The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-05-22
on. the other side of the wall. 1t was the

pear! his cOQScleQce. Nllal uouo TA
cry out to the prophet, Hast thou found
me. o mine enemy?" What made the great
Felix tremble before the little missionary
Conscience. What made Beshazzars teeth
chatter with a chill when he saw nnSer
come out of the black sleeve OF the midnight
and write on the plastering? Conscience,
conscience.
Why is it that that man in this audience
with all the marks of worldly prosperity
upon him Is aSitated while l speak ana Is
now flushed and is now pale, and then the
breath Is uneven. and then beads OF persplr
ration on the forehead. and then the look OF
unrest comes to a look of horror and de-
spair? I know not. But he knows, and God
knows. 1t may be that he despoiled fair
Young wife and turned innocence into wall
aud the smile Of hope into the brazen laugh
ter Of despair Or 1t may be that he has in
his possession the property Of others, and by
some stratagem he keeps Il according to law,
and yet he knows it is not his own, and that
II his heart should stop beating this moment
he would be in hell forever. Or it may be ne
is responsible for a great mystery. the dlsap-
pearance Of some one who was never heard
OF, and the detectives were bafded, and the
tracks were all covered up, and the swift
horse or the rail train took him out OF reach,
and there are only two persons in the uni
verse who know of it-God and himself. God
present at the time Of the tragedy and pres
ent at the retrospection and conscience
conscience with stings, conscience with
pinchers, conscience with fails, conscience
with furnaces. is upon him, and until
mans conscience rouSes him he does not re-
pent.
Thomas Oliver was one Of John Wesley's
preachers. The early part Of his life had
been full of recklessness, and he had MADE
debts wherever he could borrow. He was
converted to God, and then he went forth to
preach and pay his debts. He had small
amount of property left him, and immedt-
ately set ont to pay his debts, and everybody
knew he was in earnest. and to consummate
the last payment he had to sell his horse and
saddle and bride. That was conscience.
That is converted conscience. That is relig-
ion. Frank Tiebout. a converted rumseller,
had large amount of liquor on hand at the
time of his conversion, and he put all the
kegs and barrels and demijohns in wagon
and took them down in front of the old
church where he had been converted and had
everything emptied into the street. That IS
religion. Why the thousands OF dollars sent
every year to the United States Treasury at
as conscience money! why,
it simply means there are postmasters and
there are attorneys and there are officials
who sometimes retain that which does not
belong to them, and these men are convert
ed. or under powerful pressure OF conscience.
and make restitution. If all the moneys out
of which the State and the United States
treasures have been defrauded should come
back to their rightful exchequers, there would
be enough money to pay all the State debts
and all the United States debt by day after
tomorrow.
Conversion amounts to nothing unless the
heart is converted, and the pocketbook Is
converted, and the cash draweris is converted,
and the ledger is converted, and the flreproof
safe is converted, and the pigeonhole con-
tanning the correspondence Is converted, and
his Improvement is noticed even by the
canary bird that sings in the parlor, and the
cat that licks the platter after the meal, and
the dog that comes bounding from the ken
quarter converted, or thousandth part con-
verted is not converted at all. What will be
the great book in the day Of Judgment Con-
science. Conscience recalling misimproved
Conscience recalling unfor-
given sins. Conscience bringing up all
the past. Alas, for this governor, Pontius
PLATE! That night after the court had ad-
journed, and the sanhedrists had gone home,
and nothing was heard outside the room but
the step of the sentinel, see Pontius PLATE
arise from his tapestried and sleepless couch
and 20 to the laver and begin to wash his
hands, crying: "Out, out. crimson spot!
Tellest thou to me, and to God. and to the
night, my crime? Is there no alkali to re-
move these dreadful stains? Is there no
to dissolve this carnage? Must
to the day of my death carry the blood OF
this innocent man on my heart and hand2
Out, thou crimson spot" The worst thing
man can have is an evil conscience, and the
best thing man can have is what Paul calls
a good conscience.
But is there no such thing as moral purifi-
cation? II man is sinner once. must he
always be sinner, and an unforgiyen sim
ner? We have all had conscience after us.
Or do you tell me that all the words OF your
life have been just right. and all the thoughts
of your heart have been just right, and all
do not know yourself, and I take the respon-
sibility of saying you are pharisee, you are
a hypocrite, you are Pontius PLATE, and do
not know it. You commit the very same sin
that PLATE committed. You have crucitled
the Lord OF Glory. But if nine-tenths Of this
audience are made up of thoughtful and
earnest people, then nine-tenths OF this au-
dience are saying within themselves: Is
there no such thing as moral publication? Is
there no laver in which the soul may wash
and be clean? Yes, yes, yes. Tell 1t in song,
tell it In sermon, tell it in prayer, tell it to
the hemispheres. That is what David cried
out for when he said, "Wash me thoroughly
from my sin, and cleanse me from mine in
iouities." And that is what, in another place,
he cried out for when he said. "Wash me
and shall be whittier than snow" Behold,
the laver OF the gospel, filled with living
fountains. Did you ever see the picture OF
the layer in the ancient tabernacle or in the
ancient temple2 The laver in the ancient
tabernacle was made out OF the women's me-
tallic looking glasses. 1t was great basin,
on II beautiful pedestal, but when
the temple was built. then the laver was an
immense affair, called the brazen sea, and,
oh, how deep were the floods there gathered!
And there were ten LAYERS besides-f1ve at
the right and five at the left-and each laver
had 300 gallons of water. And the outside
OF these LAYERS was carved and chased with
palm trees so delicately cut you could al
most see the leaves tremble, and lions otrue
to life that YOU could imagine you saw the
nostril throb, and the cherubim with out
spread wings. That magnificent laver Of the
old dispensaticn Is feeble type of the more
glorious laver Of our dispensation-our sun
Lit dispensation.
Here is the larer holding rivers OF saliva
ton. having for its pedestal the Rock Of
Ages. carved with the figures of the lion Of
Judah's tribe. and having palm branches for
victory and wings suggestive of the souls
flight toward God In prayer and the souls
flight heavenward when we die. Come ye
auditory, and wash away all your sins, how
ever aggravated, and all your sorrows, how
ever agonizing. Come TO this fountain, open
for all sin and uncleanness, the furthest,
the worst. You neel not carry your sins
half a second. Come aud wash in this
glorious gospel laver. Why. that is an
opportunity enough to swallow up all
nations. That is an opportunity that will
yet stand on the Alps and beckon to Italy,
and yet stand on the Pyrenees and beckon to
Spain, and it will yet stand on the Ural and
beckon to Russia, and it will stand at the
cate of haa anl hanknn all natinns