The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-09-11

l
dared to put il on, but this robe Of
Christ, richer than that, the poorest
and the weakest and the worst may
wear. Where sin abounded grace
may much more abound.
oh. my sins, my sins, said Mar
tin Luther to Staupitz my sins, my
sins The tact is that the brawny
German student had found Latin
Bible that made him quake, and moth
ing else ever did make him quake, and
| when he found how, through Christ,
he was pardoned and saved, he wrote
to e friend, saying: Come over and
join us great and awful sinners saved
by the grace of God. You seem to be
onl y slender sinner, and you don't
much extol the mercy OF God; but we
that have been such very awful sim
ners praise his grace the more now
that we have been redeemed Can il
be that you are SO desperatel Y egotistl-
cal that you feel yourself in first rate
spiritual trim, anG that from the root
of the hair to the tip of the toe you
are scarless and immaculate: What
you need is a looking glass, and here
it is in the Bible. Poor and wretched
and miserable and blind and naked
from the crown Of the head to the sole
of the foot. full Of wounds and putri
flying sores. No health in us. And
then take the fact that Christ gathered
up all the notes against US and paid
them, and then offered US the receipt
And how much we need him in our
sorrows We are independent of cir
cumstances If we have his grace.
Why, he made Paul sing in the dun
geon. and under that grace st. John
from desolate Patmos heard the blast
of the apocalyptic trumpets. After all
other ;andles have been snutfed out,
this is the light that gels brighter and
brighter unto the perfect day; and af-
ter, under the hard hoofs Of calamity,
all the pools of worldly enjoyment
have been trampled into deep mire, at
the foot of the eternal roc k the Chris
tian, from cups of granite lily trimmed.
puts out the thirst OF his soul.
Again, I remark that Christ is chief
in dying alleviations. l have not any
sympathy with the morbidity abroad
about our demise. The emperor Of
Constantinople arranged that on the
day Of his coronation the stonemason
should come and consult him about
the tombstone that after awhile he
would need. And there are men who
are monomaniacal on the subject of
departure from this life by death, and
the more they think of it the less they
are prepared to go. This is an unman-
illness not worthy of you, not worthy
of me.
Saladin, the greatest conqueror Of
his day, while dying, ordered that the
tunic he had on him be carried after
his death on his spear at the head of
his army, and that then the soldier
ever and anon, should stop and say:
| Behold all that is left of Saladin the
emperor and conqueror. OF all the
states he conquered, OF all the wealth
he accumulated, nothing did he re-
tain but this shroud.' I have no sym
| pathy with such behavior, or such alb
surd demonstration, or with much
that VIC hear uttered in regard to de-
parture from this life to the next
There is common sensical idea on
this subject that you need to consider
there are only two styles OF depart
ure. 4 thousand feet underground.
by light of torch, toiling in a miners
shaft, ledge Of rock may fall upon
us, and we may die a miners death.
Far out at sea, falling from the slip
perry ratlines and broken on the hall
iards, we may die sailors death. On
mission of mercy in hospital, amid
broken bones and reeking leprosies
and raging fevers, we may die phil
anthropist's death. On the field Of
battle, serving God and our country,
slugs through the heart, the gun car
| riage may roll. over us, and we may
die a patriots death. But, after all,
there are two styles of departure the
death of the righteous and the death
| Of the wicked-and we al want to
| die the former.
God grant that when that hour
comes you may be at home. You
want the hand of your kindred in
your hand. You want your children
to surround you. You want the light
on your pillow from eyes that have
long reflected your love. You want
your room still. You do not want
any curious strangers standing around
watching you. You want your kind
red from afar 10 hear your last prayer.
I think that is the wish of all of u.s..
But is that all? Can earthly friends
hold US up when the pillows of death
come up to the girdle? Can human
voice charm open heavens gate? Can
human hand pilot US through the mar
rows of death into heavens harbor?
Can any earthly friendship shield us
from the arrows of death, and in the
hour when satan shall practice upon
us his internal archery! No, no, no,
no. Alas, poor soul, if that is all.
Better die in the wilderness, far from
tree shadow and from fountain, alone,
vultures circling through the air
waiting for our body unknown to
men, and to have no burial, if only
Christ couldsay through the solitudes,
| Will never 1eaFe LlCS, "4i1 uC'ci
forsake thee
Gordon Hall. far from home, dying
in the door of a heather temple, said
GLORY to thee, O God" What did
dying Wilberforce say to his wife?
Come and sit beside me, and let us
talk of heaven. I never knew what
happiness was until l found Christ >
What did dying Hannah More say?
ITO go-to heaven, think what that is !!
To 60 to Christ, who died that I might
live. Oh, glorious grave. Oh, what
glorious thing it is to die. Oh, the love
of Christ, the love of Christ What
did Mr.. Toplady, the great hymn
maker, say in his last hour: Who
can measure the depths of the third
heaven? Oh, the sunshine that fills my
soul shall soon begone, for sucely
no one can live in this world after
| -, al, ri q c Cod bac M oonifoStaC To