The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1891-02-05

could call upon the aged men In
this house to give testimony. There
are aged men here who tried the world,
and they tried religion, and they are
willing to testify on our side. 1t was
not long ago that ali old man arose In
a praying circle and said: Brethren,
lost my son just as he graduated from
college, and it broke my heart; but
am glad now he is gone. He is at rest,
away from all sorrow and from all
trouble. And then, in 1857, I lost all
my property, and you see l am getting
old, and it is rather hard upon me;
but am sure God will not let me suf-
fer He has not taken care of me for
sevcnty-fve years now to let me drop
out of bis hands,
/ went into the room of an aged man.
his eyesight nearly gone, his hearing
nearly gone. and what do you suppose
he was talking aboutl The goodness
Of God and the joys of religion. He
said: II would like to go over and join
my wife on the other side Of the food,
and l am waiting until the Lord calls
me. | am happy now. / shall be
happy there"
What is it that gave that aged man
SO much satisfaction and rest Phys
ical exuberance2 No; it has all gone.
Sunshine. He cannot see it. The voices
of friends He cannot hear them. It
is the grace Of God, that is brighter
than monday and that is sweeter than
music. If a harpist takes a harp and
finds that all the strings are broken but
one string, he does not try to play upon
it. Yet here l will show you an aged
man. the strings of whose joy are all
broken save one, and yet he thrums it
with such satisfaction, such melody
that the angels of God stop the swift
stroke of their wings and hover about
the place until the music ceases. Oh, re-
Ggion's ways are way s of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace" And if
you have not the satisfaction that is to
be found in Jesus Christ | must tell
you, with oil the concentrated emphasis
of my soul. lone thing thou lackest."
CHRIST CALLS YOU TO USEFULNESS.
remark, again, that you lack the
element Of usefulness. Where is your
business? You say it is No. As such a
street, or No. $50 such a street, or No.
300 such street My friend immortal,
your business is wherever there is a
tear to be wiped away or a soul to be
saved. You may, before coming to
Christ, do a great many noble things.
You take loaf of bread to that starv.
ing man in the alley, but he wants i'm
mortal bread. You take pound of
candles to that dark shanty. They
want the light that springs from the
throne Of God, and you cannot take it
because you have it not in your own
heart You know that the flight of an
arrow depends very much upon the
strength of the bow, and have to tell
you that the best bow that was ever
made was made out of the cross of
Christ, and when religion takes soul
and puts it on that, and pulls it back
and let's it fly, every time it brings
down q Saul or Goliath.
There are people here of high social
position, and large means, and cultured
minds, who, if they would come into
the kingdom of God, would set the city
on fire with religious awakening. Oh,
hear you not the more than million
voices of those in these two cities who
are unconverted2 Voices of those who
in these two cities are dying in their
sins3 They want light. They want
bread. They want Christ. They want
heaven. Oh, that the Lord would
make you a flaming evangell AS for
myself, l have sworn before high
heaven that I will preach this gospel as
well as | can, in all its fullness, until
every fiber of my body, and every fac
ulty of my mind, and every passion Of
my soul, is exhausted. But we all
have a work to do. cannot do your
work, nor can you do my work. God
points us out the place where we are to
serve, and yet are there not people In
this house who are thirty, forty, fifty,
and sixty years of age, and yet have
not begun the great work for which
they were createda With every worldly
equipment, ''One thing thou lackest. {"
Again, you lack the element of per-
sonal safety. Where are those people
who associated with you twenty years
agoa Where are those people that fif-
teen years ago used to cross Soath
ferry or Fulton ferry with you to New
York; Walk down the street where
you were in business fifteen years ago
and see how all the signs have changed.
Where are the people gone? How
laany of them are landed in eternity
cannot say, but many, many. went
to the village of my boyhood. The
houses were all changed. I passed one
house in which once resided q man
who had lived an earnest, useful life,
and he is in glory now. In the next
house miser lived. He devoured
widows houses, and spent his whole
life In trying to make the world worse
and worse. And he is gone-the good
man and the miser both gone to the
same place. All, did they go to the
same placeG 1t is an infinite absurdity
to suppose them both In the same
place. Ifthe miser had a harp what
tune did he play on it9
Oh, my friends, commend to you
this religion as the only personal safety.
When you die where are you going toa
When we leave all these scenes, upon
what scenes will we entera When we
were on shipboard, and we all felt that
We must go to the bottom, was right
in saying to one next me, ~ wonder if
We will reach heaven if We do 60 down
to-night~ Was I wise or unwise in
asking that question: I tell you that
man is fool who never thinks of the
great future.
THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE.