT we could pay our debts thenit would
be better to go up and pay them, saying,
Here, Lord, here is my obligation;
here are the means with which | mean
to settle that obligation; now give me a
receipt; cross IL all out" The debt is
paid. But the fact is we hive fallen in
the battle, we have gone down under the
hot fire OF our transgressions, we have
been wounded by the sabers Of sin, we
are helpless. we are undone. Christ
comes. The loud clang heard in the sky
ON that Christmas night was only the
bell, the rcsoundirg bell, of the ambu-
lance. Clear the way for the Son of
God. lie comes down to bind up the
wounds. and to scatter the darkness, and
TO save the lost. Clear the way for the
Son Of God.
IlI ColllcS GOWN 10 see us, and we
arc dead lift. He does not lift us with
the tips OF his fingers. He does not lift
lis with one arm. He comes down upon
his knee, and then with dead lit he
raises us to honor and glory anu iini11or-
tality. THE Lord hath laid on him tho
iniquity Of us ALL" Why, then, will no
man carry his sins? You cannot carry
successfully the smallest sin you ever
committed. You might as we'll put the
Apennincs on one shoulder and the
Alps on the other. How much less can
you carry all the sins Of your lifetime!
Christ comes and looks down in your
face and says: 81 have come through
all the decorations Of these days and
through all the tempests of these nights.
have come to bear your burdens, and
to pardon your sins, and to pay your
debts. Put them on my shoulder; put
them on my heart" "On him the Lord
hath LAID the iniquity of us all.
NO REST FOR THE WICKED.
Sin has almost pestered the life out of
some OF you. At times lthas made you
cross and unreasonable, and it has spoil
et the Drlphtnasa nf ynnr 10 a., o,J tIo