The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-02-12
For sinners plunged beneath that hood
Lose all their guilty stains.

Win all light; II Is ruDeScent VIII ah oubu
merry glow; it is arborescent with all SWEEP
shade I have seen the sun rise on Mount
Washington, and from the Tlptop House, but
there was no beauty in that compared WITH
| tho Gavspring from on high when Christ
| gives light TO a soul. I have heard Parepa
sing, but there was no music in that COM
pared with the voice of Christ when He salt.
.'Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace.
Good news! Let every one cut down branch
of this tree of life and wave it. Let him
throw it down and kindle it. Let all the way
from Mount Zalmon to Shechem be filled
with thetossing JOY. Good news! This hon
fire of the gospel shall consume the last tenn
pie of sin, and will illumine the sky with
| apocalyptic Joy, that Jesus Christ came INTO
the world to save sinners. Any new piah
| that makes a man quit his sin, and thai Psos.
trates wrong, am as much in favor W a.
though all the doctors, and the bishops' '. .ha
the archbishops, and the synoos, ~ aiiu .onc. rn
| academical gownsmen Of Christianity , sanH
toned il. The temple of Berth must como
down. and do not care how it comes.
Still further learn from this suD!ece tne
mower of example. II A6melech nau sas
down on the grass and told his men 90 .S., unu
GET the bouchs and 60 out to the battle, tneS
| would never had gone ut all, or II tney nau
| il would have been without any spirit or
effective result, but when Aolmelech SoGs
and with Abimelech's arm puts 1t on Aolme-
iecb,s shoulder and marches on, then. nv
! text saws, all the people did the same. now
natural that was! What made Garibaldl and
Stonewall Jackson the most magnetic COM
manders of this century? They always rode
ahead. Oh, the overwhelming power Oh e%-
ample! Here Is the father on the wrong road.
All his boys go on the wrong road: here IS
a father who enlists for Christ. His children
enlist. Isaw in some OF the picture galler-
les of Europe that before many OF the great
works Of the great masters, the old masters,
there would be sometimes four and five ar
fists taking copies of pictures. These copies
they were going to carry with them. per-
haps to distant lands, and l have thought
that YOUR life and character are mas
terpiece. and it is being copied, and long al.
ter you are gone will bloom or blast in the
homes of those who knew you and be Cor
gor or Madonna. Look out what you say.
Look out what you do. Eternity will hear
the echo. The best sermon ever preached Is
q holy life. The best music ever chanted IS
consistent walk. II you want others to
serve God, serve Him yourself. If you want
others to shoulder their duty, shoulder
yours. Where Abimelech goes his troops
90. Oh, start out for heaven to-day, and
your family will come after you, and your
business associates will come after you, and
your social friends will join you. With one
branch of the tree of life for baton, marshal
Just as many as you can gather. Oh, the in.
finite, the semiomnipotent power OF good
or bad example!
! I saw last summer, near the beach,
wrecker's machine. It was cylinder with
some holes at the side, made for and thrust
ing in OF some long poles with strong lever
age, and when there is any vessel in trouble
or going to pieces in the offlng, the wreckers
shoot rope out to the suffering men. They
grasp it. and the wreckers turn the cylinder,
and the rope winds around the cylinder, and
those who are shipwrecked are saved. So at
your feet, to-day, there is an influence with
tremendous leverage. The rope attached
to it swings far out into the billowy future:
Your children. your children's children and
all the generations that are to follow will
grip that influence and feel the long reach
ing pull long after the figures on your tomb.
stone are so near worn out that the visitor
cannot tell whether 1t was 1896 or 1796 or
1896 that you died.
Suppose In military circles on the morning
OF battle the roll was called, and out OF 1000
men only 100 men in the regiment answered.
What excitement there would be in the
camp! What would the colonel say2 What
high talking there would be among the
captains and majors and the adjutants.
Suppose word came to headquarters that
these delinquents excused themselves on the
ground that they had oversight themselves.
or the morning was damp and thsJ were
afraid OF getting their feet wet. or that they
were busy cooking rations. My friends, this
is the morning Of the day of God Almightys
battle Do you not see the troops? Hear
ye not all the trumpetS of heaven and all
the drums OF hell? Which side are you on?
II you are on the right side. TO what
cavalry troop, to what artillery service,
to what garrison duty do you belong!
In other words, in what Sabbath school
do you teach? In what prayer meeting
do YOU extort9 To what penitentiary doy you
declare eternal liberty? To what almshouse
do you announce the riches OF heaven?
What broken bone Of sorrow have you ever
set? Are you doing nothing? Is it possible
that q man or woman sworn to be follower
OF Jesus Christ is doing nothing? Then hide
the horrible secret from the angels. Keep 1t
away from the book of judgment. II you
are doing nothing. do not let the world lind
it out, lest they charge your religion with
being a false face. Do not let your cowardice
and treason be heard among the martyrs
about the throne, lest they forget the sane
tity of the place and denounce your betrayal
Of that cause for which they agonized and
died.
May the eternal God rouse ns all to action!
As for myself, feel would be ashamed to
die now and enter heaven until l have ac-
complished something more decisive for the
Lord that bought me. Oh, brethren. how
swiftly the time goes by! 1t seems to me as
II the years had gained some new power OF
locomotion-a kind OF speed electric.
The temple Of Berth Is very broad, aud it
hands of men and devils, and no human en-
gineering can demolish it, but II the 10000
ministers OF Christ in this country should
each take branch of the tree OF life, and all
their congregations should do the same. and
We should march on and throw these
branches around thegreat temples OF Sin ana
worldliness and folly. it would need no
match or coal or torch of ours to touch on
the pile, for as in the days OF Elijah, fire
would fall from heaven and kindle the bon
fire OF Christian victory oyec demolished sin.
Still further, I learn from this subject the
danger OF false refugees. As soon as these
Schechemites 20: into the temple they
thought they were safe. They said: Berth
will take care OF Us. Abnelcchss may batter
down everything else. He cannot batter
down this temple where we are now hid"
But very soon tney heard the timbers crack
ling, and they were smothered with smoke.
and they miserably died. suppose every
person in this audience this moment Is step
ping into some kind OF refuge. Here you
step in the tower OF good works. You say.
II shall be safe in this refuge" The battle
ments are adorned; the steps are vanished;
on the wall are pictures OF all the suffering
you have alleviated, and all the schools you
have established, and all the fine things you
have ever done. Up in that tower you feel
you are safe. But hear you not the tramp OF
your unpardoned sins all around the tower?
They each have match. You are kindling
the combustible material. You feel the heat
and the suffocation. Oh, may you leap 10
time, the gospel declaring. SPY the deeds OF