Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-08-12

no one ever dared put it on; but this robe Of
Christ, richer than that, the poorest an / thu
wanest and the worst may wear. 'Wh here
sin abounded grace may much more
abound"
'Oh, my sins, my SINS" said Martin
Luther 20 Staupitz; my SINS, my sins. :"
The fact is that the brawny German student
had found Latin Bible that had made him
quake. and nothing else ever did make him
quake; and when he found how, through
Christ, he was pardoned and saved he wrote
to a friend, saying: "Come over and join
US great and awful sinners saved by the
grace of God. You seem to De only a
slender sinner, and you don't much extol the
mercy of God; but we who have been such
very awful sinners praise His grace the more
now that We have been redeemed"
Can it be that you ara so desperately
egotistical that you feel yourself in first rate
spiritual trim, and that from the root of the
hair to the tip OF the tos you are scarless
and immaculate: What you need is q look
ing-glass and here it Is in the Bible. Poor
and wretched and miserA BILE and blind and
naked from the crown OF the head to the
sole OF the foot, full Of wounds and putrefy-
ing sores No health In US. And then take
the fact that Christ gathered up all the
notes against US and paid them and then
offered US the receipt.
And how much we need Hin in our sor-
rows! We are Independent OF circumstances
if we have His grace. Why. He made
Paul sing in the dungeon, and under that
grace ST. John from desolate Patmos heard
the blast of the apocalyptic trumpets. At
ter all other candles have been snuffed out,
this is the light that gets brighter and
brighter unto the perfect day; and after,
under the hard hoofs Of calamity, all the
pools of worldly enjoyment have been
tampled into deep mire, at the foot Of the
eternal rock the Christian, from cups of
granite, lily trimmed and vine covered, puts
out the thirst of his soul.
Again, l remark that Christ is above all
in dying alleviations. have not any SYM
pathy with the morbidity abroad about our
demise. The Emperor of Constantinople
arranged that on the day Of his coronation
the stonemason should come and consult him
about his tombstone that after awhile he
would need. And there are men who are
monomaniacal on the sub iect of departure
from this life by death, and the more they
think Of it the less they are prepared to go.
This is an unmanliness not worthy OF you,
not worthy Of me.
Saladin, the greatest conqueror of his
day, while dying, ordered the tunic he had
ON him to be carried after his death on
spear at the head of his army, and then the
soldier, ever and anon, should stop and say:
'Behold, all that is left of Saladin, the
Emperor and conqueror. or all the States
lated, nothing did he retain but this
shroud." I have no sympathy with such
behavior such absurd demonstration or
with much that we hear uttered in regard
to departure from this life to the next. There
is commonsensical idea on this subject
that you and 1 need to consider-that there
are only two styles Of Departure
A thousand feet underground, by light Of
torch, toiling in a miners shaft ledge Of
rock may fall upon U.s. and we may die
miners death. Far out to sea, falling from
the slippery ratlines and broken on the hal
W. ma
mission OF mercy i'll hospital, amid broken
bones and reeking leprosies and raging
fever, we may die philanthropist's death
On the field of battle, serving God and our
country, the gun carriage may roll over us
and we may die a patriots death. But.
after all, there are only two styles Of de-
parture; the death Of the righteous and the
death of the wicked, and we all want to die
the former.
God grant that when that hour comes you
may be at homs! You want the hand of
your kindred in your hand. You want your
children to surround you. You want the
light on your pillow from eyes that have
long reflected your love. You want the
room STILL You do not want any curious
strangers standing around watching you.
your last prayer. 1 think that is the wish
of all of US. But is that all? Can earthly
friends hold us when the pillows OF death
come up to the girdle? Can human voice
charm open heavens gate? Can human
hands pilot us through the narrows of death
friendship shield us from the arrows of
death and in the hour when satan shall
practice upon US his Internal archery? No,
no, no, no! Alas! poor soul, if that is ALL
Better die in the wilderness, far from tree
shadow and from fountain, alone. vultures
circling through the air waiting for our
body, unknown to men, and to have no
burial, if only Christ could say through the
II will never leave thee, I will
never forsake thee" From that pillow of
stone a ladder would soar heavenward,
angels coming and going; and across the
solitude and the barrenness would come the
sweet notes of heavenly minstrelsy.
Toward the last hour of our earthly resi-
dence we are speeding. When see the sun
set say, ''One day less to live" When I
other season gone forever" When close
this Bible on Sabbath night say, Another
Sabbath departed" When I bury a friend
say, Another earthly attraction gone for
ever" What nimble feet the years have!
The roebucks and the lightnings run not so
fast. From decade to decade, from sky to
sky they go at a bound.
There is place for us, whether marked
or not, where you and l will sleep the last
sleep. and the men are now living who will
witch solemn tread carry US 70 our resting
place. Aye, 1t is known In heaven whether
our departure will be a coronation or a BAN
shment. Brighter than banqueting hall
through which the light feet of the dancers
go up and down to the sound of trumpeters
will be the sepulchre through whose riffs
the holy light Of heaven streameth. God
will watch you. He will send His angels to
guard your slunbering ground until at
Christ's behest they shall roll away the
stone
So also Christ is above all in heaven.
The Bible distinctly says that Christ is the
chief theme of the celestial ascription, all