The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-04-11
THE WATCHMAN N APRIL II. 1894.


an immense satisfaction. Ayoung man
not a Christian depends upon worldly
successes to keep his spirits up. Now
he is prospered, now he mas a large sal
airy, now he has a beautiful wardrobe,
now he has pleasant friends, now he has
more money than he knows how to
spend. Everything goes bright and well
with him.
But trouble comes. There are many
young men in the house this morning
who a testify out of their own expert
ence that sometimes to young men trou-
bic does come-his friends are gone, his
salary is gone, his health is gone. He
goes down, down. He becomes sour,
cross, queer, misanthropic, blames the
world, blames society, blamesth the church,
blames everything, rushes perhaps to the
Intoxicating cup to drown his trouble,
but instead of drowning his trouble he
drowns his body and browns his soul.
But here is q Christian young man.
Trouble comes to him. Does he give up?
No! He throws himself back on the re-
sources Of heaven. He says: "God is
my Father. Out of all these disasters /
shall pluck advantage for my soul. All
the promises are mine, Christ is mine,
Christian companionshipis mine, heaven
is mine. What though my apparel be
worn out? Christ gives me a robe of
righteousness. What though my money
be gone? Ihave a title deedto the whole
universe in the promise, tAl are yours
What though my worldly friends fall
away? Ministering angels + my body
guard. What though my fare be poor
and my bread be scant? Isit atthe kings
banquet"
Oh, what q poor, shallow stream is
worldly enjoyment compared with the
deep, broad, OVERLOOKING river of Gods
peace, rolling midway in the Christian
heart! Sometimes you have gone out
on the iron bound beach Of the sea when
there has been a storm on the ocean, anl
you have seen the waves dash into white
foam at your feet. They did not do you
any harm. While there you thought Of
the chapter written by the psalmist, aad
perhaps you recited it to yourself while
the storm was making commentary upon
the passage: "God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in time of
trouble. Therefore will I not fear.
though the earth be removed, and though
the mountains be carried into the midst
of the sea, though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled, though the noun
tains shake with the swelling thereof"
Oh, how independent the religion of
Christ makes a man Of worldly success
and worldly circumstances! Nelson, the
night before his last battle, said, To
morrow I shall win either a peerage " a
grave in Westminster abbey" And it
does not make much difference to the
Christian whether he rises or falls in
worldly matters. He has everlasting re-
nown anyway. Other plumage may be
torn in the blast. but that soul adorned
with Christian grace is fairer than the
dove-its wings covered with silver and
its feathers with gold.
LURKING IN TIE CUP.
You and / have found out that people
who pretend to be happy are not always
Look at that young man carica-
turing the Christian religion, scofdng at
everything good, going into FOSTERING
drunkenness, dashing the champagne
bottle to the floor, rolling the glasses
from the barroom counter, laughing,
shouting, stamping the floor. Is he hap
py? will go to his midnight pillow. I
will see him turn the gasof. l will ask
myself if the pillow on which he sleeps
is as soft as the pillow OF which that
pure young man sleeps.
All, no! When he opens his eyes in
the morning, will the world be as bright
to him as to that young man who retired
at night saying his prayers. invoking
Gods blessing upon his own soul and
the souls of his comrades and father and
mother and brothers and sisters far
away? No, no! His laugh will ring out
from the saloon so that you hear it as
you pass by, but it is hollow laughter.
In it is the swapping of heartstrings and
the rattle of prison gates. Happy-that
young man happy?
Let him fill high the bowl; he cannot
drown an A%upbraiding conscience. Let
the balls roll through the bowling alley;
the deep rumble and the sharp crack can
not overpower the voices Of condemna-
ton. Let him whirl in the dance of sin
and temptation and death; all the bril-
liancy of the scene cannot make him for
get the last look of his mother when he
left home, when she said to him: "Now.
my son, you will do right; I am sure you
will do right. Youwill, won'tyou?' That
young man happy: Why, acros every
night there fit shadows of eternal dark
ness; there are adders coiled up in every
cup; there are vultures of despair strik-
ing their iron beaks into his heart: there
are skeleton fingers of grief pinching at
the throat.
USEFUL RELIGION.
I come in amid the clicking Of the
glasses and under the flashing of the
chandeliers, andI cry: Woe! Woe! The
way of the ungodly shall perish. There
Il l.