The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-08-10
straight from the throne Of God into your

ward light of Gods Word you must get or
die. went up to the church Of the Made
leine in Paris and looked at the DOORS which
were the most won ierfullY constructed I
ever saw, and could have staid there for a
whole week; but I had only little time, so.
having glanced at the wonderful carving on
the doors, / passed in and looked at the ra-
diant altars and the sculptured dome. Alas!
that 80 many stop at the outside door Of
Gods holy Word, looking at the rhetorical
beauties, instead of going in and looking at
the affairs Of sacrifice and the dome Of Go1's
mercy ana salvation that hovers over every
psnltent and believing soul!
Oh, my friends, if you merely want to
study the laws Of language, do not go to tue
Bible. It was not made for that. Take
s'Howes Elements OF Criticism" 1t would
be Setter than the Bible for that. II you
want to study metaphysics, better than the
Bible will be the writings Of William Hamil-
ton. But IL you want to know how to have
sin psrdoned, and at last to gain the blessed
ness of heaven. search the Scriptures, "ror
In them ye have eternal hfe"
When people are anxious about their souls
and there are sore here to.day-there are
those who recommend good books. That is
all right. But want to tell you that the
stances. Baxter wrote "a Call to the Un-
converted" but the Bible is the best call to
the unconyerted. Philip Doddridge wrote
ssThe Rise and Progress Of Religion in the
Soul. but the Bible is the best rise aud pro-
gress. John Angel James wrote "Advice
to the Anxious Inquirer" but the Bible Is
the best advice to the anxious inquirer.
oh. the Bible is the very book you need,
anxious and inqutring soul! A dying soldier
said to his mate, ''Comrade, give me a
dropr The comrade shook up the canteen
and said, "Thers isn't drop of water in the
canteen." "Oh," said the dying soldier,
'that's not what I want. feel in my KNAPP;
sack for my Bible" And his comrade found
the Bible and read him few Of the gracious
promises, and the dying soldier said: 'Ah,
that's what want. There isn't anything
like the Bible for dying soldier, is there,
nv comraderS Oh, blessed book while we
live. Blessed book when we die.
Iremark, again, we must seek God through
church ordinsnces. What" say you,
cant man be saved without going to
church, reply, there are men, suppose,
in glory, who have never seen church;
but the church Is the ordained means BY
which we are to be brought to God: I'LL
truth affects us when we are alone, it affects
us more nightly when we are in the
assembly-the feelings Of Others empha.
sizing our own feelings. The great law Of
sympathy comes into play, and truth that
would take hold only with the grasp of
sick man beats nightly against the soul
with thousand heart throbs.
When you come into the religious circle,
come only with one notion and only for one
purpose-to find the way to Christ. When
/ see people critical about sermons, and
critical about tones Of voices, and critical
about sermonic delivery, they make me
think Of man in prison. He is condemned
to death, but the officer Of the Government
brings a pardon and puts it through the
wicket of the prison and says: Here Is your
pardon. Come and get it." wv hat! DO
YOU expect me to take that pardon offered
with such voice as you have and with such
an awkward manner as you have? would
rather die than so compromise my rhetorical
notionsp All, the man does not say that;
he takes it! It is his life. He does not care
how it is handed to him. And if this morn
ing that pardon from the throne of God is
offerei to our souls, should we not seize 1t,
regardless Of all criticism, feeling that IL Is
q matter Of heaven or hell?
But come now to the last part OF my
text It tells US when we are to seek the
Lord. "While He may be found" When Is
that? Old age? You may not see old age.
Tomorrow? You may not see Tomorrow.
Tonight? You may not see tonight. Now
Oh. if could only write on every neart IN
three capital letters that word N-O- W.
now!
with the toss Of the head and with trivial
manner, "Oh, yes, Pm sinner" Sin IS an
awful disease 1t is leprosy. It is dropsy.
It is consumption. 1t is all moral disorders
in one. Now You know there is crisis in
disease. Perhaps you have had some illus
tration of it in your family. Sometimes the
nhvsician has celled and he has looked at
the patient and said: THAT case was simple
eno,Igb. but the crisis has passed. Ii You
had called me yesterday or this morning
could have cured the patient. 1t Is TOO Late
now: the crisis has passed" JUST so 1t IS IN
the spiritual treatment OF toe soul; thera IS
a crisis. Before that, life! After that.
death! o my dear brother, as you love your
soul. do not let the crisis pass unattended
tol
There are some here who can remember
instances in life when if they had bought a
certain property they would have become
yery rich. A few acres that would have
cost them almost nothing were offered chem.
Thew refused them. Afterward larSa vii
lage or city sprang up on these acres OF
ground and they see what q mistake they
made in not buying the property: There
was an opportunity Of getting it. 1t never
came back again. And so it is in regard to
a mau's spiritual and eternal fortune: There
is chance; if you let that 60, perhaps it
never comes back. Certainly that one
never comes back.
There is time which mercy has set for
leaving port. II you are on board before
that YOU will get O passage for heaven. Ii
you are not on board you miss your pas
sage for heaven. As in law courts case Is
sometimes adjourned from term to term,
and from year TO year, till the bill OF costs
cats up the entire estate. so there are men
who are adjourniug ths matter OF religion
from time to time. and from year to year,
Until heavenly bliss is the bill OF costs the
man would have to pay for 1t.
WHY defer this matter. o my dear hear
er? Have YOU any idea that sin wll wear
out? that it will evaporite? that it will relax
its GRASP? that you may find religion as q
mar accidentally tinds lost pocketoooK!
Ah, no! No man ever became Christian
by accident or bv the relaxing OF sin. The
embarrasstnents are all the time increasing.
The hosts CT uarIness are recruiting, anu
the longer you postpone this matter tne
sleeper ths path will become. 1 ask those
men who are before me this morning Wnetn-
er in the ter or fifteen years they nave
passed in the postponement Of these matters
they have come any nearer God or heaven!
I would not be afraid to challenge this
whole audience, so far as they may not have
found the peace Of the Gospel, in regard to
that matter. Your hearts, you are willing
frankly to tell me, are becoming harder and
harder, and that if you come to Christ 1t VIII
be more of an undertaking now than II ever
would have been before. Oh, fly TOR rsfug 81
The ayenger Of blood is on the track! The
throne of Judgment will soou be set, and if
you have anything to do toward your eternal
Salvation you had better do it now. for the
redemption of the soul is precious and 1t
ceassth foreverl
Oh. II men could only catch just one
glimpse of Christ, I know they would lovo
ark OF thn fnhf ~ q