The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-06-14


battle. Hurricanes in stirrups are the cav
alrymen.
No wonder that Miriam was chiefly grateful
' that the Egyptian cavalrymen, pursuing the
| Israelites down to midway the Red sea, were
unsaddled, unstirruped, unhorsed.
And have to tell you, o child of God, that
| the kord, who is on your side now and Tor
ever, has ut His disposal and under HIS cor,
| mand all waters, all winds, all lightnings. all
! time and all eternity. Come, look me in the
face while utter the word God commands
me to speak to you. mo weapon formed
against you shall prosper Don't throw
| away your tambourine. You will want II rs
| sure as YOU sit there and stand here. and
the tune you will yet play on it, whether
standing on beach OF time or beach OF etern-
ity, will be the tune that Miriam played when
she cried ':Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath
triumphed gloriously the horse and his rider
hath He thrown into the sea.
expect to have good laugh with you In
heaven, for the Bible says in Luke, sixth
chapter, twenty-frst verse, blessed are W. ye
that weep now, for ye shall laugh" We
shall not spend all eternity psalm singing,
but sometimes In review OF the past, as
Christ says, we shall laugh. There Is
nothing wrong in laughter. 1t all depends
on what you laugh at, and when you lauSn.
Nothing. it seems, will more thoroughly
kind!e our heavenly hilaritles after we have
got inside the peariy gate than to see how in
this world we got scared at things which
ought not to have frightened US at all.
How often we work ourselves up into
great stew about nothing! The Red sea be-
fore may be deep, and the Egyptian cavalry
behind us may be we'll mounted, but II We
trust the Lord we will 90 through no more
hurt by the water than when in boyhood we
rolled our garments to the knee and bare
foot crossed the meadow brook on the old
homestead. The odds may seem to be all
agains. you, but I guess 1t will be all right
with you il you have God on your side and
all the angelic, cherubic, seraphic and arch.
angelic kingdoms. III God be for you, who
can be against YOU"
But let me criticise Miriam little for the
instrument of music she employed in the di-
vine service on the sandy beach. Why not
take some other Instrument The harp was
4 sacred instrument. Why did she not take
that2 The cymbal was sacred instrument.
Why did she not take that? The trumpet
was sacred instrument. Why did she not
! take that? Amid that great host there must
have been musical instruments more used in
religious service. No. She took that which
she liked the best and on which she could
/ best express her graduation over nations
rescue, first through the retreat OF the waves
of the Red sea, and then through the clap
, ping of the hands Of their destruction. So I
withdraw my criticism OF Miriam. Let every
one take her or his best mode Of divine wor
ship and celebration My idea Of heaven is
{ that it is a place whore we can do as we
please and have everything we want. or
course we will do nothing wrong and want
! nothing harmful.
How much OF the material AMI physical
will finally make up the heavenly world l
know not, but think Gabriel will have his
trumpet, and David his harp, and Handel his
organ, and Thalberg his piano, and the great
Norwegian performer his VIOLIN and Miriam
| her timbrel, and as cannot make music on
any Of them I think I will move around
| among all Of them and listen. But there are
! our friends of the Scotch Covenanter church
| who do not like musical instruments at all in
divine worship, and they need not have
them.
What day 1t will be when we stand on
the beach Of heaven and look back on the
Red sea Of this worlds sin and trouble and
celebrate the fact that we have got through
and got over and got up, our sins and our
troubles attempting to follow gone clear down
under the waves.
Oh, crimson floods roll over them and
| drown them, and drown them forever, In
this world we have so little time for that, I
| am looking forward to eternal socialities.
To be with God and never sin against Him.
20 he with Christ and forever feel Hisl love. To
walk together in robes Of white with those with
whom Oh earth We walked together In black
raiment OF mourning. To gather up the
members OF our scattered families and en-
brace them with no embarrassment, though
all heaven be looking on.
A mine in Scotland caved In and caught
amid the rocks young man who in few
days was to have been united in holy mar
riage. No one could get heart to tell his
afianced Of the death Of her beloved, but
some one made her believe that he had
changed his mind about the marriage and
willfully disappeared. Fiftyyears passed on,
wheu one day the miners delving in the
earth suddenly came on the body Of that
young man, which had all those years been
kept from the air and looked just as it was
the day OF the calamity. Strong, manly,
noble youth, he sat there looking as on the
day he died. But no one recognized the
silent form.
After awhile they called the oldest inhab-
itantS to come and see II any one could rec
ogni0e him. A woman with bent form and
her hair snowy white with years came last,
and looking upon the silent form that had
been 80 completely preserved gave bitter
cry and fell into g. long swoon. 1t was the
one to whom half century before she was
to have been welded, looking then just as
when in the days OF their youth their affec-
tions had comminsled. But the emotion OF
her soul was too great for mortal endurance,
and two days after those who fifty years be-
fore were to have joined hands in wedlock
were at last married in the tomb, and sL1e by
side they wait for the resurrection.
My friends, we shall come at last upon
those OF our loved ones who long ago hated
In the journey OF life. They will be as fair
and beautiful-ysa, fsirer and more beauti-
iul than when we parted from them.
see them now-the glorifed-assembled
for celebration mightier and mora iubilant
than that Oh the banks Of the Red sea, and
from all lands and ages, on beach Of light
above beach of light, gallery above gallery
and thrones above thrones. in circliny sweep
OF 10, 900 miles OF surrounding and upheaved
splendor, while standing before them on sea
OF glass mingled with lire" Michael. she arch
angel with swinging scepter beats time fot
the muIt:tudinous chorus, crying: sing
Sing! Sing ye to the Lord, for H. hath
triumphed Sioriously the horse and his ridei
hath He thrown into the sea"