The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-06-13

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weight Of persecution and abuse upon them.
Sometimes society gets q grudge against a
man. All his motives are misinterpreted
and all his good deeds are deprecated.
With more virtue than some OF the honored
and applauded, he runs only against raillery
and sharp criticism. When man begins to
go down, he has not only the force Of natural
him In the precipitation Men are perSe-
cuted for their virtues and their successes.
Germanicus said he had just as many bitter
antagonists as he had adornments. The
character sometimes Is so lustrous that the
weak eyes Of envy and jealousy cannot bear
to look at 1t.
It was their integrity that put Joseph In
the pit, and Daniel in the den, and Shadrach
in the fire. and sent John the Evangelist to
desolate Patmos, and Calvin to the castle OF
persecution, and John Huss to the stake,
and Korah after Moses, and Saul after Da-
yid, and Herod after Christ Be sure, you
have anything to do for church or state, and
you attempt it with all your soul, the light
ming will strike you.
The world always has had cross be-
tween two thieves for the one who comes to
save It. High and holy enterprise has al
ways been followed by abuse, The most
burlesque. The graceful gait OF virtue is
always followed by scoff and grimace and
travesty. The sweetest strain OF poetry
ever written has come to ridiculous parody,
and as long as there are virtue and righteous
ness in the world there will be something
for iniquity to grin at. All along the line
of the ages and In all lands the cry has been !:
'cNot this man. but Barabbas. Now, Bar
abbas was robber."
And what makes the prosecutions OF life
worse is that they come from people whom
| hova ha1pad from fhnaa m rUhnro
loaned money or have started In business or
whom you rescued In some great crisis. I
think 1t has been the history of all our lives
the most acrimonious assault has come
from those whom we have benefited, whom
we have helped, and that makes it all the
harder to bear. A man Is In danger of be-
coming cynical.
went into neighborhood for the establish
ment OF church OF his denomination, and
he was anxious to find some one Of that de-
nomination, and he was pointed to O certain
house and went there. He said to the man
of the house: ~ understand you are UNI
versalist. Iwant you to help me In the en-
terprlse." "Well." said the man. "I am a
Unlversalist, but have a peculiar kind of
Universalism." "Whst Is thatY" asked the
have been out in the world, and have been
abused until I believe In universal damna-
ton"
The great danger Is that, men will become
/ cynical and given to believe, as David was
tempted to say, that all men are liars. Oh.
my friends, do not let that be the effect
upon your souls! If you cannot endure
little persecution, how do you think our
fathers endured persecution? Motley, In his
'Dutch Republic" tells us Of Egmont, the
martyr, who, condemned to be beheaded,
unfastened his collar on the way to the scat
that he said: $50 they will not be detained
In their work. I want to be ready" on,
how little we have to endure compared with
those who have gone before US!
| Now, If you have come across Ill treat
| ment, let me tell you you are In excellent
| compsny-Christ and Luther and Galilei and
| Columbus and John Jay and Josiah Quincy
| and thousands Of men and women, the best
spirits OF earth and heaven.
Bulge not one inch, though all hell wreak
| upon you its vengeance, and you be made
target for devils to shoot at. Do you not
think Christ knew all about persecution?
Was He not hissed at? Was he not struck
on the cheek2 Was He not p1rsued all the
days of His life? Did they not expectorate
upon Him? Or, to put It In Bible
language. "They spit upon Him." And can.
not he understand what persecution ts3
| "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He
shall sustain thee"
Then there are others who carry great bur-
dens Of physical ailments. When sudden
sickness has come, and fierce choleras and
malignant fevers take the castles Of life by
storm, we appeal to God, but In these chronic
ailments which wear out the strength day
after day, and week after week, and year
after year, how little resorting to God for
m L. fhntp
tonics, and their plasters, and their cordlaIs
rather than upon heavenly stimulants-
Oh, how few people there are completely
we'll! Some Of you, by dint Of perseverance
and care have kept living to this time, but
how you have had to war against physical
| ailments Antediluvians, without medical
college and 1nf1rmary and apothecary shop,
multiplied their years by hundreds, but he
who has gone through the gauntlet OF disease
in our time and has come to seventy years OF
age Is hero worthy Of palm.
The world seems to be a great hospital,
and you run against rheumatisms and con-
sumptions and scrofulas and neuralgias and
scores Ct old diseases baptized by new no
menclature. Oh, how heavy burden sick.
ness Is It'takes the color out OF the sky, and
| the sparkle out Of the wave, and the sweet
| ness out OF the fruit, and luster out OF the
night. When the limbs ache, when the res
piration Is painful, when the mouth IS not,
| when the ear roarS with unhealthy ooStruc-
tions, how hard it Is to be patient and cheer
ful and assiduous!
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord" Does
your head ache2 His wore the thorn. Do
your feet hurt? His were crushed VI the
spikes. Is your side patnful3 His was struck
By the spear. Do you feel like giving way
under the burden? His weakness gave way
under cross. While you are in every pos
sible way to try to restore your physical
vigor, you are to remember that more sooth-
ing than any anodyne, more vitalizing than
any stimulant and more strengthening than
any tonic Is the prescription OF the text,
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He
will sustain thee"
We hear great deal OF talk now about
faith cure, and some people say it cannot
be done and II is failure. I do not know
but that the chief advance OF the church Is
to be In that direction. Marvellous things
come to me day by day which make me think
cause the faith of miracles IS past.
A prominent merchant Of New York said
to member of my family, "My mother
wants her case mentioned to Mr.. Talmage."
| This was the case. He said my mother
had a dreadful abscess, from which size had
suffered untold agonies, and all surgery had
been exhausted upon her, and worse and
worse she grew until we called In few
| Christian friends and proceeded to pray
| about 1t. We commended her case to God,
and the abscess began Immediately to be
cured. She Is entirely we'll now and without
knife and without any surgery" So that
case has come to me, and there are score
OF other cases coming to our ears from all