The Penn's Grove record., 1896-01-03

did that give him any better chance for the
future than II he had been laid out In q
plain shr0ad? What difference will 1t soon
make to you or to me whether In this world
we walked or rode, whether we were bowed
TO or maltreated, whether we were applaud
ed or Missed at, welcomed In or kicked QUIT
While laying hold of every moment OF the
future and burning In every spIendor OF
every grief and overarching or u~ndergirdlng
alltime and all eternity viii be- the plain,
startling, infinite, ~stupendous question oil
hs text, .sWhRt must l do to be saved?"
Again. I characterize this question of the
agitated jail keeper rs ons crushed out by
his mlsiortunes, pressed out by his misfor.
tunes. The falling Of the penitsntiary, his
occupation was gone. Besides that the
flight OF a prisoner was ordinarily the death
Of the jaiier. He was held responsible; 4
been shaken Of the earthquake, II the pris-
oners had all STAYED quietly In the stocks, II
the morning sunlight had calmly dropped or
the jRilor's pillow, do you think he would
have hurled this red hot question from his
soul into the ear OF his apostolic prisoners
Alb, no. You know as well as / do 1t was tbs
earthquake that reused him up. And it Il
trouble that starts a great many people to
ask the same question. IL has been SO with
q multitude OF You. Your apparel IL not a.
bright as 1t once was. Why have you
changed the Larb? Do you not like softer.
mo and crimson and purple as well IS once2
Yes But you say: while ! was prospered
my feelings. Now they wouldbs discord to
mysoui." And so you have plated up the
shadows into your apparel. The world Is a
very different place from what 1t was onca
for you. Onceyou said, "0h, II I could emily
have 1t quiet a little while" 1t Is too quiet.
Some people say that they would not
bring back their departed friends from
Hno VAN AVIAN ~ fbau had cha anxorf1rifp
but II you had the opportunity you would
bring back your loved ones, and soon their
feet would be sounding in the hall, and soon
their voices would be heard In the family,
and the old times would come back just az
the festat days OF Christmas and Thanksgiv-
ing-days gone forever. Oh. 1t Ii the earth
quake that startled you to asking this ques-
.tion-the earthquake Of domestic misfortune.
Death Is so cruel. so d~evouring, SO relent-
less, 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 a balsam better than anything that
ever exuded from earthly tree to heal the
pans Of the soul. 1t Is pleasant to have our
friends gather around us and tell us how
sorry they are, and try to break up the lone
Illness, but nothing but the hand of Jesus
Christ can take the bruised soul and put II
In His bosom, hushing it with the lullaby OF
heaven. o brotherl o sisterl The grave
stone will never be lifted from your heart
until Christ lifts 1t. Was 1t not the loss OF
your friends, or the persecution OF your enc
mies, or the overthrow OF your worldly es-
tate-was 1t not an earthquake that startled
you out to ask this s~tupendous questiqs of
ny text2
But / remark again, / ~chsracterize this
question of the agitated Jail keeper As hasty,
urgent and Immediate. He put 1t o the
run. By the light Of his torch as he goes to
look for the apostles, .bchold his faae, see the
startled look and SEQ the eaEnastnsss. No
one can doubt by that look that the man Is
In earnest. He must a that question an
swered before the earth stops rocking, or
perhaps he will never have IT answered at
al. Is that the way, my brother, my sister,
run7 Lsit hasty2 Is 1t urgent2 Is 1t imme-
diate? II II is not, 1t will not be answered.
That Is the only kind Of question that is an
sWered. 1T Ia the urgent and immediate
question of the gospel Christ answers. A
great many are asking this question, but
they drawi it out, and there Is indifference
In their name as II they do not mean 1t.
1t IN urgent question and then you
will have It answered before an hour passes,
before a minute passes. Whena man with
alt the eRrnestness of his soul cries out for
God, be finds Him, and finds Him right
sway.
oh, are there not in this house to-day those
who are postponing until the last hour OF
living the attending tothe things Of the soui2
I give It as my opinion that n~inety-nine out
OF the one hurdred death-bed repentances
amount 10 nothing. or oil the scores Of per-
sons mentioned as dying In the Bible, OF bow
many do you read that they successful sly re-
pentsd In the last hour? Of502 No. OF 40s
No. OF SOP No. Of2J? No. OF 102 No.
OF 81 No. Off Only one, barely one, as
II to demonstrate the fact that there Is a bare
snrcothdIffU If 80 poufnRna In the Last hnntr
But that 70 improbable. awfuilY improbable,
.errlheally improbable. one hundred to
S3ne agatnst the rnan. n, nv brother,
ny sister, you have ever seen q man
Ty8 to- repent in the last hour, you
have seen something very sad- ! do not
know anything on earth so sad as to see a
to repent OIL q dexthbed. There Is not
from the moment that life begins 70 breathe
IN infancy 10 the last gasp such an unfavor-
able. completely unfavorable, hon for re-
~,entanee a. the death hour, the last hour
fnere are the doctors standing with the
medicines. There 10 the lawyer standing
With the halt written will There Is the
some Of them. All the bells Of eternity ring
ing the sout out OF the body. AL the past
Using before US and allthe future. Oh, that
NAH Is an Infinite fool who procrastinates to
the deathbed his repentance
My text does mot answer the question. II
only asks 1t, with deep and tmportunate ear
aesfness asks II, and according to the rules
hat to some other ttme.s but I dare not.
What are the rules of sermonizing to me
chen ! am after souls2 What other time
,ould I have whom perhaps this is the only
inner This might be my last time for
ereachingi this might be your last tim for
1earing.
After my friend in Philadelphia died, his
shildren gave his church Bible to me, and I
,ead it. looked over 1t with much interest. I
Jaw In the margin, written in lead pencil,
tsMr. Talmage said this morning that the
most useless thing In Gods universe is that
any sinner should perish" / did not remem-
Der saying Il. bur II Is true. and ! say It
aoW whether I said It then or not--the most
Useless thing in all Gods universe is that any
sinner should perish Twelve gstes wide
,pen. Have you not heerd how Christ bore
,ur sorrows, and how sympathetic He Is with
I'll our woess Have you not heard how that
zikh all the sorrows of heart and all the
igonies OF hell upon Him, He cried, "Father.
forgive them, they know not what they doi"
By His feet biistered Of the mountain way,
~ His back whipped until the skin came OF,
~ His death couch OF four spikes. two for
he hands and two for the feet; by His sepui-
.her, In which for the tirst time for thirty
.hree years the cruel world let Him alone,
ind by the heavens from which He now
BENDS In compassion, Offering pardon and
peace and life eternal to all your souls, LEG
II you put down your all ut His feet.
saw one hanging on q tree
In agony and blood,
Who fxed His languid eyes on me
As near His cross l stood.
Oh, never till my latest breath
viii 7 forget that icok,
II seemed to charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke.