The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-01-24

nHM kNlN 500 kH@ #fANN WIN NAHlAHHa Nh tiA"
other side tho gravel Have yon made any
titles that win laHi i0rovori Are sou Job
bling Tor time when sou might D. Wholual-
ing for eiernItyY # there amy question 80
broad ut tha base. ao alutuliuous. 30 over
shHdOWing AZ the question, "MhAf must DO
10 bo aavbdY" or. hl sea domestic question,
Is q something about father or mother on
husband 0f WlfH or aau Or daughter THAT ia
the more lmpodunf question: tou know by
universal and memorable llW thal relation
wlll soon DO broken up. la,hnr VIII DO gone,
mother win Dee gone, children VIII Do gone.
you win he g0ne bat Nitor that tloquestion
Of the teAt win begin 90 harvest iU emei
gains Or nepiorH ffs worst losses or RON up itH
mlghtiest magnitude or sweep iu vaster
circles.
oh. what a question. what an Important
question: ia there any question thht come
pareH with lt in Importance What 81 now
10 Napoleon H. Whother no triumphol OF
surrendered no Sedan, whether h8 died NO
the Tuuerios or Chlselhurst, whether no was
emperor or oXieg Because De was laid out
IN the coffin On the dress of "a field marshal,
did that give him any bBttor chance Tor the
future than lf he had boon laid ont ina
uialn shr0ud2 What difference win 30 soon
mako 90 you or 20 mH whether Ira this world
W8 walked or rode. whether We were bowed
10 on mhltralted, whether wo wore applaud
sd or Missed at welcomed in on kicked ouH
While laying hold OF every moment OF tho
future Hld burning In every spienuor oF
every gr,oi ana oyerarching or undargirdins
oil time aud an eternity win be The plain,
startling. infinite, stupsnd0us question OK
The text, "WhBt must j do TO De say5l2'
Again, I characterize this question oitho
ag.tated jain keeper as one crushed out 10y
his mlsLOrtuucs, pre- cd out hY his mis.Or-
tunes Tho falling OF tho penitentary, his
occupation was gone. Besides that the
flight OF % prisoner WIS ordinarily the death
Of the TALLER. He was held responsible Ut
all had gone we'll. n the prison walls had not
been shaken OF the earthquake. &c the pr.s-
ouers had an stayed quietly In the stocks, IL
the morning sunlight had calmly dropped on
the iailOr's pillow, DO you think he would
have hurled this red hot question from his
soul into the ear Of his apostolic prisonersf
All, no, You know rs we'll as 1 do It was tho
earthquake that reused him up. And &c Is
trouble That starts a great many people TO
ask the same question. II has been so with
bright as it once was. Why have you
changed the karb2 Do you not like solfer-
mo and crimson and purple as we'll as once?
Yes But you say: "While I was prosperod
and happy those colors were aeeordant with
my feelings. Now they would be discord to
my soul" And so you have plated up the
shadows into your apparel. The world Is a
very different place from what II was once
for you. Oncey0u said. ooh, If I could only
have II quiet little while" II is too quiet.
Some people say that they would not
bring back their departed friends from
/ heaven even II they had the opportunity,
but IL 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 as
the festal days Of Christmas and Thanksciv.
/ ing-days gone forever. Oh, 1t is the EARTH
/ quake that startled you TO asking this ques-
/ tton-the earthquake of domestic misfortune.
Death is so cruel. 50 devOuring, so relent-
/ less that when IL swallows up our loved
ones we must have some one to whom we
can carry our torn and bleeding hearts We
need q balsam better than anything that
/ ever eXuded from earthly tree to heal the
/ pang 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 it
I in His bosom, hushing it with the lullaby Of
/ heaven. o br0therl o sister. The grave
stone will never BIO lifted from your heart
until Christ lifts it. Was it not tho loss Of
/ youririends, or the persecution Of your enc
mics, or the overthrow OF your worldly es-
/ tate-Was it not an earthquake that startled
/ you out to ask TINS 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 rs ne goes to
! look for the apostles, behold his face, see the
! startled look and see the earnastness No
! one can doubt by that look that the man is
in earnest. He must have that question an
/ swered before the earth stops rocking, or
! perhaps he will never have it answered at
all Is that the way, my brother, my sister,
/ you are putting this question? Is 1t on the
run? Is il hasty? Is il urgent? Is it imme-
diate? If it is not. it will not be answered.
! That is the only kind of question that is an
| swered. 1t is the urgent and immediate
! question OF the gospel Christ answers. A
! great many are asking this question, but
they drawl it out, aud there is indifference
in their manner. as il they do not mean it.
Make 1t an urgent question and then you
will have it answered before an hour passes
before minute passes. When man with
all the earnestness of his soul cries out for
God, he finds Him, and finds Him right
away.
Oh, are there not in this house to-day those
who are postponing until the last hour Of
living the attending to the things Of the soul2
give It as my opinion that ninety-nine out
OF the one hundred death-bed repentances
amount to nothing. or all the scores Of per-
sons mentioned as dying in the Bible, of how
many do you read that they successfully re-
pented in the last hour2 OF 502 No. or 40?
No. OF 30? No. OF 2J2 No. OF 10? No.
OFFS? No. OIL? Only one, barely one as
if to demonstrate the fact that there is a bare
possibility OF repentance in the last hour.
But that is impro bable, awlullY improbable,
terrincally improbable. One hundred to
one against the man. If, my brother,
my sister, you have ever seen a man
try to repent in the last hour, you
have seen something very sad. 1 do not
know anything on earth so sad as to see a
man to repent on a deathbed. There Is not
from the moment that life begins to breathe
in infancy to the last gasp such an unfavor-
able. completely unfavorable, hour for re-
pentance as the death hour, the last hour.
There are the doctors standing with the
medicines. There Is the lawyer standing
with the half written will. There is the
family in CONSERVATION as to what is to be-