The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-30
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broken up. Father will be gone, mother
VIII be gone, children viii be gone, you
viii be gone; but after that. the question
Of the text will begin 10 harvest its chief
gains. or deplore its worst losses. or roll
up its mightiest magnitudes, or sweep
its Vaster circles.
Oh, what a question. what an impor-
tant question. Is there any question that
compares with il in Importance? What is
il now to Napoleon ii whether he tri-
umphed or surrendered at Sedan, whether
he died at the Tuileries or Chiselhurst,
whether he was emperor or eXile2 Be
cause he was laid out in the coffin in the
dress or field marshal, did that give him
any better chance for the future than if
he had been laid out in a plain Shroud2
What difference viii it soon make to you
or 10 me whether in this world we walked
or rode, whether we were bowed TO or mall
treated, whether we were applauded or
Kissed at, welcomed in or kicked out? while
laying mold OF every moment OF the future,
and burning in every splendor or every
grief, and OVerarching or undergirding all
time and all eternity will be the plain,
startling, infinite, stupendous question of
the text; What must / do TO be saved %
Again, ! characterize this question of
the agitated Jail-keeper as one crushed
out by his misfOrtunes, pressed out by his
misfOrtunes. The falling OF the peniten-
tiary, his occupation was gone. Besides
that the flight Of a prisoner was ordinarily
llLt NGGIn OF Lfle ldlleI. lie was ntlu re-
sponsible. If all had gone well, if the
prison walls had not been shaken of the
earthquake, If the prisoners had all
stayed quiet in the stocks if the morning
sunlight had calmly dropped on the jailers
pillow do you think he would have hurled
this red-hot question from his soul into
the ear of his apostolic prisoners? All!
no. you know as well as l do IL was the
earthquake that reused him up. And IL
is trouble that starts great many people
to asking the same question. 1t has
hcQ On " n
apparel is not as bright as 1t once
was. Why have you changed the garb?
Do you not like soferino, and crimson,
and purple as well as once? Yes: But
you say: While l was prospered and
happy those colors were accordant with
my feelings; now they would be discord
TO my soul" And so you have plated up
the shadows into your apparel. The world
is a very different place from what II was
once for youl Once you said: "Oh, If ]
could only have II quiet a little while"
1t is TOO quiet Some people say that they
would not bring back their departed
friends from heaven even If they had the
tunity you would bring back your loved
ones, and soon their feet would be sound
ing in the hall, and soon their voices
would be heard in the family, and the
old times would come back just as the
festal days Of Christmas and Thanksgiv>
ing--days gone forever. Oh, it is the
earthquake that startled you to
asking this questionable earthquake
of domestic misfortune. Death is
so cruel, so deVouring, so relentless
that when ii swallows up our loved ones
we must have some one to whom we can
carry our torn and bleeding hearts. We
need balsam better than anything that
ever exuded from earthly tree to heal the
pang or the soul 1t is pleasant to have
our friends gather round US and tell us
how sorry they are and try to break up
the loneliness; but nothing but the hand
of Jesus Christ can take the bruised soul
and put il in his bosom, hushing ii with
the lullaby of heaven. o brother! o sis
teri the gravestone will never be lifted
from your heart until Christ lifts it. Was
ii not the loss of your friends, or the per-
secution of your enemies, or the over
throw of your worldly estate-was it not
an earthquake that started you out to
ask this stupendous question of my text?
But remark again: l characterize
TINS question of the agitated jail-keeper
as nasty, urgent and immediate. He put
II on the run. BY the light of his torch
as he goes to look for the apostles, behold
his face, see the startled look and see the
earnestness. No one can doubt by that
look that the man is in earnest. He
must have that question answered before
the earth stops rocking, or perhaps he
VIII never have II answered at all. Is
that the way, my brother, my sister, you
are putting this question? Is it on the
run? Is it hasty? Is it urgent? Is it
immediate? If it is not, it viii not be an
swered. That is the only kind of question
that is answered. 1t is the urgent and
the immediate question of the Gospel
Christ answers A great many are ask
ing this question, but they drawl it out
and there is indifference in their manner.
as If they do not mean il. Make it an
urgent question and then you will have il
answered before an hour passes, before
a minute passes. When a man with all
the earnestness of his soul cries out for
God he finds him and finds him right
away.
Oh, are there not in this house to-day
those who are postponang until the last
hour of living the attending to the things;
of the soul? l give it as my opinion that
ninety-nine out of the one hundred death
bed repentanceS amount to nothing OF
all the scores of persons mentioned as
dying in the Bible. of how many do YOU
read that they successfully repented IN
the last hour? of fifty? No. OF forty?
OF ten? No. OF five? No OF one-oniy
one, barely one, as if to demonstrate the
/ fact that there is a bare possibility of
repenting in the last hour. But that is i'm
/ probable awfully improbable, terrificalIv
j impro bable. One hundred to one against
/ the man. If, my brother, my sister YOU
I have ever seen a man try to repent in the
( last hour, you have seen something very
/ sad. / do not know anything on earth SO
sad as to see a man try to repent on a
+ death bed. There is not from the moment
+ that life begins to breathe in infancy. 10
+ the last gasp such an unfavorable COM
pletely unfavorable, hour for repentance as
the death hour, the last hour There are
T the doctors standing with the medicines
| There is the lawyer standing with the
{ half-Written viii. There is the family In
I CONSERVATION as to what is TO become OF
{ them. All the bells of eternity ringing the
I soul out Of the body All the past rising
I before us and all the future Oh. that
man is an infinite fool who procrastinates
/ to the death-bed his repentance
My text does not answer the question.
/ II only asks it, with deep and importu-
/ nate earnestness asks II. and ACCORDING
7 10 the rules of sermoni2ing, you would
I say: Adjourn that 10 some other time:''
I but ] dare not. What are the rules OF
I sormOnzing 20 me when ] am after souls
Z What other time could have, when per
f haps this is the only time? This might
I Doe my last time for preaching, this might
J De- faur iast time for hearing.
] AFTER IDS friend in Philadelphia died
Z his children gave his church Bible 10 me.
I and I read A. looked over ID with much
J interest saw in the margin. written
! ln ioHd pencil "Mr galmHRe said ans
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