The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-09-16
The Lord built it. It is a large place. An

1--WE will start right away anu Seb tnls sup
ply for our SOUL" But stop moment; 1or
from the keeper OF that eorn-crio 1nese
comes his word, saying: "You shall not
see my face except your brother be WITH
you." In other words, there Is no such
Thing as getting from heaven pardon and
comfort and eternal life unless we bring
with us our Divine Brother, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Coming without Him, we
shall fall before we reach the corn-crlb, ana
our bodies shall be portion for the Jackais
of the wilderness; but coming with the VI,
vine Jesus, all the granaries Of heaven Will
swing open before our soul, and abundance
shall be given US. We shall be invited 70
sit in the palace OF tns klng
and at the table; and while the LORD Or
heaven is apportioning from His own table
to other tables He will not forget US; and
then and there it will be found that our Ben.
jamin's mess is larger than all the others, lot
SO it ought to be. Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain, to receive blessing, and rlctes,
and honor, and glory, and power"
I want to make three points. Every
frank and common-sense man will ac-
knowledge himself to be sinner. what
are you going to do with your sinse Have
them pardoned, you say. Hows through
themercy of GodY Is 1t the letting down
of bar for the admission of all, without
respect to character? Be not deceived. l
see soul coming up to the gate OF mercy
and knocking at the corncrib OF heavenly
SIMPLY. and a voice from within says:
"Are YOU aloneg' The sinner replies:
"All alone" The voice from within says:
"You shall! not see My pardoning face un-
less your Divine Brother, the Lord Jesus,
be with you" Oh, that is the point at
which so many are discomfted. There is
no mercy from God except through Jesus
Christ. Coming with Him, we are accepted.
Coming without Him, we are rejscted.
Peter put it right in his great sermon be;
fore the high priests, when he thundered
forth: 'Neither Is there salvation in any
other. There is no other name given under
heaven among men whereby we may be
sayed.n Oh, anxious sinner! Oh, dying
sinnerl Oh, lost sinnerl all you have got
to do is to take this Divine Benjamin along
with You. Side by side, coming to the
gate, all the store.houses Of heaven will
swing open before your anxious soul: Am
right in calling Jesus Benjamin? Oh, yes.
Rachel lived only long S enough ugh to Ave gave
kiss she called him Benoni. Afterward
Jacob ohan,ed his name, and he called
him Benjamin.. The meaning OF the name
she gave was "Son Of my Pain" The
meaning of the name the father gave was
'Son Of my Right Hand" And was not
Christ the Son of Pain9 All the sorrows
of Rachel in that hour, when she gave her
child over into the hands Of strangers, was
nothing compared with the struggle OF
God when He gave up His only Son. The
omnipotent God in birth throe! And was
not Christ appropriately called "Son Of the
heaven and see Him standing at the right
hand of God? And does not not Paul speak
of Him as standing at the right hand of God
making intercession for us? o Benjamin
Jesus Son Of pang! Son Of victory
The deepest emotions Of our souls
ought to be stirred at the sound Of
that nomenclature. In your prayers plead
His tears His sufferings, His sorrows and
His death. If you refuse to do 1t, all the
corn-cribs and the palaces Of heaven will be
bolted and barred against your soul, and a
voice from the throne shall stun you with
the announcement: "You shall not see My
face except your Brother be with you"
My text also suggests the reason why 80
many people do not get any real comfort.
You meet ten people; ninesf them are in
need Of some kind Of coincidence. There Is
something in their health, or intheir state.
or in their domestic condition that demands
sympathy. And yet the most Of the worlds
sympathy amounts to absolutely notE.
ing. People go to the wrong crib, O:
they 20 in the wrong way. When tae
plague was in Rome great many. years
ago, there were eighty mon who chanted
themselves to death with the itanies o.
Gregory the Great-iterally chantei them
plague. And all the music Of this wor!
cannot halt the plague Of the human
heart. I come to some one whose ailments
are chronic, and say: "In heaven you will
never be sick" That does not give yes
much comfort. What you want is a soot.
ing power for your present distress. Los;
children. have you? I come to you and te!.
you that in ten years perhaps you, Will
meet these loved ones before tho throne
of God. But there is but little condole7ce
in that. One day is year without
them, and ten years is a small eternity:
What you want is sympathy now-present
help. l come to those of you who have lost
dear friends, and say: TRY to forget them.
Do mot keep the departed always in your
mind" How can you forget them when
every figure in the carpet and every BOOK,
and every picture, and every room calls
out their name! Suppose 1 come to you
and say by way Of condolences: 'God is
wise" "Oh" you say, that gives me nc
"God, from all eternity, has arranged this
trouble" "Ahm you say: ''that does me
no good" Then say: "WIth the swift
feet of prayer go direct to the corn
crib for a heavenly supply" You 80. You
say: "Lord, help me; Lord, comfort me-"
But no help yet. No comfort yet. 1t is all
dark What is the matter! l have found.
You ought to go to God and say: Here. .
Lord, are the wounds Of my soul, and
bring with me the wounded Jesus. Let His
woundacoy for my wounds. His bereave-
ments for my bereavements. His loneliness
for my loneliness. His heart-hreak for my
heartbreak. o God for the sake Of the Lord
Jesus Christ-the God, the Man, the Benja-
soul. o Jesus of the weary foot ease myl
fatigue. o Jesus OF the aching head. hea
my aching head. OJesus of the Bethany
sisters, roll away the stone from the doc
Of our grave" That is the kind Of praye
that brings help; and yet how many Of you
are getting no help at all for the reason that
there is in your soul, perhaps a secret
trouble. You may never have mentioned
it to single human ear, or you may have
mentioned it to some one who is now gone
away, end that great sorrow is still in
your soul. After Washington Irving was
dead, they found little box that contained
braid of hair and a miniature, and the name
of Matilda Hoffman and a memorandum
of her death, and the remark something like
this: THE world after that was blank
to me. went into the country, but found
no peace in solitude. tried to 60 into So
ciety, but found no peace in society. There
has been horror hanging over me by night
and by day, and am afraid to be alone"
How many uputtered troubles! No hu-
man ear has ever heard the sorrow. Oh,
troubled soul, want to tell you that there
is one salve that can cure the wounds of
the heart, and that is the salve made out
Of the tears Of sympathetic Jesus. And
yet some Of you will not take this solace;
and you try chlo.al, ana you try morphine.
and you try strong drink, and you try