The Yazoo sentinel. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1878-1916, 1891-08-06

Il 10y tAAA"HN ~ WNNl ANNNIN yDI
70 stop thinking, and Jon cannot top think
ing IN that direction. Take walk IN th
fresh niri Why, along that very street. Of
that very road, phs once accompanied you
Out OF that grasl plot she plucked flowers
o. into that show window she looked fasci
mated, saying. Como. 500 tho plctureH.D o.
deeper into bugifisss Why. she was asso
since she has gone you have no ambition left
Oh. this ~ a clumsy world when II tries y
comfort a broken hearti
can build Coriisa engine, can paint 4
/ hnphaei's Madonna" I can play Beetho
von's symphony as easily o. this world car
4 comfort o broken heart. And yet You have
been comforted. How was II dOneS Did
Christ come 10 you and say: Get your mind
on this. Go out and breathe the fresh air.
| Plunge deeper into buaneysw No. There
WAS a minute when He came % you--per
hnps Ia the watches OF the night, perhaps IN
! your places Of business, perhaps along the
strickland flo breathed something into your
soul that gave peaco, rest. infinite quiet, "
that you could take out the photograph oi
tho departed ono and look into the eyes and
this face ~ tho dear ono md snyi "It IL all
right. She Is better Of, | would not call
her bnck. Lord thank Thee that Thou has
comforted my poor heart"
There arc Christian parents here who nr6
willing b testify 10 this power Of this Gospel
10 comfort. Your son had just graduated
from school or college and was going into
business, and the Lord took him. Or your
daughter had Just graduated from the young
ladies' seminary, and you thought she was
going 30 be useful woman and Of long life,
but the Lord took her, and you were tempted
10 say, "All this culture Of twenty years for
nothingw Or the little child came home
from school with tho hot fever that stopped
not for tho agonizsd prayer or for the skill
ful physician. and the little child was taken.
Or the babe was lifted out OF your arms by
some QUICK epidemic, aud you stood wonder
ing way God ever gave you that child at all
II 40 soon He was 10 take IL away. And yet
you are not replning you aro not fretful,
YOU are not fighting against God. What
enabled you % stand all the trial'
"Oh," you say, II took tho medicine that
God gave my sick soul. In my distress |
threw myself 40 the feet Of a sympathislng
God; and whom was too weak 70 pray or 70
look up He breathed into mo a peace that
think must BIO tho foretaste Of that heaven
where there Is neither tear nor n farewell
nor grave" Come, all ye who have been
out 10 tho grave 10 weep there-come, all ye
oomforted souls, get up Off your knees. is
there no power In this Gospel 70 soothe the
hearth Is thore no power in this religion 70
quiet the worst pnroxysm OF grieff There
comes up an answer from comforted widow
noDu anu oFpuAnAEo uhA hhhhipSoheo7i SUI
ing, "Ay, ay, we are wltnessesW
Again, l remark that we arc witnesses
Of tho fact that religion has power 20 give
cotnpoMro In the last moment. shall
never forget tho first tiine l confronted
death. We went across tho cornholds in the
country / was led by my fathers hand,
and we came 10 the farmhouse whore the be-
reavement had come and we saw the crowd
OF wagons and carriages; but thore was one
has aat.aaiaIlu nj ad n q hnuioh
attention, and &c had black pumes | said
whats thatf what's that Why those
black Ia ssels at the topT' And after IL was
explained TO me / was lifted up 70 look upon
the bright face OF an aged Christian woman
who three days beforo had departed In tri-
umph. The whole scene made an impression
! never forgot.
In our sermons and our lay exhortations
we are very apt, when we want 10 bring II.
ustratlons OF dying triumph, to go back to
,ome distinguished nersonage--to a John |
Knox or Harriet Newell. But | want you
or witnesses. | want 20 know II you have |
,ver seen anything to make you believe that |
he religion OF Christ can give colnposure In |
he final hour Now IN the courts, attorney, |
nry and Judge will never admit mere here
Hy. They demand that the witness must /
AVE seen with his own eyes or heard with
lis own cars, and so | am critical In my ex-
whether you have seen or heard anything |
hat makes you believe that the religion OF
chrst gives composurc In the final hour.
ooh, yes you SAY II saw my father and
mother depart There was a great differ
'neo In their deathheds. Standing by the
me we felt more generation. BY Che other,
here was more tondernessp Before the ono
'ou bowed perhaps. IN awe In the other
ASA you felt as II You would Ike to go along
With her How did they feel In that last
iouri How did they seem TO act' Were
hey very much frghtenedg Did thoy take
lold OF this world with both hands as though
hey did not want TO give It up "Oh, no." |
'ou say; mo; | remember as though it were
yesterday; she had kind word for us all,
md there were few momontoes distributed
mong the children, and then sha told us how
Ind we must be 20 our father in his loneli-
1858, and then sho kissed us goodby and went
sleep as child In a cradlep What made
er so composndi Natural ccuragef
mo- you say; mother was very nerv-
us, when the carriage inclined TO the sido
the road she would cry out; she was
ways rather weakly" What gave her
omposurei Was it because she did not care
iuch for you, and the pang OF parting was
OF greRtS "Oh,n you say, ''she showered
pom us n wealth OF affection; no mother
rsr loved her children more than mother
wed us; she showed it by tho way she
rrssd us when we were sick, and she toilea
" us until her strength gave out" What
zen, was n that gave her composure in the
st hourf Do not hide It. Be frank and
I me know. ''Ohn YOU say. ut was be-
luse she was so good; She made the Lord |
n portion, ana she had faith that she ,
ould go straight TO glory, and that we ,
ould al meet her at last at the foot of the
rome"
Here are people who say, ~ saw a Chris J
IN brother die. aud he triumphed.n And d
ne one else. II saw Christian sister die,
"a sho trlumphsdn Some one else win say,
saw Christian daughter die, and she 9
iumphed.n Come, all ye who have seen d
e last moment OF a Christian, and give tes- \
mony In this cause on trial. Uncover your
,sdS put your hands on the old family q
lhle, from which they used TO read the Al
'omiseS, and promise in the presence OF b
gh heaven that you will tell the truth. the
hole truth and nothing but the truth.
18th what You have seen with your oun u.
fes and what you have heard with your "
vn ears, Is there power in this Gospel TO :,
i've ealmness and triumph in tbs last exig- v
lcyt The response comes from all sides, W
ON young and old and middle aged, "We d,
Re wltnessests
You see my friends I have not put before ~ :,
on any abstraction or chimera or any u
ting like guess work. present yon aida
is OF the best mon and women living and
sad. Two Witnesses IN court will establish
fact Here are not two witnesses. hut
ilions Of witnesses on earth and In heaven N
stifying that there is power in this ~
iigica 70 eonvert the soul, 70 give comfort
trouble and 10 afford composure in the "
st hour. c,