The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-10-19
mariners, TOT eJsrnT0yl Launch out Into

| or farm. 1t Is suggested that the title Is
not good. You employ counsel. You have
the deeds examined You search the record
for mortgages, judgments and liens: You
are not satisfied until YOU have certificate,
signed by the great seal of the State, assur-
ing YOU that the title is good. Yet how many
leave their title to heaven an undecided mat
teri WHY do you not 60 to the records ani
find out? Give yourself no rest. day or night.
until YOU can read your title clear to man
sions in the skies.
Christian character is to come up to high
or standards. We have now to hunt
through our library to find one ROBERT
MCheyne, or one E lward Payson, or one
Harlan Page. The time will come when we
will find half dozen of them slttlaT IN ene
same seat with us. The grace OF Got can
nnate a oraat deal better men than those
have mentioned. Christians seem afrali
they will get heterodo1 by going too far.
They do not believe in Christian perfectlon.
There is no danger of your being perfect !or
coma time vet. T will keep watch ami give
Won notics in time, if you get too near per-
lection for the safety of your theology.
onehaf OF you Christians nt are Iooss s'npS from
everything but God? Give not to Him tnat
formal petition made up OF "Os"-'o
Lord" this and 20 Lord" that. When peo..
nle are cold and have nothing to say to Uoa
they strew their prayers with SOS" and
Forever and ever, Amen" and things to
fill up. Tell God what you want with the
feeling that He is ready to give it, and be-
heve that you will receive, and you shall
have it. Shed that old prayer you have
time that yeu outgrew it. Throw it aside
with your old ledgerS. aud your old hats
and your old shoes Take review of your
present wants of your present sins and of
your present blessings. With sharp blade
cut away your past half ani half Christian
life, and with new determination, and new
plans, and new expectations launch out into
the deep.
The text is appropriate to all the unfor-
given. Every sinner would come to God If
he thought he might come just as he is.
People talk as though the pardon OF God
were narrow river, like the Kennebec or
the Thames, aud that their sins draw too
much water to enter it. No; it is not river
nor bay, but sea. I should like to per-
suade you to launch out into the great deep
of Gods mercy. l am merchant. l have
bought cargo Of spices in India. I have,
through a bill of exchange, paid for the
whole cargo. You are q ship captain. l
give you the orders and say, Bring me
those Spices" You land in India. You go
to the trader and say, Here are the orders"
and you find everything all right. You do
not stop to pay the money yourself. 1t is
not your business to pay it. The arrange
ments were made before you started. So
Christ purchases your pardon. He puts the
papers. or the promises, into your hand. Is
it wise to stop and say, II cannot pay for
LAY. Relying on what has been done, launch
out into the deep.
The Bibles promises join hands. and the
circle they make will compass all your sins,
and all your temptations, and all your sor-
rows. The round table of King Arthur and
his knights had room for only thirteen ban
uueters, but the round table Of Gods supply
is large enough for all the present inhabit-
ants Of Garth snd heaIsn TO sit at. -and>for
the still migntier populations that are yetro
be-.
DO not sail coastwise along your old habits
and old sins. Keep clear of the shore Go
out where the water Is deepest: On. for the
mid sea of Gods mercyl "Be it known unto
you men and brethren, that through this
Man is preached unto you forgiveness OF
SINS" 7 preach it with as much confidence
10 the eighty-ysar-old transgressor as to the
maiden. Though your sins were blood red
they shall be snow white. The more ragged
the prodigal, the more compassionate the
Father. Do you say that you are too bad7
The high water mark Of Gods pardon is
ulgQeT Cuau I'LL your IlduSSiS SSStouS- tho
blood Of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all SIM"
Do you say that your heart is hard: Sup
pose it were ten times harder. Do you say
that your iniquity is long continued? Sup.
pose it were ten times longer. d. you say
that your crimes are black? Suppose that
they were ten times blacker. Is there any
lion that this Samson cannot slay? Is there
auy fortress that this Conqueror cannot
take. Is there any sin that this Redeemer
cannot pardon?
Iti said that when Charlemagns's host
was overpowered by the three armies OF the
Saracens in the pass of RonceSvalles his
warrior, Roland, in terrible earnestness
seized trumpet and blew it with such ter
rifle strength that the opposing army reeled
back with terror. but at the third blast or
the trumpet it broke In two. lsee your soul
fercely assailed by all the powers OF earth
and hell. put the mightier trumpet OF the
Gospel to my lips and blow it three times.
Blast the first-"Whosoeyer will, let him
come" Blast the second-"Seek ye the
Lord while He may be found" Blast the
third-"Now is the accepted time; now ls
the day of salvation"
Does not the host of your sins fall back?
But the trumpet does not, like that OF Roland,
break in two. As it was handed down to us
from the lips of our fathers, we hand it down
to the lips of our children, and tell them to
SOuuu ~ Wueu "0 al oCoN, ohoo oh VIZ 81
erations of men may know that our God is
pardoning Coda sympathetic Coda low
ing God-and that more to Him than the
anthems Of heaven; more to Him than the
throne on which He sits; more to Him than
are the temples of celestial worship is the Joy
of seeing the wanderer putting his hand on
the door latch Of his Fathers house. Hear
1t. all We Nations! Bread for the worst hun
ger. Medicine for the worst sickness. Light
for the thickest darkness. Harbor for the
worst storm.
DR.. Prime, in his hook of wonderful inter-
est entitled "Around the World" describes
tomb in India of marvellous architecture.
Twenty thousand men were twenty-five
years in erecting that and the buildings
around it. Standing in that tomb. II you
speak or sing, after you have ceased you
hear the echo coming from height Of one
hundred and fifty feet. 1t is not like other
echoes. The sound is drawn out in sweet
prolongation, as though the angels OF
God were chanting on the wing. How many
souls in the tomb of sin will lift up the
voice of penitence and pr aver? If now they
would cry unto God the echo would drop
from afar. not struck from the marble Gu
pola of an earthly mausoleum, but sounding
back from tho warm heart OF angels flying
the news, for there is joy among the angels
Of God over one sinner that repentethl