The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-05-06

| step uuLlI IL Cti!llc So near COuIO near
the musical rush, and all over the high,
broad stairs it came, foaming flashing,
roaring down, until sunlight and wave
in gleesome wrestle tumbled at my
feet. So it is with the church OF God.
Everything comes from adove-par-
don from above-pardon from above,
JOY from above, adoption from above,
sanctifcation from above.
Hark, l hear the latch Of the gar
den gate, and | look to see who is
coming. l hear the voice of Christ,
Il am come into my garden lsay:
Come in, O Jesus, We have been
waiting for thee. Walk all through
the paths. Look at the flowers; look
at the fruit; pluck that which thou
wilt for thyself." Jesus comes into
the garden and up to that old man
and says: Almost home, father; not
many more aches for thee l will
never leave thee; take courage little
longer, and l will steady thy tottering
steps, and will soothe thy troubles
and give thee rest. Courage, old
man" Then Christ goes up another
garden path, and he comes to soul
in trouble and says: Peace. All is
well. l have seen thy tears. l have
heard thy prayer. The sun shall not
smite thee by day nor the moon by
night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil; he will preserve thy soul
Courage, O troubled spirit
Then see Jesus going up another
garden path, and | see great excite
ment among the leaves. and l hasten
up that garden path to see what Jesus
is doing there, and, 10! he is breaking
off flowers sharp and clean, from the
stem, and l say, Stop, Jesus; don't
kill those beautiful flowers. " He
turns to me and says, II have come
into my garden to gather lilies, and
| mean to take these up to a higher ter
race, for the garden around my pal
ace. and there l will plant them, and
in better soil and in better air they
shall put forth brighter leaves and
sweeter redolence, and no frost shall
touch them forever And I looked
into his face and said: 'Well, it is his
garden, and he has right to do what
he will with it. Thy will be done
the hardest prayer ever man made.
1t has seemed as if Jesus Christ took
the best. From many of your house
holds the best one sgone. You know
that she was too good for this wo-ld;
she was the gentlest in her ways, the
| deepest in her affections, and when at
last the sickness came you had no
faith in medicines. You knew that
the hour of parting had come, and
when, through the rich grace OF the
Lord Jesus Christ, you surrendered
that treasure you said: LORD Jesus,
take it. 1t is the best we have; take it.
Thou art worthy" The others in the
household may have been of grosser
mold. She was of the finest.
The heaven of your little ones will
not be fairly begun until you get
there. All the kindnesses shown them
by immortals will not make them for
get you. There they are the radiant
lhrongs that went out from your
homes. I throw kiss to the sweet
| darl1ngs. They are all well now in
the palace. The crippled child has a
sound foot now. a little lame child
says, MA. will be lame in heaven?"
NO, my darling; you won't be lame
in heaven" a little sick child says,
"Ma, will be sick in heaven?' NO,
my dear: you won't be sick in heav-
| en-" A little blind child says, Ma,
| will be blind in heaven2" mo, my
dear; you won't be blind in heaven.
They are all well there.
I notice that the fine gardens some
times have high fences around them
and you cannot getin. It so with
kings gardenn. The only glimpse you
ever get of such garden is when the
king rides out in his splendid carriage.
It is not so with this garden, this
Kings garden. I throw wide open
the gate and, tell you all to come in.
No monopoly in religion. Whosoever
will, may. Chose now between
desert and garden. Many of you
have tried the garden of this worlds
delight. You have found it has been
chagrin. So it was with Theodore
Hook. He made all the world laugh.
He makes us laugh now when we read
his poems, but he could not make his
own heart laugh. While in the midst
of his festivities he confronted a look
ing glass, and he saw himself and said:
''There, that is true! I look just as l
am-done up in body, mind and
purse" So it was of Shenstone of
whose garden I told you at the begin
ming of my sermon. He sat down
amid those bowers and said: II have
lost my road to happiness. I am angry
and envious and frantic and despise
everything around me, just as it be-
comes rladman to do.
Oyeweary souls, come into Christs
garden today and pluck little heart.
sease. Christ is the only rest and the
only pardon for a perturbed spirit.
Do you not think your chance has al
most come? You men and women
who have been waiting year after year
for some good opportunity in which
to accept Christ, but have postponed
it 5, 10, 30, 80 years, do you not feel as
if now your hour of deliverance and
pardon and salvation had Gomez OF
man, what grudge hast thou against
thy poor soul that thou wilt not let it
be saved2 I feel as if salvation must
come today in some OF your hearts.
Some years ago vessel struck on
the rocks They had only one lifeboat:
In that lifeboat the passengers and
crew were getting ashore. The vessel
had foundered and was sinking deeper
and deeper, and that one boat could
not take the passengers very swiftly.
A little girl stood on the deck waiting
for her turn to get into the boat. The
boat came and went, came and went,
but her turn did not seem to come.
After awhile she could waitno longer,
and she leaped on the tatfrail and
then sprang into the sea, crying to the
boatrhan: Save me next! Save me
next" Oh, how many have gone
ashore into Gods mercy, and yet you