The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-10-04

SHIFTED oS the snip swung from l8rDO6rQ 10
starbosrd, and from starbosrd to larbosrd.
But, thanks be to God, this old Bible ship,
though it has been in thousands Of years Of
tempest, has kept Its cargo OF gold and pro-
cious stones compact and sure, and In all the
centuries nothing about it has shifted. There
they stand, shoulder to shoulder, David and
Solomon and Isaiah and Jeremiah and E7e-
kiel and Daniel and Hosea and Joel and
Amos and Obadiah and Jonah and Micah and
Nahum and Habbakkuk and Zephanish and
Hsggai and Zechariah and Malachi and Mat
thew and Mark and Luke and John and Paul
and Peter, all there. and with certainty Of
being there until the heavens and the earth,
the creation Of which is described In the first
book Of the Bible, shall have collapsed, and
the white horse of the conqueror, described
In the last book Of the Bible, shall paw the
dust in universal demolition. By that tr0L
mendous fact my faith Is re-enforead
The discussion is abroad as to who wrote
those books of the Bible called the Penta-
teuch, whether Moses or Hilkiah, or Ezra o.
Samuel, or Jeremiah, or another group &
ancients. None Of them wrote Il. God
wrote the Pentateuch, and in this day q
to be difficult thing to understand. The
great merchants and lawyers, and edition.
and business men Of our towns end cities
dictate nearly all their letters they onl1
sign them after they are dictated The
prophet and evangelist and apostle wesS
Jehovah's stenographers or typewriten.
They put down only what God dfctsted ho
signed 1t aftsrward He has been writing hiA
name upon it all through the vicissitudes os
centuries. ..... < l,5.3y
But I come to the height Of my subject
when say the way to re-enforce our faith =
to pray for 1t. SO the disciples in my tent
got their abounding faith. "Lord, increase
our faith" Some one suggests, 'Do you
really think that prayer amounts to any
thing2" might as we'll ask you, is there .
line Of telegraphie poles from New York to
Washington, Is there line OF telegraphtc
wires from Manchester to London, from
sent and received messages on these lines
know Of their existence. So there are mill
ions of souls who have been in constant COM
munication with the capital of the universe.
with the throne Of the Almighty, with the
great God Himself, for years and years and
years. ..... D. .s.l,,j;.
There has not been day when supplies
tions did not fash up and blessings
did not flash down. Will some igno-
sent one, come and tell US that there is no
such thing as telegraphIc communication
Will some one who has never offered aprayor
that was heard and answered come and ten
us that there is nothing in prayer? 1t may
not come as we expect 1t, but as sure as AM
honest prayer goes up q merciful answer WIZ
come down.
During the blizzard OF four or FIVE years
ago, you know that many OF the telegraph
wires were prostrated, and l telegraphed 20
Chicago by way of Liverpool, and the answer
after awhile cane round by another wide
circuit, and 30 the prayer we offer may come
back In way we never imagined, and We
ask TO have our faith increased, although
may come by widely different process than
that which we expected, our confidence win
surely be augmented.
Oh, put 1t In every prayer you ever maHO
between your next breath and your Last gasp,
"Lord, increase our faith "-faith In Christ
as our personal ransom from present gutk
and eternal catastrophe faith In the on1nipo-
tent Holy Ghost faith In the Bible, the trueet
volume ever dictated or written or printed
or read faith In adverse providences, .haxi
monizsd for our best welfare; faith IN q
Judgment day that will set all things right
which have for ages been wrong. ~
Increase our faith, not by fragile ad7
dition, but by an infnttude OF reeuperat1on.
Let us do as we saw 1t done in the country
while we were yet In our teens, at the oad
farmhouse after-n long drought, and the
well had been dried, and the cattle 'moanod
with thirst at the bars, and the meadow
brook had ceased to run, and the grass
withered, and the corn was shriyeled -up,l
and one day there was q growl OF thundoxS
and then a congregation Of cloudsSon he
sky. and then q startling nash, andt ssssensa
drenching rain, and father and mother put
barrels under every spout at the corners of
the house and set pals and buckets and
tubs and pans and pitchers to catch e.
much as they could OF the shower. Forfn
..a-. o,r co,1o tharo haa haor lOff0i
drought Of confidence and in many no faith
at all. Let us set out all our affections, al
our hopes, all our CONCENTRATIONS, all our
prayers, TO catch a mighty shower. Lord,
increase our faith" .,:...-
T like the way that the minister's widow
did In Elisha's time, when, after the family
being very unfortunate, her two sons were
about to be sold for debt, and she had moth
ing in the house but pot OF oil, and at
Elisha's direction she borrowed from her
neighbors all the vessels she could borrow,
and then began to pour out the oil into thoss
vessels and kept on pouring until they were
all full, and she became an oil merchant with
more assets than liabilities, and when she
cried, "Bring me yet a vessel" the answer
came, '"There Is not vessel more" 80 Jet
US take what oil OF fni I we have and use II
until the supply shall be miraculously multi
piled. Bring on your empty vessels, ana py
the power OF the Lord God OF Elisha they
shall be filed until they can hold no more OF
iubilant. all Inspiring and triumphant faith.
What frightful time we had few days
ago down on the coast OF Long Island, where
T have been stopping. That archap2ei OF
tempest which, with its awful wings, swept
the Atlantic coast from Florida to Newfound-
land did not spare our region. A few miles
away, at Southampton, l saw the BODIES OF
four men whom the storm had slain and tho
A..
dead bodies saidto myself, and I said aloud
s'These men represent homes. What VIII
mother and father and wife and children say
when they know this?"
Some OF the victims were unknown. Only
the first name of two OF them was found ou1
Charley and William. Wondered then and
wonder now II they will remain unknown
and itsome kindred far away may be waiting
for their coming and never hear OF the rough
way OF their going. saw also one OF tne
three who had come in alive, but more dead
than alive. The ship had become helpless
six miles out, and as one wave swept the
deck and went down on the furnsces till
they Kissed and went out the cry was, ooh,
nv God. We are lost - Then the crew put
on life preseryers, one of the sailors saying
to the other, "We will meet again on the
shore, and, if not, WELL We must ali go some
time"
OF the twenty-three men who put on the
life preserTers. only three lived to reach the
beach. But what scene it was as the good
and kind people of Southampton, led on by
DR.. Thomas. the great and good surgeon OF
New York, stood watching the sailors strug.
Cling in the brsskers. Are you still aiive!'
shouted DR.. Thomas to one OF them out IN
the breakers, and he signaled yes and then
went into Inconsistencies. Who should DO
the most for the poor fellows and how to
resusctate them were the questions that ran