The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1896-04-22

blab out exposure. Saul was sent to de-
stroy the Canaanites, their sheep and
their oxen, but when he got down there
among the pastures he saw some fne
sheep and oxen too fat to kill, 30 he
thought he would steal them. Nobody
would know it. He drove these stolen
sheep and oxen toward home, but stop
ped to report to the prophet how he had
executed his mission, when in the dis
tance the sheep began to bleat and the
oxen to below. The secret was out, and
Samuel said to the blushing and COIL
fused Saul, "What meaneth the bleatinS
of the sheep that 1 hear and the below
ing of the cattle:" All, my nearer, you
cannot keep all iniquity still At just
the wrong tine the sheep will bleat
and the oxen will below. Achan cannot
steal the Babylonish garment without
being stoned to death, nor Arnold betray
his country without having his neck
stretched. Look over the police arrests.
These thieves, these burglars, these
counterfeiters, these highwaymen, these
assassins, they all thought they could
bury their iniquity so deep down it
would never come to resurrection, but
there was some shoe that answered to
the print in the soil, some false keys
found in their posse ssion, some bloody
knife that whispered of the death, and
the public Indignation and the anathema
of outraged law hurled them into the
dungeon or hoisted them cn the gallows.
Francis 1, king Of France, stood coun-
selling with his officers how he could
take his army into Italy, when Ameril,
the fool of the court, leaped cut from a
corner of the rccm and said, "Ycu had
better be consulting how you will get
your army back" ;" And it was found
that Francis I, and not Ameril, was the
fool Instead CT consulting as TO the best
way of getting into sin, you had better
consult as to whether you will be able
to get out CT it. If the world does not
expose you, you will tell it yourself.
There is an awful power i'll all aroused
conscience. A highwaymanplung out
upon Whitefeld as he rode along Oh
horseback, sack Of money on the horse
money that lie had raised for orphan
asylums-and the highwayman put his
hand on tie gold, and Whitetield turned
to him and said, "Touch that if you
dare; that belongs to the Lord Jesus
Christ" And the ruffian skunk into the
forest. Conscience! Conscience! The
ruffian had pistol, but Wh;tcfield
shook at him the finger of doom. Do rot
think you can hide any great and pro-
tracted sin in your heart, my brother.
In all unguarded moment twill slip eff
tie lip, or some slight action may for
the moment set ajar this door that you
wanted to keep closed. But suppose that
in this life you hide it, and ycu get
along with this transgression burning i'll
your heart, as ship on fire within for
days hinders the flames from bursting
out by keeping down the matches, yet at
last in the Judgment that iniquity will
blaze out before God and the universe.
Links of the Universe.
Learn also from this subject that there
is AN inseparsble connection between
all events, however remote. The uni
verse is cnly one thought Of God. Those
things which seemed fragmentary and
isolated are only different parts Of that
great thought. How far apart seemed
these two events-Joseph sold to the
Arabian merchants and his rulership Of
Egypt-yet you see in what a mysterious
way God connected the two into one
plan. So the events are linked together:
You who are aged men look back and
group together a thousand things i'll
your life that once seemed isolated. One
undivided chain Of events reaches from
the garden of Eden to the cross Of
Calvary, and thus up to the kingdom of,
heaven. There is a relation between the
smallest insect that huns in the sum-
mcr air and the archangel on his throne.
God can trace q direct ancestral line
from the blue jay that this spring will
build its nest in the tree behind the
house to some cne of the flock Of birds
which, when Noah hoisted the ark's
window, with a whir and dash of
bright wings, went out to sing over
Mount Ararat. The tulips that bloom
in the garden this spring We're nursed
By the snowfaaes. The farthest star On
one side Of the universe could not lock
toward the fa1thest star on the other
side of the universe and say, "You are
no relation to me, ;" for from that bright
orb voice Of light would ring across
the heavens responding, eyes, yes, we
are sisters" Nothing in Gods universe
swings at loose ends. Accidents are only
Gods way of turning leaf IN the book
of his eternal DEGREES. From our cradle
to our grave there is path all marked
out. Each event in our life is connected
with every other event in our life. Our
losses may be the most direct road to
our gain. Our defeat and our victory
are twin brothers.
The whole direction Of your life was
changed by something which at the time
seemed to you trifing, while scme oc'
cu1Tence which seemed tremendous af'
fected you but little. Gods plans are
magnificent beyond all comprehension.
He molds US and turns and directs us,
and we know it not. Thousands OF years
are to him as the flight of shuttle.
The most terrific occurrence does not
make God tremble. The most trium-
phart achievement does not lift him III
to rapture. That one great thought OF
God gocs out through the centuries, and
nations rise and fall, and eras pass, and
the world changes, but God still keeps
the undivided mastery, linking event to
event and century to century. To Gcd
they are all one event, one history, cne
plan, one development, one system,
Great and marvellous are thy works,
Lord God Almighty! Twas years ago III
New Orleans at the exposition rooms,
when telegram was sent to the presl'
dent Of the United States, at Washing
ton, and we waited some 10 CT 20 mln'
utes, and then the presidents answer
came back, and then the presiding otfl'
l.; bo,,51-orc1,icf and he Slr.