Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1896-11-19

euccessful- God help the dostorsi We win
wait In great anxiety until the fires of that |
lever are extinguished. and when the man
rises from bis pillow and ak out with |
what heartiness we will welcome him into
the fresh air and the church and business
ciic.es. He ia thirty years OF age. and il be
hhall live sixty years more that will make
nm ninety. But what are sixty years more
Oh earthly vl2or compared with the souls
heaith ~for n quadriilion ruillenniums-a
millennium, ~ you know, a thousand wears?
This world. since fitted up for mans resi-
lcnce, has existed about six thousand wears.
low much longer will il exist? We will sun
pose II rhati last a. much longer, which il
very d0lbtfG.. rlat will m axe its exist
ence twelve thousand years. But what are
or will be twelve thousand wears COMPARED
With ths eternity PRECEDING those years and
ne eternity following ihem-time. as COM
pared to eternity, like the drop OF the night
dew shaken from the top ri "a grass blade by
me row : hoof on its way a1leid this morn
NJ. Al compared with Mediterranean and
Arabian an1 Atlantic and Pacific waterv Do
Liuions.
A stranger desire 10 purchase a farm. but
the owner w11id not sell it-would only le.
Il. The stranger hired il by !e tse, for only
one crop, but he sowei acoras, ami to ma
ture tina. crop 30t years were Necessary. That
vas a practicei deception, but [ d deceive YOU
not when | tell you that the crop Of the soul
tnke8 hold Of uaeniins ages.
! see the author o. NY text seated in the
Aouse Of Gaius. who entertained him at
Corinlh. not far rom the orernanging for
ress Of Acro-Corinthus. and ucditatin. on
n" longevity Of the sous AMI Getting more
ani more agitatei about its value and the
awful risk some Of hi kin fred were running
concerning it. and he writes this letter con-
taining the text, which Chrys5-tom admired
80 rpleH Iva hail IL rnat -, him -... r,o.tx
ana among other Things h "a - those dar-
ing and startling words o. M text. Il could
wish tAat myself were a.curSed from Christ
Tor my brethren, my kinsmen, according to
The flesh
Another way TO get something Of th"
Pauline longing for redeemed inmortalities
IL by examining tho vast machinery ar
ranged to save this inner ant spiritual ma
tlro. Ilat machinery started 10 revolve on
the edge OF the gar len OF / len, Just after
the cyclone 81 sin Frustrated it. @ycamores
fnt tamarisks and willow AM will not cease
20 revoivt until the last sou OF earth shall
get rli Of it, last sin AMI enter the heavenly
Eden. On that stupendous machinery for
soul Saving the patriarch put his hand. and
/ prophet his hand. aud evangelist his hand.
ani apostle his hand, and Christ His hand,
ana almost every hand that touched it be-
came Il crushed hand. 1t was the most ex-
peE~Ive machinery ever constructed. 1t cost
more to start ieland has cost and will cost
more to keep il running than all the wheels
that ever made revolution on this planet.
That machinery turned not by ordinary
motive power, but by force OF tears and
blood. To connect its bans Of influence
made out Of human and Chrlstly nerves with
all parts Of the earth millions Of good men
aud women are now at work and will he at
work until every. wilderness shall become a
garden. and every tear Of grief shall be a
tear OF Joy, and the sword OF divine victory
shalt give the wound to the old dragon that
shall send him bowling to the pit, the iron
gate changing against him, never again 70
open. All that and infinitely more to save
the soul! Why. Il must be a tremendous
soul-tremendous for good or tremendous
for evil, tremendous for happiness or ire
mendous for woe.
Put on the left side OF the largest sheet of
paper that ever catne from pa per mill a sin
gle unit, the figure /, and how many ciphers
would you have TO add to tho right of that
figureto express the souls value, each cipher
aiding tenf0ld? Working INFO that scheme
Of the s0ui redemption, how many angels
OF God descending and ascending! How
many storms swooplng on Lake Galilee! How
many earthquakes opening dungeons and
striking cataclysmS through mountains from
top to base. What MONDAY sun was put OIL
retreat! What omnipOtence lifted and what
Godhead was put to torture! All that for
the soul. No wonder that Paul though pos
Sessing great equipOise Of temperament wher
he thought what his friends and kindred
were riskinS concerning their souls, flung
; aside all his ordinary modes of speech, argu
ment and apt siIniie. and bold metaphor. ant
r learned a~liusion. as unfit to express how b,
, felt. and Selling upon the appalling hyper
I boiisrn OF my text cries cut, Il could wlsl
! myself accursed'-tha is. struck Of the
thunderbolts of the omnipotent God, SUM
to unfathomed depths, chained into servi
tude to Abaddon and thrust into furnace
. ,l@-A Go, nIa1I r,-. I--n oA o-1,
: those whom | love might now and forever b.
| saved. Mind you, Paul does not say. II d.
| wish" He saws, II could wish" Even il
: the agony he felt for others he did not los
his balance. II could wish myself accursed.
| could, but I do not. Only one being tina
: ever lived was literally willing to give u
heaven for perdition, and that was the di
vino peasant whom L mentioned n few me
ments ago. He was not only willing TO eS
changesdominions Of bliss for dominions c
wretcheIuess, but He did so. for, that II
;. forsool heaven. witness the stopping sta
q and ali those VINO saw His miracles of mercy
. and that He actually entered the gates Of tn
world Of perpetual cQnflagration tho Ribl
y distinctly declares. He did not say, wit
Y Paul, II could" but He said. IL will, | do.
y and tor the souls Of men He descended int
hell
i In this last half of the last decade of til
nineteenth century the temperature in tn
N.# $50 - WIZ wv Ndh VI tAC pANl
n would spoil ii it were not kept on ice. Anc
r taking, things rs they are, ordinary Chr:
.. tianS Will never reach the point where III
II ontrry Of Paul in the text will not seem lik
y Extravaganza. The prophecies in most OF tt
1t churches arc 50 fixed that all a Christian
u expected 10 do on sunday IS to get up q lit
y later in the morning than usual. put on thu
Il which is next to hi, best attire-not the Vel
Il best, for that has to be reserved for the levt
enter the church with a stately step. DO
r his head, or AT any rate shut his eyes
pr PRAYER time. or close them enough to loo
Z sleepy, turn toward the pulpit with ho
<. dutlnpSs while the preacher speaks. put a
ii Ccat piecc-or. II the times he hard. a / ceI
a riecc-ont the collection platter. kind OF sho
10 ing Il down under the other coin SO that
IT might be, for all tuat the usher knows. Il
j. Goti piece. and then, after the bene fiction. :
In quietly home 10 the biggest renast of all II
CT week. That IS all the majority Of Christian
IF are doing for the rectification of this plane
- ani they Will do that until. at the close
rs lie. the pastor opens 4 black book at Il
N hcan II their casket and reads. Blessed a
IL tne dead who die III the Lord. They rest irO
u. their laborS and their workSdo follow them
Oh The sense OF the ludicious is 50 thorough
= developed in me hat when [ hear the
81. Scripture words read II the o~bsequies of o
Ic- Of the religious do nothincs in the church