The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-04-29

wind! 10 rack of storm clouds. One
breath Of that air will cure the worst
tubercle. Crystal light on all the leaves.
Crystal Light shlmmering on the topaz
Of the temples. Crystal light tossing
IN the plumes ofthe equestrians OF heav-
en- on white horses. But 1.-THE crystal
cannot equal lt.' John says crystal
river. That means Joy. Deep and
ever-rolling. Not one drop Of the Thames
or the Hudson OF the Rhine to soil it.
Not one tear of human sorrow to emhit-
ter it. Crystal, the rain out Of which
it was made. Crystal. the bed over
which it shall roll and ripple. Crystal,
its INFINITE surface. But ''the crystal
cannot equal it." John says crystal
sea. That means multitudinously vast.
Vast in rapture. Rapture vast as the
sea, deep as the sea, strong as the sea,
ever changing as the sea. Billows OF
light. Billows Of beauty, blue with
skies that were never clouded and green
with depths that were never fathomed.
Arctics and Antarctics and Mediterra.
means and Atlantlcs and Pacidcs IN
crystalline magnifcence. Three crys-
tails. Crystal light falling on crystal
river. Crystal river rolling into crys-
tai sea. But ''the crystal cannot equal
it,
Oh, says some one, putting his hand
over his eyes, ''can it be that who have
been IN so much sin and trouble will ever
come to those crystals" Yes, 1t may
bet will be. Heaven we must have,
whatever else we have or have not; and
we come here 10 get it. ''Hcw much
must I pay for it?" you say. You will
pay for itjust as the coal pays to become
the diamond. In other words nothing.
The same Almighty power that makes
the crystal in the mountain will change
your heart, which is harder than stone,
for the promise is 81 will take away your
stony heart and 1 will give you heart
of tiesh.''
sOh" says some one, lit is just the
doctrine want; God IS to do everything
and am 10 do nothing" My brother,
it is not the doctrine you want. The coal
makes resistance. Ithears the resurrec-
ton voice in the mountain and it comes
to crystalllzation, but your heart reslsts.
The trouble with you, brother, is the
coal wants to stay coal. do not ask
you to throw open the door and let Christ
in. I only ask that you stop boiling and
barring it. Oh, my friends, we will have
to get rid of our sin. I will have to get
rid Of my sins and you will have to ses
rid of your sins. What will we do with
our sins among the three crystals? The
crystal atmosphere would display our
pollution. The crystal river would be
| befouled with our touch. The crystal
sea would whelm US with its glistenlng
surge. Transformation now or no trans
| formation at all. Give sin full chance
in your heart and the transformation will
be downward instead of upward. In
stead ofa crystal it will be cinder. In
the days of Carthage Christian girl was
condemned to die for her faith, and boat
was bedaubed with tar and pitch and
filed with combustibles and set on FIRE
and the Christian girl was placed in the
boat, and the wind was of. shore and the
boat f1oated away with its precious treas
ure. No one can doubt that boat landed
at the shore of Heaven. Sin wants to
put you in fiery boat and shove you OF
in an opposite direction-of from peace,
off from God, off from heaven, everlast-
ingly off; and the port toward which you
would sail would be port OF darkness,
and the guns that would greet you would
be the guns Of despair, and the flags
that would wave at your arrival would
be the black flags Of death. Oh, my
brother, you must either kill sin or sin
will kill you. Its no wild exaggeration
when say that any man or woman that
wants to be saved may be saved. Ire
.lendous choice! A thousand people
are choosing this moment between sal
vation and destruction, between light
and darkness, between heaven and hell,
between charred ruin and glorious crys.
tolJi1et,nr