The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-02-02

said: Brethren, lost my son Just as he
graduated from college, ard it broke my
heart; but am glad now he is gone. be Is
ut rest, escaped from all sorrow and from
all trouble And then. in 1851, lost all
my property. and you see am getting old,
and it is rather hard upon me; out L am
sure God viii not let me suffer. de has
not taken care of me for seventy-hve years
now to let me drop out OF his hands.
1 went into the room OF an
aged man-his eye-sight nearly gone, his
hearing nearly gone-and what do you
suppose be was talking aboutl The good
ness of God and the joys OF religion de
said: Il would like to go over and loln my
wife on the other side Of the hooo, and am
waiting until the Lord calls me. l am
happy now. shall be happy there"
What is it that gave that aged man so
much satisfaction and peacel Physical ex-
uberancel No; it has all gone. Sunshines
He cannot see it The voices OF friends!
he cannot hear them. 1t is the grace Of
God, that is brighter than sunshine and
that is swester than music. II harp
ist takes harp and finds
that all the strings are broken
but one string. he does not try to play upon
it. Yet here will show you an aged man,
the strings of whose joy are broken save
one, aud yet he thrums 1t with such salts
faction, such melody, that the angels of God
stop the swift stroke of their wings. and
hover about the place until the music
ceases. o. religions ways are ways OF
pleasantness. and all her paths are peace"
And II you have not the satisfaction that Is
TO be found in Jesus Christ, must tell you,
with all the concentrated emphasis of my
soul: zone thing thou lackest."
/ remark again, that you lack the Gle
ment of usefulness Where is your bust
nessi You say it Is No. 40 such street. or
No. POO such a street. or No 800 such
street Ny friend immortal. your business
is wherever there is a tear to be wiped
away or a soul to be saved. You may. be-
fore coming TO Christ, do a great many
noble things. You take a loaf of bread TO
that starving man in the alley; but he
wants immortal bread. You take pound
of candles to that dark shanty. They want
the light that springs from the throne OF
God, aud 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 thst the best
bow that was ever made was made out Of
the cross Of Christ; and when religion takes
a soul and puts it on that aud pulls 1t back
and lets it fiy, every time it brings down a
Saul or Goliath. There are people here of
higher social position, and large means.
and cultured minds, who, il they would
come into the kingdom of God, would set
the city on fire with religious awakening
o, hear you not the more than million
voices OF those in these two cities who are
unconvertedf Voices Of those who
in these two cities are dying in
their sinsl They want light. They
want bread They want Christ. They
want heaven. o, that the Lord would
make you a flaming evangel. As for my
self, / have sworn before high heaven that
/ viii preach this gospel as we'll as can, in
all its fullnesS, until every fiber OF my
body. and every faculty Of my mind, and
every passion Of my soul, is exhausted. But
M 4. =
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 created9 With every
worldly equipment: Zone thing thou
lackestn
Again, you lack the element Of personal
safety. Where are those people who asso-
ciated with you twenty years ago2 Where
are those people that, fifteen years ago,
used to cross South 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 gomez
How many of them are landed in eternity
cannot say, but many, many. | went TO
the village of my boyhood. The houses
were all changed. / passed one house in
which once resided a man who had lived an
cat hSob. useful AAlos auu no ls III RlOTV
now. In the next houie a 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 aud the miser both gone to
the same place. All. did they go to the
same place7 1t is an infinite absurdIty to
suppose them both In the same place. Ii the
miser had a harp, what tune did he play
on itg o, my friends, ! commend to YOU
this religion as the only personal safety
When you die, where are you going to9
When we leave all these scenes, upon what
scenes will we enterl When we were on
shipboard, and we all felt that we must go
to the bottom, was l right in saying to one
next me: 81 wonder IL we will reach heaven
if we do go down tonight" Was wise or
unwise in asking that question: / tell you
that man is a fool who never thinks of the
great future.
II you pay money you take a receipt If
you buy land you record the deed. Whyl
Because, everything is SO Uncertain, you
want 1t down in black and white, you say
For house and lot twenty five feet front
by one hundred feet deep, all security; but
for soul, vast as eternity, nothing. moth
8 ingl IL some man or woman, standing in
some OF these aisleS, should drop down,
where would you go tos Which is your
destinys Suppose man is prepared for the
future world, what difference does it make
TO him whether he goes to his home to-day
or goes into glory! Only this difference: If
he dies he is better off. Where he had one
joy on earth, he will have a million in
heaven. Where he has a small sphere here
be will have grand sphere there Perhaps
it would cost you sixty, or ono hundred, or
one hundred and fifty dollars to have your
physical life insured; and yet, free of
charge, offer you insurance on your i'm
mortal life, payable, not at your decease,
but now. and tomorrow, and every day,
and always
My hope in Christ is not so bright as
many christians | know; but would not
give it up for the whole universe, in one
cash payment, If it were offered me- 1t
has been SO much comfort to me IN time of
trouble. it has been so much strength to me
when have been assailed, it has been SO
much rest to me when l have been per-
picked, and it is around my heart such an
encasement Of satisfaction and blessedness
that / can stand here before God, and say;
Take away my health. take away my life.
take everything rather than rob me of
this hope, this plain, simple hope which
have in Jesus Christ my Lord. | must
have this robe when the last
chill strikes through me- l must
have this light when all other lights go out
in the blast that comes up from the cold
Jordan. / must have this sword with which
to fight my way through ali those foes on