The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-01-08

tellsvou thatyou will isoonc ease world
" business. Iou know very well that
YOU will soon pass out of that partner
Ship. You know that beyond a GER
tain point of all the millions of dol
lars worth of goods sold you will not
handle a yard of cloth, Or a pound Oh
sugar, or a pennys worth: After
that, III confagratioa should sweep
all Washington into vshas, 1t would
not touch you aud would not damage
you. Ifevery cashier LIQUID abScona'
and every bank SUSPENDED payment,
and every insurance company tai. II
would not affect you. On, how lns.g-
niecant is business this side the grave
with business on the other side the
Grave, Have YOU made any purchases
Tor eternity Have you any securities
that will last forever? Are you looo-
| ING for time when you might be whole
sailing for eternity 1sthere any quesss-
i ton 50 broad at the base, so aItltudl-
mons. so overshaGowing as the ques.
ton what nustI do to be saved?"
Or is ita domestic question: Is 1t
! something about father or mother Or
! husband or wife or son or daug inter
! that is the more important question?
You know by universal and inexora-
BILE law that relation will soon be
broken up. Father will be gone,
mother will be gone, children will be
gone, you will bt gone, but after that
the question Of the text will begin to
harvest its chief gains, or deplore its
| worst losses, or roll up its mightless
magnitudes or sweep It's vaster circles.
Oh, what a Question-what an I'M
oortant question, IS there any ques-
ton that compares with it IN lmpor-
tance2 What is il now to Napoleon
T.. III whether he triumphed or surrend-
! ereC; at Sedan. whether he died at the
! Tullsries or Chiseihurst, whethar ne
was emperor or exile? Because he
was laid Out in the coffin IN the dress
of a field marshal did that give him
anv better chance for the future than
| if he had been laid out in a plain
shroud? What difference will It soon
make to ycu or 10 me whether IN this
| world we walked or rode, whether we
were bowed to or ualtreated, whether
we were applauded or hissed at, vel
coined in or kicked outl While lay
ing hold of every moment of the su-
ture and burning in every splendor or
every grief and overarching or under.
! girdins all time and all eternity will
be the plain, startling, infinite, stu,
pendous question ofthe text, >" hat
must I do to be saved"
! Again, Ic characterize this question OF
the agitated Jail keeper Us one crushed
out by his misfortuaes, pressed out by
his misfortunes. The falling of the
penisentiary, his occupation was gone.
Besides that the fight of a prisoner
was ordinarily the death OF the Jailer;
He was held responsible. II all had
gone we'll; if the prison walls had not
been shaken of the earthquake; If the
prisoners had all staid quiet in the
stocks; if the morning sunlight had
calmly dropped on the iailer's pillow,
| do YOU think he would have hurled
this redhot question from his soul INTO
the ear of his apostolic prisoners? An,
no. You know as well as DO 1t was
the earthquake that aroused him up.
! And it is trouble that starts great
many people to asking the same queS-
ton. It has been so with multitude
OF you. Your apparel is not as bright
as it once was. Why have you
changed the garb? Do you not like
solfer> into and crimson and purple as
well as once2 Yes, but you say:
''While I was prospered and happy
these coiors were accordsnt with my
feelings. Now they would be discord
to nv soul" And so you have plat
ed uo the shadows into your apparel.
The world is very different place
from what it was once for you! once
you said, "Oh, if I could only have
It quiet little while!' It is too quiet:
Some people say that they would not
bring back their departed friends
from heaven even if they had the op-
portunity, but if you had the opportu,,
nifty you would bring back your loved
ones, ond soou 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 as the festal days of Christmas
and Thanksgiving-days gone forever.
"Oh, it is the earthquake that start
led you to asking this Guestlon-the
earthquake of domestic misfortune.
Death is so cruel, so devouring, so
relentless, that when it swallows up
| our loved ones we must have some
one TO whom we can carry our torn
and bleeding hearts. We need bal
sam better than anything that ever
exuded from earthly tree to heal the
pang of the soul. It is pleasant TO
have our friends gather around us and
tell US how sorry they are and try to
break up the loneliness, but nothing
but the hand of Jesus Christ can take
the bruised soul and put it in his bosom,
hushing it with the lullaby Of heaven.
0 brother. O sister. The gravestone
will never be lifted from your heart
until Christ lifts it. Was it not the
loss Of your friends, or the persecution
of your enemies, or the overthrow OF
your worldly estate-was 1t not an
earthquake that started you out to ask
this stupendous question of my text!
But remark again, characterize
this question of the agitated jail keeper
as hasty urgent and immediate. He
put it on the run. By the light of his
torch as he goes to look for the apos-
ties behold his face, see the startled
look and see the earnestness> No one
can doubt by that look that the man
is in earnest. He must have that
question answered before the e2rth
stops rocking, or perhaps ne viii 2cy-
er have il answered at all. Is that the
way my brother, my sister, you are
putting this question? Is it on the
run! Is it hasty! Is it urgent. Is it
timmediate2 If it is not, it will never
be answered. That is the only kind Of
question that is answered. It is the
urgent and the immediate question of
| the GOSPEL Christ answers. a great