The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1892-06-30
TO tie him fast. He makes no resist

lpOn those infamous SOldle RS. No!
laul was not going to interfere with his
own coronation. He was too glad to so.
see hlm looking up in the face of his
eXccutioner, aud as the grim official
draws the sword, Paul calmly says, II
nm now ready to be offered, and the |
time OF my departure is at hand" But |
l put my hand over my eyes. want |
not TO sec that last struggle. One
sharp, keen stroke, and Paul does 90 to
the banquet, and Paul does dine wi tn
the king.
What transition it was! From the
malaria OF Rome to the finest climate in
all the universe-the zone of eternal
beauty and health. His ashes were put
IN the catacombs of Rome, but in one
moment the air Of heaven bathed from
his soul the last ache. From shipwreck,
from dungeon, from the biting pam of
the elmwood rods, from the sharp sword
OF the headsman, he goes into the most
brilliant asscmblage of heaven, a king
among kings, multitudes of tie saint
hood rushing out and stretching forth
hands OF welcome, tor l do really think
that as on the right hand OF God is
Christ, so on the right hand Of Christ
Is Paul, the second great in heaven.
| We changed kings likewise. Before
the hour of death, and up to the last
moment, he was under Nero, the thick
ncCkcd, the cruel eyed, the filthy Tipped,
the sculpturcd features Of that maa
bringing down to us to this very day the
horrible possibilities of his nature -
seated as he was amid pictured marbles
OF Egypt, under roof adorned with
mothcr-ot-pcarl, in a dining room which,
ny machinery, was kept whirling day
and night with mos! bewitchlng magniii-
ccncc, his horses standing in stalls of
s0lid %old, and the grounds around his
palace lighted at night by its victims,
who had been bedaubcd with tar and
pitch and then set on fire to illumine
tn" darkness.
That was paul's king. But the next
moment he goes INTO the realm Of him
whose reign is love, and whose courts
arc paved with love, and whose throne
ls set OH pillars of love, and whose
sccpter Is adorned with Jewels of love,
and whose palace ls lighted with love,
and whose lifetime is an eternity otlove.
When Paul was leaving so much on this
side the pillar of martyrdom to gnin so
much on The other side, do YOU wonder
at the cheerful valedictory of the text.
The time OF my departure is at hand?'j
Now, why cannot all the old people
have the same holy glce as that arcd
man had? Charles |, when ne was
comblng his head, found gray hair, and
he sent it to the queen as a great Joke.
but old age is really no Joke at all. For
the last forty years you have been dread
In1 that which ought to have been an
exhllaration. You say you most fear
The struggle at the moment the soul and
body part. But millions have endured
that moment, aud may not we as well?
Fhcy got through with it and so can we.
Besidcs this, all medical men agl ee ia
say ing that there is probably no strug.
gle ut the last moment-not so mnab
PAIN as tho prick Of pin, The seeming
signs of dstrcss being altogether inyol.
untary. But you say, "It is the unccr-
tainty of the future" Now, child of
God, do not play the inidel. After
God has filled the Bible till 1t can hold
no more with stories OF the good things
ahead, better not talk about uncertain
! ties.
But you say, 81 cannot bear to think
OF parting from friends here" If YOU
| are Old, You have more friends in heaven
than here, Just take the census, Take
some large sheet of paper and begin to
record the names of those who have
cmlyratcd to the other shore; the com
panions of your school days, your early
business associates, the friends of mid
lllc and those who more recently went
away. Can it he that they have been
gone so long you do not care any more
about them, and you do not want their
SOtiDl\I in rNhora bny
days when You have felt that you could
not endure another moment away from
Their blessed cOmpanionship. They
have gone. You say You would not
IKE TO bring them back to this world of
trouble, even if you had the power. 1t
would not do to trust you. God would |
not give you resurrection power.
Before tomorrow morning YOU would |
be tattlinG at the gates of the cemetery.
cry ing to the departed: "Come back to |
the cradle where you slept! Come back
70 'hc nall where you used to play! |
tolnc back to the table where you used |
10 Sli!' And there would be great
burglary IN heaven. No, 90. GOD will !
not tilst YOU with resurrection power.
but hc compromises the matter and
says, ~ on cannot bring them where
-, w, D"' } ou can go Wnefc tncS arc.'
Ihey are more lovely now than ever.
were hey beautiful here, they arc more
beautiful there.
bcsides that, it is more healthy there
Tor 1ou than here, aged man; better cl-
mate here than these hot summers and
cold winters and late springs; better
ne arln"; better cyeslght; more tonic in
'he air; more perfume in the bloom:
more sweetness in the song. DO YOU
not icc!, aged man, sometim % AS though
you would like to get your arm and foot
lrcc? DO you not feel az though YOU
would like to throw away spectaclcs
ana canes and crutches? Would YOU not
IKE to feel the spring and elasticity and
mirihot an eternal boyhood? When the
point at which you start from this world
is old age. and the point to which you
go Is eternal .iuvenescence, aged man,
clap your hands at the anticipation, and
say, IN perfect rapture of soul, '.rhc
tlme OF my departure is at hand.n
remark again, all those ought to