The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-09-05
such a procession2 Would He have sue


been mourned over with agonizing tears,
and yet now II begins to move in the shroud
and to be flushed with life, and at the COM
mand OF Christ he rises up and looks into
the faces OF the astonished spectators.
sob, this was the work OF Godl I
hear It in His voice; see 1t In the flash of
His eye; behold It in the swapping OF
deaths shackles see 1t In the face of
the rising slumberer; hear it In the out
cry OF all those who were spectators OF the
scene. If, when see my Lord Jesus Christ
on His shoulders and say, "My brother"
now that hear Him proclaim supernatural
deIiverances, look up into His face ard
say with Thomas, "My Lord and my God"
Do you not think He was God? A great
many people do not believe that, and they
compromise the matter, or they think they
compromise IT, They say He was very
good ma but BE was not God. That Is
impossible. He was either o God or q
wretch, and will prove it. Ifa man pro-
fesses to be that which he Is not, what is ne?
He Is liar, an impostor, hypocrite. That
Is your unanimous verdict. Now, Christ
professed to be God. he said over and
over again Hs was God, took the attributes
OF God and assumed the works and offices
Of God. Dare you now say he was not?
He was God, or He was wretch. Choose
Do you think cannot prove by this Bible
that He was q God? II you do not believe
this Bible, of course there is no need Of my
talking to you. There is no common data
from which to start. Suppose you do be-
lieve 1t. Then I can demonstrate that He
was divine. I can prove He was Creator,
John l.. 8, "All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made
klaA ln II ~ LOT
xii, Is, 81 an Alpha and Omega, the be-
ginning and the end, the first and the last"
can prove that He was omnipotent,
Hebrews j., 10, ''The heavens are the work
Of Thine hands" 7 can prove He was
omniscient, John H., Is, she knew what
was In man." oh, yes, He Is God. He
cleft the sea. He upheaved the crystalline
walls along which the Israelites marched.
He planted the mountains. He raises up
governments and casts down thrones and
marches across nations and across worlds
and across the universe, eternal, omnipo-
lent, unhindered and unabashed. That hand
that was nailed to the cross holds the stars
In leash of love. That head that dropped
on the bosom in faintinS and death shall
make the world quake at its nod. That voice
that groaned in tne last pang shall swear be-
fore the trembling world that time shall be
no longer. Oh, do not insult the common
sense OF the race by telling us that this per-
son was only man in whose presence the
paralytic arm was thrust out well, and the
devils crouched, and the lepers dropped
their scales, and the tempests folded their
wings, and the boys satchel Of few loayes
made banquet for 5000, and the sad process
sion Of my text broke up in congratulation
and hosanna!
Again. learn from this subject that Christ
was sympathizer Mark you, this was a
city funeral. In the country, when the bell
around, and they know what was the matter
with the man, how old he was and what
were his last experiences. They know with
whattemporal prospects he has left his FAM
lily. There Is no haste, there is no indecency
In the obsequies. There Is nothing done as
q mere matter OF business. Even the chill
dren come out as the procession passes and
look sympathetic, and the tree shadows
seem to deepen, and the brooks weep in
sympathy as the procession goes by. But,
marx you, this that am speaking Of was
city funeral. In great cities the cart jostles
the hearse, and there Is mirth and gladness
and indifference as the weeping procession
goes by. In this city of Main 1t was COM
mon thing to have trouble and bereavement
and death. Christ saw it every day there.
ing carried out, but this frequency Of trouble
did not harden Christ's heart at all. He
stepped right out, and He saw this mourner,
and He had compassion on her, and He said
"Weep notr'
Now I have to tell you. o bruised souls,
and there are many everywhere-haye you
ever looked over any great audience and no
ticed how many shadows Of sorrow there
are? I come to oil such and say, "Christ
meets you, and He has compassion on you,
and BE says, Weep not" Perhaps with
some 1t is financial trouble. "Oh," yousay,
'it is such silly thing for man to cry
over lost money!
Is 1t? Suppose you had large fortune, and
all luxuries brought to your table, and your
wardrobe was full, and your home was beau
tiful by music and sculpture and painting
and thronged by the elegant and educated,
and then some round misfortune should
strike you in the face and trample your treas.
ures and taunt your children for their fadod
dress and send you into commercial circles
an underling where once you waved scepter
of gold, do you think you would cry thenP !
think you would. But Christ comes and
meets all such to- day. He sees all the straits
in which you have been thrust. He observes
the sneer OF that man who oncs was proud
to walk in your shadow and glad to get your
Cancelled judgment, the foreclosed mortgage,
the heheartbreaking evaporation, and Hes says
sweep not I own the cattle on thousand
hills. will never let you starve. From My
hand the fowls of heaven peck all their food.
And will I let you starve? Never: no. My
child, neverm
Perhaps 1t may be living home trouble
that you cannet speak about to your best
friend. It may be some domestic unhap-
piness. It may be an evil suspicion. 1t may
be the disgrace following in the footsteps OF
a son that is wayward, or companion who
Is cruel, or father that will not do right,
and for years there may have been vulture
striking its beak into. the vitals OF your soul,
and you sit there to-day feeling 1t IS worse
than death. It is. It Is worse than death.
And yet there is relief. Though the night
may be the blackest, though the voices OF
hell may tell you to curse God and die, look
up and hear the voice that aecosted the
woman OF the text as 1t says, "Heep not"
Earth hath no sorrow
That heaven cannot cure.
learn, again, from all this that Christ Is
the master Of the grave. Just outside the
gate Of the city Death and Christ measured
lances, and when the young man rose Death
dropped. Now we are sure of our resurrec-
tion. Oh, what scene it was when that
young man came back! The mother never
expected to hear him speak again. She
never thought that he would kiss her again.
How the tears started and how her heart
throtbed as she said, ''Oh. my son, my son,
my SON" And that scene is going to be re-
peated. It is going to be repeated 10, 900
times. These broken family circles have got
to come together. These extinguished
household lights have got to be rekindled.
There will be stir in the family lot In the
cemetery, and there will be rush into life
Mt the command. Young man, say unto
thee ariser' AS tho child shakes off the dust
OF the tomb and cones forth fresh and fair
and beautiful, and you throw your arms