The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-11-20

turned not by ordinary motive power,
but by force Of tears and blood. TIC
connect it's bands of influence, made
out Of human and Christly nerves,
with all parts of the earth, millions Of
good men and women are now at work,
and will be at work until every will
derness shall become garden, and
every tier of grief shall be tear of
joy, and the sword of Divine victory
shall give the wound to the old dragon
that shall send him bowling to the pit,
the iron gate changing against him,
never again to open. All that, and in
finitely more, to save a soul-tremen.
dous for good, or tremendous for evil;
tremendous for happiness, or tremen-
dous for woe. Put on the left side OF
the largest sheet Of paper that ever
came from paper mill single unit. the
figure ], and how many ciphers would
you have to add to the right of that fig
ure to express the souls value, each ci-
pher adding tenfold? Working into
that scheme of the souls redemption,
how many angels Of God, descending
and descending! How many storms
sweeping on Lake Galilee! How
many earthquakes opening dungeons
and striking cataclysms through
mountains, from top to base! What
monday sun was put on retreat! What
Omnipotence lifted, and what Godhead
was put to tortured ALI that for the
soul! No wonder that Paul, though
possessing great equipoise of tempera-
ment, when he thought what his
friends and kindred were risking con-
corning their souls, flung aside all his
ordinary modes of speech, argument,
and apt simile, and bold metaphor and
learned allusion, as unfit to express
how he felt, and seeing upon the APP
palling hyperbolism of my text,
cries out, II could wish my
self accursed;" that is, struck
of the thunderbolts of the
Omnipotent God, sunk to unfathomed
depths. chained into servitude to
Abaddon, and thrust into furnaces
whose fires shall never burn out, II
only those whom / love might now
and forever be saved. Mind you, Paul
does not say: II do wish" He says:
II would wish Even in the agony
he felt for others, he did not lose his
balance-"I could wish myself &C
cursed" l could, but do not.
Only one being that ever lived, was
literally willing to give up Heaven
for perdition, and that was the
Divine Peasant whom entioned a
few moments ago. He was not only
willing to exchange dominions of bliss
for dominions of wretchedness, but He
did SO; for that He forsook Heaven
witness the STOPPING star and all those
who saw His miracles OF mercy. and
that He actually entered the gates OF
the world of perpetual confagration
the Bible distinctly declared. He did
not say, with Paul: II could" but He
said: II will; do" and for the souls
of men He descended into he'll"
In this world God never does His
best. He can hang on the horizon
grander mornings than have ever yet
been kindled, and rainbow the sky
with richer colors than have ever been
arched, and attune the oceans to more
majestic doxologies than have ever
yet been attuned; but as near as
l can tell, and l speak it
reverently, Heaven is the place
where God has done His best. He can
build no greater joys, lift no mightler
splendors, roll no loftier anthems,
march no more imposing professions,
build no greater palaces, and spread
out and interjoin and wave no more
transporting magnidcence think
Heaven is the best Heaven God can
construct, and it is all yours for the
serious asking? How do you like the
offer? Do you really think it is worth
accepting? If so, pray for it.
Get not up from the pew where you
are sitting, nor move one inch from
where you are standing. before you
get full title for it, written in the
blood of the Son of God, who would
have all men come to life present and
everlasting. If you have been in mill
tary life you know what soldiers
call the ''long roll" All the
drums beat it because the enemy is
approaching, and all the troops must
Immediately get into line. What's sour
rying around the camp and putting OF
the arms through the straps OF the
knapsack and saying "Good-by" to
comrades you may never see again
Some of you Germans or Frenchmen
NAV have heard that long roll just be-
fore Sedan. Some of you Italians may
have heard that long roll just before
Bergamo. Some of you northern and
southern men may have heard it just
before the battle of the Wilder
ness. You know it's stirring and
solemn meaning; and so l sound
the long roll to-day. l beat this